Coinbase, Compound Labs Launch USDC High-Yield Accounts

The launches come as USDC continues to draw investor interest. USDC is the most trusted stablecoin by investors, according to University of Zurich.

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Coinbase is debuting a crypto savings account where users can earn 4% annually by lending out USDC
  • Compound Labs, in partnership with Fireblocks and Circle, launched a new subsidiary, Compound Treasury

It was a big week for USD Coin (USDC), the dollar-backed stablecoin that Coinbase issues in partnership with Circle, lending rates. 

Coinbase is debuting a crypto savings account, the exchange announced Tuesday. Users can earn 4% annually by lending out USDC. 

Decentralized finance (DeFi) firm Compound Labs, in partnership with Fireblocks and Circle, launched a new subsidiary, Compound Treasury Monday. Treasury Accounts will convert US dollars to USDC and deploy them to the Compound Protocol. Users can also earn 4% interest. 

Circle revealed plans for Circle Yield, a new DeFi application that is used for Compound Treasury. The product offers returns based on the duration of the deposit. 

The launches come as USDC continues to draw investor interest. USDC is the most trusted stablecoin by investors, according to a new University of Zurich report. The stablecoin’s market capitalization also grew by over 50% in the weeks following the crypto market crash in March 2021.

 

University of Zurich report
Analysis of Stablecoins during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic, University of Zurich

Pre-enrollment for Coinbase’s account is now open. The exchange is betting that users will be lured with high yields. 

“Everyone wants to get the best interest rate available for the assets they hold. But interest rates have decreased steadily over the past few decades, making it difficult to earn meaningful passive income on your assets,” Coinbase said in the announcement. “The national average for a traditional savings account hovers around 0.07%, with high-yield savings accounts still falling well short of even 1%.” 

Coinbase’s account is not FDIC or SIPC-insured and offers less interest than many similar, competing accounts, such as Celsius and Nexo, which offer 13% and 12%, respectively. The USDC product launch comes shortly after the exchange’s bitcoin lending program. Coinbase offers users up to $20,000 in credit with an interest rate of 8% for bitcoin-backed loans for contracts that are 12 months or less. 

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

LTIPPanalysis.png

Research

This report is a retroactive analysis of Arbitrum's Long Term Incentives Pilot Program (LTIPP). We collect relevant data at a protocol level and review bi-weekly updates to analyze recipients, their strategies, and the impact of the incentives on high level growth metrics. In particular, we want to highlight outperformers and underperformers, and glean any best practices or lessons learned for protocols distributing ARB incentives in the future. The overarching goal is to synthesize lessons learned that the DAO can reference as it begins thinking about future incentives programs–namely, the working group for incentives that is being actively discussed–especially as Timeboost introduces new conditions for trading and economic activity.

article-image

Sponsored

AI project Zerebro intersects the spheres of artificial intelligence, finance, art, music, and culture

article-image

Allmight is focused on furthering the United States’ leadership in crypto

article-image

The conditions Charles Schwab is waiting for before jumping headfirst into crypto could take shape soon

article-image

The FCA’s director of payments and digital assets shared some takeaways from chats with crypto companies and law firms

article-image

Let’s take a look at how US equities typically perform this time of year and what we might see in the coming days

article-image

Lumina introduces transparency and permissionless integration via an OP stack-based optimium, challenging traditional oracle designs