What a bank would do — and what you do instead
A bank pays you interest on savings and lends your deposit out behind the scenes, with deposit insurance as a backstop. On-chain, you can see the lending directly: you supply stablecoins, borrowers pay interest, and the rate moves with demand. You keep custody of the position and can usually exit any time, but you also take on the risks a bank and its insurer would normally absorb. That is why every rate here is dated, labeled variable and compared with an insured baseline.
What the law actually says
The GENIUS Act was signed on July 18, 2025. It requires payment stablecoins to be backed 1:1 by cash or short-term Treasuries and prohibits issuers from paying holders yield simply for holding the token. Regulators missed the July 18, 2026 deadline for implementing rules; the law takes effect by January 18, 2027 at the latest.
A proposal from the OCC presumes that yield paid through an issuer’s affiliates or related third parties counts as prohibited issuer yield. DeFi lending protocols, which simply connect lenders and borrowers, sit outside the ban as currently written.
Where yield still comes from
| Source | Who pays | Rough rate (as of late September 2026, variable) |
|---|---|---|
| DeFi lending (Aave, Morpho, Compound, Spark) | Borrowers | About 3.2–4.9% base USDC supply in the largest markets |
| Tokenized T-bills | US Treasury interest, minus fees | Varies — see the Rates page |
| FDIC-insured high-yield savings | The bank | About 4–5% in early 2026 |
Notice the comparison. A bank savings account paid in the same broad range with deposit insurance. On-chain lending has to be judged on what else it offers — 24/7 access, self-custody, programmability — not on the headline rate alone.
Checking a lending market
Live stablecoin & asset lending rates
| Details | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jupiter Lend | Solana | USDC | 6.08% | — | 6.08% | $488M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Fluid | Ethereum | USDC | 7.05% | — | 7.05% | $134M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Fluid | Arbitrum | USDC | 5.85% | — | 5.85% | $58M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Aave V3 | Ethereum | USDC | 3.74% | 1.81% | 5.55% | $54M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Aave V3 | Arbitrum | USDC | 2.31% | — | 2.31% | $52M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Compound V3 | Ethereum | USDC | 5.66% | 0.00% | 5.66% | $35M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Aave V3 | Base | USDC | 3.77% | 5.00% | 8.77% | $21M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Aave V3 | Ethereum | USDC | 11.66% | — | 11.66% | $19M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Aave V3 | Monad | USDC | 6.81% | — | 6.81% | $14M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Fluid | Base | USDC | 5.85% | 3.45% | 9.30% | $11M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Aave V3 | Polygon | USDC | 3.14% | — | 3.14% | $10M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Kamino | Solana | USDC | 5.92% | — | 5.92% | $8M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Kamino | Solana | USDC | 5.42% | — | 5.42% | $6M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Aave V3 | Avalanche | USDC | 6.24% | — | 6.24% | $5M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| SparkLend | Ethereum | USDC | 3.56% | — | 3.56% | $5M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Euler V2 | Monad | USDC | 6.97% | 1.25% | 8.22% | $4M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Kamino | Solana | USDC | 6.08% | — | 6.08% | $2M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Compound V3 | Arbitrum | USDC | 3.13% | 0.00% | 3.13% | $2M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Aave V3 | BSC | USDC | 3.36% | — | 3.36% | $2M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Aave V3 | Ethereum | USDC | 3.21% | — | 3.21% | $1M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
| Kamino | Solana | USDC | 3.58% | — | 3.58% | $1M | Pool on DefiLlama (opens in new tab) |
No pools match these filters.
APYs are variable and change block by block. Incentive APY is paid in reward tokens whose price can fall. Utilization shown on protocol page.
Education only, not financial advice. Rates change and are not guaranteed. CoinPayBank is not a bank.
SourcesFrequently asked questions
Does the GENIUS Act make DeFi lending illegal?
No. It restricts what stablecoin issuers can pay. Lending through a protocol is a different activity, though future rules could still affect how platforms offer it.
Why did my exchange stop paying USDC rewards?
Platforms tied to issuers may change programs as rules take shape. The OCC proposal treats yield via affiliates as covered by the ban.
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