Best stablecoin yields, November 2026, by risk
The best yield on the major dollar stablecoins (USDC, USDT, DAI, USDe, USD1, USDG, PYUSD and RLUSD) at each risk grade right now: 5.43% APY at grade A on USDC (Aave V3, Base, 0.73% of it rewards), 6.05% at grade B on USDC (Morpho, Ethereum) and 8.18% at grade C on USDC (Morpho, Ethereum), as of 11 Nov 2026, 12:01 UTC.
Best rate at each risk grade, by dollar
Ethena USDe
Lista Lending
The best rate at each risk grade (A lowest, D highest) among offers with a month of steady history and $10M+ that can be withdrawn.
Updated 11 Nov 2026, 12:01 UTC; rates refresh every 3 hours. Each dollar’s page lists all its offers, grade by grade, or compare USDC vs USDT head to head.
3-month US Treasury bill: 4.30% (US Treasury, Nov 10), the benchmark to weigh each rate above against: what a stablecoin yield pays for its extra risks is roughly the amount it exceeds that rate. Tokenized Treasury funds in our feed report a median of about 3.66% across 7 products, after fees. Neither is a risk-free floor for a crypto product: fees, access and risks vary. How the benchmark is sourced.
How earning yield on stablecoins works
Three things decide what a yield is really worth, and none of them is the headline APY on its own:
- Where the yield comes from
- Lending (borrowers pay interest on Aave, Morpho or Compound), liquidity pools and vaults (trading fees), staking (network rewards), or a custodial CeFi earn account. Each has a different risk and durability profile, so the same APY is not equally good everywhere.
- Base APY vs reward APY
- Base APY is organic yield from real demand, fees or staking. Reward APY is extra yield a protocol or a partner pays to attract deposits, often in its own token, and it ends when the funding does. A rate that is mostly reward looks great and rarely lasts, so we show the reward part of a rate on its own (where it is paid through Merkl, read from Merkl itself), with the token it is paid in and the date its funding runs to.
- Access and risk
- Flexible products have no fixed term, but liquidity and withdrawal conditions still apply. Fixed-term products commit funds for a set period; a higher rate is not guaranteed. Either way your coins only earn while deposited, and the yield comes with real risk (smart-contract exploits, a platform freezing withdrawals, the dollar itself losing its peg), which the risk grade and the liquidity shown with each rate help you weigh. Dollars this site lists have lost their peg: USDX trades at under $0.01, deUSD trades at under $0.01, USR trades at $0.03 and msUSD trades at $0.55 (Main Street USD) and $0.80 (Metronome Synth USD).
For the full picture, read our in-depth guide to judging a stablecoin yield by its risk, and, before you deposit anywhere, whether earning yield on crypto is safe.
A worked example: $10,000 in USDC
The same $10,000 of USDC for a year, at the best proven rate of its safest grade and of its riskiest, from the table above. The year counts only the part of each rate that is not temporary rewards.
Grade A: Aave V3
$10,000 x 4.70% APY, its rate without rewards, = $470 a year, about $39.17 a month.
It is quoted at 5.43% APY. Of that, 0.73% is rewards in USDC, a first round funded through 11 Nov 2026. They add about $6.09 a month while they are paid, and are left out of the year above.
Grade C: Morpho
$10,000 x 7.58% APY, its rate without rewards, = $758 a year, about $63.18 a month.
It is quoted at 8.18% APY. Of that, 0.60% is rewards in FXN and USDC, a first round funded through 16 Nov 2026. They add about $4.97 a month while they are paid, and are left out of the year above.
The grade-C offer earns $288 a year more, paid for the risks listed under what each grade’s pick carries on the USDC page.
Frequently asked questions
Does holding a stablecoin automatically earn interest?
Holding a payment stablecoin alone does not establish a right to interest. Yield depends on the specific lending, liquidity, earn or investment product and its terms. Check the source of income, eligibility and withdrawal conditions before comparing the APY.
Can you stake stablecoins?
Not in the proof-of-stake sense: a stablecoin secures no network, so there is nothing to validate. What is sold as stablecoin staking is a deposit that pays a rate: a lending market, an issuer's savings contract (Sky's sUSDS, Aave's sGHO), a staked synthetic dollar (Ethena's sUSDe) or an exchange earn account. The risks are the borrowers', the contract's, the platform's and the dollar's own, which is what the risk grade weighs.
What is the highest stablecoin yield?
The highest listed stablecoin rates are usually the riskiest: thin pools, incentive rewards that can stop at any time, or a dollar trading below its peg, and they tend to carry a C or D grade. BitcoinYield ranks rate and risk together, so the top-ranked rate is rarely the highest number. Every stablecoin rate, sortable by size, is in the All offers list.
Is earning yield on stablecoins safe?
It carries real risk, and a higher APY usually means more of it. The risks include smart-contract exploits, a platform failing or freezing withdrawals, a stablecoin losing its peg, and impermanent loss in liquidity pools. BitcoinYield grades each opportunity from A to D and shows its liquidity, audits and product type so you can weigh the yield against the risk instead of chasing the biggest number.
Which pays more on stablecoins, DeFi or CeFi?
It varies constantly. DeFi lending often pays more when borrowing demand is high, and it is non-custodial (you keep control of your coins), but it carries smart-contract risk. CeFi earn products are simpler and custodial, but you trust the platform with your funds. BitcoinYield compares both live so you can see which is paying more right now for your asset.
Keep reading
- Where stablecoin yield comes from, and how it fails: the four sources of a dollar yield and what breaks each
- Live crypto yield comparison: every asset, every platform, ranked by yield and risk
- Compare two yields head to head
- All platforms we track