USDe yield vs Treasury-backed stablecoins: 5 key metrics

As of mid-2026, two engineered products dominate the institutional conversation: Ethena's sUSDe, a variable-return token constructed on a delta-hedged basis, and Ondo's USDY, a tokenized secured note backed by short-duration US Treasuries. Both nominally sit at one dollar. Both pay holders. The mechanics that produce those payments are not the same, and the stress-test scenarios diverge in directions that matter for any holder deciding where to deploy capital.

Yield mechanics: funding rates versus T-bill coupons

sUSDe does not earn a coupon. It earns whatever Ethena's synthetic dollar structure earns, minus what the protocol retains. The principal token is USDe, minted when a user deposits eligible collateral and opens the hedged position. The reward-bearing token, sUSDe, is obtained by staking USDe. According to Ethena's documentation, the rewards distributed to sUSDe are sourced from protocol revenue, principally short perpetual-futures funding, plus futures basis, staked-ETH rewards, and rewards on liquid stablecoins held within the backing.

This is a fundamentally different cashflow profile from a Treasury-backed token. USDY is structured by Ondo as a tokenized secured note whose yield is a function of the underlying portfolio of short-duration US Treasuries. The yield is reflected either through a rising USDY redemption value over time, or, for the rebasing variant rUSDY, through additional token units while the reference price remains at $1.00. The cashflow source is the coupon and roll yield on the underlying bonds, not a derivatives carry trade.

The yield on sUSDe is what the perpetual funding market pays to be short. The yield on USDY is what the US Treasury pays to hold a six-month bill.

The engineering consequence is unequal. sUSDe's payout is procyclical to derivatives-market sentiment. When funding is positive, holders receive. When funding turns negative, Ethena pays the funding on the short leg and the protocol revenue can become negative. Ethena explicitly warns that this can happen. USDY's payout is a function of the Treasury curve and the weighted average maturity of the underlying portfolio, which moves slowly and is not driven by leverage or net positioning in crypto derivatives.

Collateralization: delta-neutral synthetic versus tokenized secured note

Ethena describes USDe as a synthetic dollar backed by crypto assets paired with approximately equal-notional short derivatives positions. The protocol labels this delta-neutral. When the hedges are matched, the system requires 1:1 collateralization rather than overcollateralization. In Ethena's June 2026 governance update, the protocol's reported backing ratio was 101.51%, with an approximately $62 million reserve fund intended to absorb periods of negative combined revenue.

USDY is structured differently. Ondo reports USDY as a tokenized secured note, not a conventional stablecoin. As of July 22, 2026, Ondo reported underlying assets of $2.17 billion against $2.13 billion of USDY outstanding, for a 105.80% collateralization ratio. The portfolio was reported as 98.72% US Treasuries, with a 175.42-day weighted average maturity and a 3.81% yield to maturity.

The structural difference is not collateral quality alone. It is the location of the risk. In USDe, the risk sits in the derivatives leg and the funding direction. In USDY, the risk sits in the duration of the underlying Treasuries, the credit of the issuer of the secured-note structure, and the operational risk of the tokenization and custody chain.

Performance metrics: variable APY versus maturity yields

Ethena reports sUSDe APY on a weekly cadence, with the published rate reflecting trailing 30-day performance and a separate month-end spot reading. In Ethena's June 2026 governance update, the trailing 30-day sUSDe APY was 3.85% on July 1, 2026, while the month-end spot APY was 3.8%. Ethena states that rewards are accounted for weekly and then distributed in smaller payments during the following week, and explicitly warns that the published APY can differ from a rate annualized from a single recent onchain reward payment.

USDY's headline metric is the portfolio yield to maturity. Ondo reported 3.81% yield to maturity on a 175.42-day weighted average maturity as of July 22, 2026. Yield to maturity on a portfolio of short-duration Treasuries is a different metric than a 30-day annualized APY: it rolls as the portfolio rolls, but the underlying cash-coupon delivery is mechanical and predictable to the extent that short-rate expectations are stable.

The two numbers are close in absolute terms. They are paid by different counterparties for different reasons. The 3.85% on sUSDe is a derivative of the perpetual-futures funding rate plus basis plus ancillary revenue, and the figure is a 30-day realization. The 3.81% on USDY is the yield to maturity of a Treasury portfolio, weighted by duration. For a holder evaluating which yield to take, the engineering question is which counterparty is paying and under what conditions they stop paying.

Five key metrics separate the two products:

1. Source of yield. sUSDe's payout is derivatives-funded and can be negative. USDY's payout is a Treasury coupon and remains positive as long as the short rate is positive.

2. Yield variability. Ethena reports that BTC funding averaged 11% and ETH funding averaged 12.6% in 2024, with sUSDe APY averaging 19% that year. By July 2026, the trailing 30-day figure had compressed to 3.85%. USDY's yield to maturity moves with the 175.42-day WAM and the underlying Treasury curve.

3. Distribution frequency. sUSDe rewards are accounted for weekly and distributed in sub-weekly payments. USDY's reference-token price is updated each business day, and rUSDY reverts to a daily cadence at a fixed time.

4. Backing transparency. Ethena reports a backing ratio, a reserve fund figure, weekly third-party proofs of reserves, and monthly custodian attestations. Ondo reports a collateralization ratio, an asset breakdown, a WAM, and a yield to maturity, with daily third-party reserve attestations.

5. Eligibility. Both products require KYC/AML whitelisting for direct mint and redeem. Ethena states that US users cannot access its application. Ondo says USDY is for qualifying non-US investors.

Operational cadence: distribution and disclosure

The two products disclose and pay at different speeds. Ethena's accounting cadence is weekly. The protocol calculates sUSDe APY over a defined window, then injects the rewards into the staking contract, and the rewards accrue to stakers over the following week through smaller payments. This produces a published APY that is a function of the entire window, not a function of the latest transaction. A user who checks the latest single reward payment and annualizes it does not get the published number.

Ondo's cadence is daily on the price-reference level. The USDY reference-token price is updated each business day, and rUSDY reverts to a daily cadence at a fixed time. The underlying portfolio's yield to maturity is reported on a current-data basis, with the latest published figure dated July 22, 2026.

Disclosure depth differs. Ethena reports a backing ratio, a reserve fund figure, and a third-party proof-of-reserves cadence. Ondo reports a collateralization ratio, an asset breakdown, a weighted average maturity, and a yield to maturity. Neither arrangement should be treated as an audit, insurance, or government guarantee. Both are attestations of a specific snapshot, with their own scope, methodology, and counterparty chain.

Access and compliance: KYC and redemption rails

Neither product is freely retail-accessible. Ethena's documentation states that USDe minting and redemption require KYC/AML whitelisting and that US users cannot access its application. Ondo's documentation says USDY is for qualifying non-US investors, with onboarding required to mint or redeem. Both products effectively gate direct primary-market access to the protocol's issuance and redemption logic.

Secondary-market access is a different question. sUSDe is widely traded on AMM pools and DEX order books, and the underlying USDe mints and redeems through participants who have completed the whitelisting. USDY trades on selected venues and is structured to flow through Ondo's own mint-and-redeem rails for primary issuance. The depth of secondary-market liquidity, bid-ask spreads, and maximum redemption capacity were not established from the sources used here, and any holder evaluating material position size must verify these independently.

Theoretical limits and stress-test vulnerabilities

The two yield products have different failure modes. sUSDe carries funding risk as a yield metric: when perpetual funding turns sharply negative, Ethena pays the funding on the short leg and the protocol revenue can compress or invert. The reserve fund is designed to absorb this, and the protocol may shift backing toward liquid stablecoins earning approximately Treasury-rate returns in low- or negative-funding conditions. The base-case yield is therefore not a floor; it is a function of market state.

USDY's stress profile is different. The product carries duration risk, issuer risk on the tokenized secured-note structure, and operational risk on the tokenization infrastructure. The Treasury yield is a function of the short-rate curve and the weighted average maturity, and Ondo's reported 175.42-day WAM means the portfolio rolls roughly twice a year. In a scenario where the short rate falls sharply, the yield to maturity compresses. In a scenario where the tokenized-note structure or its custody chain fails, the holder's claim on the underlying can be impaired.

The relevant comparison is not which product pays more. It is which mechanism the holder is being paid to be exposed to.

For a holder evaluating capital deployment, the engineer-first question is which mechanism's risk profile is compatible with the underlying mandate. A short-rate exposure is a different position from a funding-rate exposure. The two products are not substitutes. They are two engineered returns on a dollar, and the engineering deserves to be read before the yield. For broader context on how on-chain dollar instruments fit into the wider digital infrastructure, see reporting on the digital industry.