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Four new pools joined the report this week, including a Uniswap v4 ETH-USDC pair yielding 27.64% from trading fees, and Maple's USDG credit pool at 4.97%. Three pools dropped out for no longer meeting minimum thresholds.
Stablecoin Yields
As of 17 September 2026, core stablecoin lending yields cluster between 2.84% and 7.44%. Sky Lending's SUSDS on Ethereum and Arbitrum sits at 3.6% across $4.7 billion in total value locked, with a 573-day track record. Aave v3 USDT on Ethereum pays 3.04% against $561 million TVL, backed by 1,306 days of history. Spark Savings USDT on Ethereum yields 3.5% with $396 million TVL.
The highest core yields come from smaller venues. Compound v3 USDC on Ethereum offers 5.76% on $34 million TVL, the product of 1,435 days of operation. Curve's APYUSD-APXUSD pool on Ethereum pays 7.44% on $16 million TVL, a new addition this week with 169 days of history.
Several pools require explanation of their yield mechanism. Ethena's sUSDe pays 4.85% across $1.3 billion TVL. The yield derives from perpetual futures funding rates and can turn negative in a bear market. Sparklend USDS on Ethereum yields 3.73% on $1 billion TVL, but 100% of that APY comes from token emissions rather than protocol revenue.
Morpho Blue vaults require noting that risk parameters are set by curators rather than protocol governance. The STEAKUSDC vault on Base and Ethereum yields 4.44% on $771 million TVL. The GTUSDCP vault, also across Base and Ethereum, offers the same 4.44% rate on $650 million TVL.
Jupiter Lend USDC on Solana pays 3.96% on $475 million TVL, comprised of 3.58% base yield and 0.38% in rewards. This carries a different chain risk profile to Ethereum-based lending. Fluid Lending USDC on Ethereum and Arbitrum yields 3.82% on $223 million TVL. It represents a newer lending design with a shorter track record than Aave, operating for 839 days.
Tokenised Treasuries And Credit
Tokenised treasury and credit products carry counterparty and regulatory risk rather than pure smart-contract exposure. These are fundamentally different risk profiles from DeFi lending.
Maple USDC on Ethereum yields 4.97% on $2.6 billion TVL after 416 days of operation. This is institutional credit and carries real borrower default risk. Maple's USDT pool offers 4.63% on $852 million TVL with the same counterparty exposure. The new Maple USDG pool, added this week, pays 4.97% on $415 million TVL over 97 days.
BlackRock's BUIDL product on Solana and Ethereum yields 3.55% on $1.7 billion TVL, representing tokenised US Treasuries with 174 days of history. Ondo's USDY on Ethereum and Solana offers 3.58% on $1.4 billion TVL, also backed by US Treasuries with 232 days of operation. Invesco's USTB on Ethereum pays 3.54% on $517 million TVL after 167 days.
Centrifuge USDS on Ethereum yields 2.37% on $600 million TVL, backed by tokenised real-world credit over 120 days. The rate dropped 1.63 percentage points since last week. Usual's bUSD0 on Ethereum pays 3.68% on $507 million TVL, but 100% of that yield comes from token emissions. It is treasury-backed with a token incentive layer on top.
Liquid Staking
Ethereum staking yields sit between 2.16% and 2.38% as of 17 September 2026. Lido's stETH pays 2.25% on $23.8 billion TVL after 1,566 days. Binance Staked ETH yields 2.21% on $8.6 billion TVL, but carries exchange-operated custodial counterparty risk across 1,187 days.
Ether.fi weETH on Ethereum and Base offers 2.38% on $5.4 billion TVL. This includes restaking exposure on top of base staking yield. Rocket Pool rETH pays 2.16% on $1.3 billion TVL after 1,337 days. Coinbase wrapped staked ETH yields 2.35% on $470 million TVL. StakeWise v3 osETH pays 2.34% on $389 million TVL, representing a smaller ETH staking pool with a 995-day track record.
Solana liquid staking yields range from 4.81% to 5.34%, structurally higher than Ethereum due to higher network staking rewards and MEV capture. Jito jitoSOL pays 4.84% on $1 billion TVL over 540 days, including MEV rewards. Jupiter Staked SOL yields 5.34% on $518 million TVL after 568 days. Drift dSOL offers 5.07% on $282 million TVL. Marinade mSOL pays 4.81% on $230 million TVL, down 1.19 percentage points from last week.
What Changed
Comparing against 10 September 2026, four pools joined the report. Maple USDG entered at 4.97% on $415 million TVL. Uniswap v4 ETH-USDC on Ethereum appeared at 27.64% on $56 million TVL with 259 days of history, though this carries impermanent loss risk. Curve FRXUSD-CRVUSD launched at 3.97% on $30 million TVL, with 86% of yield from emissions. Curve APYUSD-APXUSD yields 7.44% on $16 million TVL after 169 days.
Three pools dropped out. Midas RWA USDC, previously at 3.05%, no longer meets minimum criteria. Curve oETH-WETH, formerly 1.49%, fell below thresholds. Sparklend USDT at 3.39% also exited.
Notable movements: Uniswap v3 USDC-WETH rose from 13.0% to 19.4%, a 6.4 percentage point increase driven by higher trading volumes. Curve CRVUSD-CBBTC fell from 10.44% to 7.85%. Centrifuge USDS dropped from 4.0% to 2.37%. Fluid Lending ETH jumped from 1.89% to 3.3%. Marinade mSOL declined from 6.0% to 4.81%.
Where The Yield Is Not Real
A pool paying 4% in organic fees and 18% in a governance token down 60% is not an 18% opportunity. These pools rely on emissions that will taper, get diluted, or disappear when the token budget runs out.
Convex cvxCRV pays 10.66% on $45 million TVL, with 100% of APY from reward tokens over 1,457 days. Curve reUSD-scrvUSD yields 7.84% on $27 million TVL, but 90% of that comes from emissions. Only 0.81% is base yield from actual protocol activity.
Curve USDC-RLUSD offers 5.58% on $118 million TVL, with 96% from emissions. Base yield is 0.21%. Aave v3 WETH on Ethereum shows 5.07% across $26 million TVL, but 71% is rewards. The sustainable yield is 1.47%. Aave v3 RLUSD pays 4.98% on $132 million TVL, with 64% emissions dependent.
Curve PYUSD-USDC yields 4.84% on $76 million TVL, 95% of which is emissions over 977 days. Curve DOLA-sUSDe pays 4.09% on $122 million, with 70% from rewards. The base 1.24% is what remains when incentives end. Curve FRXUSD-CRVUSD at 3.97% derives 86% of its yield from emissions on a 0.55% base.
The base yield is the yield. Everything else is speculating on a governance token you are being paid to hold risk for.
How To Verify Any Of This
Every figure in this report is a snapshot as of 17 September 2026. Yields change daily. All data comes from DefiLlama, and every pool links directly to its source page.
To verify Aave v3 USDT at 3.04%, visit this pool page. For Compound v3 USDC at 5.76%, check here. Ethena sUSDe at 4.85% is verified here. Maple USDC at 4.97% appears here. Lido stETH at 2.25% is tracked here. Jito jitoSOL at 4.84% is recorded here. Uniswap v3 USDC-WETH at 19.4% is found here.
The data is public. The links work. If a number looks wrong, click through and check it yourself.
