年化超 13%，Apyx กำลังนำ "แอปพลิเคชันคริปโตที่สำคัญที่สุดของ Bitcoin" มาสู่เชน

Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author｜Liao Liao

The cryptocurrency market, especially the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, is constantly searching for underlying assets that offer stability, high liquidity, and high yields. As the yields of traditional Real World Assets (RWA, such as US Treasuries) have leveled off, the DeFi market's desire for high-yield, yield-bearing assets has sparked a new paradigm shift. Against this backdrop, stablecoin projects based on STRC are rising at an astonishing pace.

Stablecoins, as the cornerstone of the crypto world, have evolved from early fiat-collateralized types (like USDT, USDC), through crypto-asset over-collateralized types (like USDS), to algorithmic stablecoins (like the collapsed UST), and the recently emerged basis-trading stablecoins (like USDe).

However, the current market pain point is that stablecoin yields below 10% or even 5% can no longer meet the risk premium requirements of on-chain capital, while excessively high algorithmic yields often come with systemic risks like "death spirals."

STRC-driven stablecoin projects have emerged at the right time to fill this gap. Judging by the growth rate of TVL, on-chain capital flow, and community discussion heat, building stablecoins based on STRC has become one of the most watched niche tracks in the current DeFi market.

Especially with the support of yield protocols like Pendle and Morpho, these products are no longer just simple "stablecoins" but are evolving into a new type of asset that combines stability, profitability, and financial composability.

What is STRC?

STRC refers to a "Bitcoin credit instrument" launched by Strategy, the Bitcoin treasury company.

Editor's note: For a detailed explanation of STRC, please refer to "Thousands of Words Explaining STRC: Strategy's New Magic for Raising Money and Buying Bitcoin."

Simply put, Strategy raises funds from the market by issuing STRC, and then uses the proceeds to continuously purchase Bitcoin. In return, STRC holders receive a floating interest yield of over 12.3%, paid monthly. Unlike traditional bonds, STRC is a preferred stock, not a debt, meaning it has no fixed maturity date. Meanwhile, its dividend rights are superior to common stock (MSTR), giving it strong "fixed-income-like" characteristics.

The most unique aspect of STRC is that it effectively converts Bitcoin's long-term appreciation expectations into a "Digital Credit" product acceptable to traditional capital markets.

To keep STRC's price stable near its $100 face value, Strategy dynamically adjusts its dividend rate – when STRC falls below face value, it increases the yield to attract capital; when STRC rises above face value, it suppresses the premium through additional issuance.

Since Strategy launched STRC, market reaction has been quite positive, thanks to its relatively stable "peg" performance (all brief deviations have been successfully corrected) and its relatively attractive yield.

As of this writing, the total issuance size of STRC has exceeded $10.4 billion, accounting for over 60% of the total issuance of preferred stock in the entire market in 2026.

Earlier this month, Strategy founder Michael Saylor stated in an interview with David Lin that digital credit products like STRC are the killer app for Bitcoin (see "Exclusive Interview with Michael Saylor: I Said I Would Sell Bitcoin, But I Will Never Be a Net Seller").

However, traditional STRC shares typically circulate only among Wall Street hedge funds, regulated institutions, and high-net-worth accredited investors. On-chain DeFi users, hindered by entry barriers, compliance requirements, and capital channel limitations, find it difficult to directly access this high-yield product that is sweeping through traditional financial markets.

This is precisely the focus of Apyx, the subject of this article.

Apyx's mission is to act as a bridge between Wall Street's digital credit instruments and on-chain DeFi legos. Through an innovative on-chain financial architecture, it brings the excess yield opportunity of STRC on-chain, creating a new generation of yield-bearing stablecoins that combine high liquidity, composability, and higher returns.

Deconstructing Apyx: Potentially the Highest-Yielding Stablecoin on the Market

Unlike many stablecoin projects that rely on airdrop narratives and lack genuine yield sources, Apyx's core competitiveness lies not just in its "higher APY," but in its backing by traditional financial capital capabilities and its on-chain protocol composability.

In terms of background, the core supporting entity behind Apyx is the US-listed treasury company DeFi Development Corp. This entity not only participated in Apyx's incubation and strategic investment but also provided a crucial bridge connecting traditional capital markets with the on-chain world.

In terms of product design, Apyx employs a dual-token model: apxUSD + apyUSD.

Among these, apxUSD is closer to a traditional stablecoin, pegged to $1, primarily serving as a medium of exchange and providing on-chain liquidity. apxUSD does not automatically accrue yield; it functions more like a highly liquid "base dollar asset" suitable for trading, payments, lending, and other scenarios.

The true core value of Apyx is embodied by apyUSD. Users can lock up apxUSD to mint apyUSD (with a 20-day unlock period). Similar to Lido's wstETH, the price of apyUSD increases over time as the underlying yield accumulates. In other words, apyUSD itself is the carrier of yield.

Currently, the real-time annualized yield of apyUSD is approximately 11%, with an expected annualized yield exceeding 13%. Against the backdrop of continuously declining overall yields for dollar-pegged stablecoins, a stablecoin asset with a genuine yield source and double-digit returns is naturally highly attractive.

Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that unlike many stablecoin projects that rely on token subsidies for short-term high yields, Apyx's core yield comes from STRC dividends. This makes the yield source more stable and sustainable.

Data from Defillama shows that since its launch at the end of February this year, the issuance of apxUSD has rapidly reached 502 million tokens in less than three months, making it the 21st largest stablecoin protocol by issuance in the DeFi world.

Of course, yield alone is not enough to sustain a stablecoin ecosystem. What truly determines a protocol's ceiling is the asset's composability and liquidity efficiency. In this regard, Apyx has clearly done extensive work – currently, Apyx is deeply integrated with multiple mainstream protocols including Morpho, Curve, and Pendle.

On Morpho, users can use apyUSD as collateral to borrow other assets, enabling a strategy of "earning yield while releasing liquidity." More aggressive players can even engage in looped borrowing to amplify their yield exposure. Curve handles the liquidity aspect. By creating trading pools pairing apxUSD with mainstream stablecoins like USDC and USDT, Apyx ensures low slippage even during large swaps, which is crucial for a stablecoin system.

As for Pendle, it might be the most explosive component of the entire Apyx ecosystem. Because Pendle can separate a yield-bearing asset into Principal Tokens (PT) and Yield Tokens (YT), apyUSD is no longer just an asset for "holding and collecting yield." It evolves into a tradeable, leveragable, speculative yield product. Conservative users can lock in fixed yields via PT, while more aggressive users can amplify their bets on future yields by buying YT.

It is precisely this high degree of composability that has allowed Apyx's ecosystem to expand significantly faster than many traditional stablecoin protocols.

In a sense, what Apyx is doing is not just "issuing a high-yield stablecoin." It is attempting to build an on-chain credit market centered around STRC.

Points Program and Point Accumulation Strategy

In today's DeFi market, "points" are no longer just a simple user incentive tool; they are more like a way to pre-price future token rights. Especially after the market re-entered a phase of liquidity competition, a project's ability to continuously attract capital often depends on two things: whether the yield is high enough, and whether the token expectations are clear enough.

Apyx's ability to rapidly gather significant TVL in a short time is largely due to its current points system. According to the official plan, Apyx's points program adopts a phased approach:

• Season 1 ended on May 22, 2026. The official team has confirmed that 5% of the total token supply will be allocated to early participants from this phase.
• Following Season 1, Season 2 started immediately and will run until October 11, releasing an additional 6% in token incentives.
• After Season 2 ends, Apyx will have its TGE and airdrop on October 13.

This rhythm is quite clever. On one hand, the deadlines for each Season naturally create a "sprint window," encouraging capital to flow in faster before the end. On the other hand, the seamless transition into Season 2 avoids the "TVL crash post-Season 1" problem common to many projects. Most importantly, Apyx has confirmed the TGE and airdrop dates, giving users a clearer interaction timeline.

For the market, this means Apyx's airdrop expectation is not a short-term event but more like a multi-month liquidity war. From the user's perspective, the key question is "how to earn points more efficiently."

Apyx has provided the point-earning efficiency for different operations on its website. Simply put, it can be divided into "Basic Mode" and "Advanced Mode."

"Basic Mode" involves simply holding apxUSD (10x points) or apyUSD (1x points). "Advanced Mode" involves flexibly utilizing the integrated protocols mentioned earlier. For example, borrowing or lending apxUSD on Morpho (5x points), or creating an LP for apxUSD on Curve (12x points). The most efficient strategy, however, relies on Pendle: directly holding YT for apxUSD yields 32x points, while creating an LP for apxUSD on Pendle provides a 24x point multiplier.

Track Competition and Apyx's Advantages

As a nascent track in its very early stages, the STRC-driven stablecoin market currently doesn't have many truly core players. In terms of capital scale, market attention, and the pace of ecosystem expansion, the projects that have truly formed influence are essentially only Apyx and Saturn. In a sense, the entire "digital credit stablecoin" track is gradually forming a duopoly competitive landscape.

Although Saturn launched earlier, Apyx has now overtaken it in terms of data. Overall, Apyx's competitive advantages are reflected in several dimensions:

First, absolute TVL scale and underlying asset holdings advantage. Apyx has outlined a clear strategic plan in its project positioning – to become the largest institutional holder of STRC globally. As of the end of April, its holdings had reached $125 million (compared to Saturn's $50 million). Once Apyx achieves its strategic goal, it will monopolize the on-chain yield distribution rights based on Strategy's digital credit at the source. Furthermore, for a stablecoin, Apyx's TVL scale advantage translates into deeper trading pools, lower slippage for large swaps, and more robust liquidity efficiency, safely accommodating the entry and exit of large capital.

Second, higher yield with no risk of yield suspension. For the target customer base of Apyx and Saturn, the core demand is sustained and predictable yield. Compared to Saturn's sUSDat, Apyx's apyUSD static holding yield consistently maintains an annualized advantage of around 2%. Additionally, and very importantly, sUSDat's design is deeply tied to the exchange rate of STRC. When STRC falls below the "Watermark" due to ex-dividend or other reasons, the yield accrual for YT-sUSDat is completely suspended. Apyx has no such issue.

Third, clearer TGE expectations and no VC selling pressure. Users in the crypto industry most disdain "indefinite point PUA." Compared to Saturn, Apyx has clearly disclosed its TGE date and the timeline and token rights for each Season's point activities. This makes users psychologically more inclined to stay. Additionally, Apyx's development did not involve VC funding. It has only a minimal amount of early investment, partly from the founding contributors themselves. This means no private round institutions dumping on retail investors before they can profit, making the token rewards corresponding to points more ideal.

Potential Risks and Outlook

It is crucial to emphasize that Apyx's high yield does not mean "risk-free." Essentially, Apyx is still a yield product built on top of Bitcoin's credit structure, not a traditional risk-free dollar asset. Therefore, before discussing its growth potential, one must acknowledge the risk sources behind it.

First, the credit risk of the underlying asset itself. The core logic of STRC rests on Strategy and its Bitcoin balance sheet. In other words, the market's willingness to accept STRC's yield is fundamentally based on the belief that Strategy can continuously leverage its Bitcoin assets to maintain its credit structure, refinance, expand its balance sheet, and make interest payments.

If the Bitcoin market experiences extreme volatility, such as a sharp crash in a short period, or a significant decline in market risk appetite for Strategy's leverage model, the market pricing, liquidity, and yield structure of STRC could be affected. Although this kind of "systemic risk" does not mean the protocol will collapse immediately, it does imply that Apyx's yield source has a certain degree of correlation with the Bitcoin cycle itself.

Second, the typical DeFi composability risk. Because Apyx is deeply integrated with protocols like Morpho, Curve, and Pendle, its ecosystem is built upon highly complex on-chain composability. The advantage of this structure is its ability to significantly enhance capital efficiency. However, the trade-off is that the risks across the system become more interconnected.

For example, a smart contract vulnerability, liquidity crisis, or liquidation mechanism anomaly in one underlying protocol could transmit risk throughout the ecosystem via LP positions, collateral, and yield-splitting structures. This is especially true as looped lending and high-leverage strategies become more common, often amplifying market volatility.

Therefore, Apyx is best understood as a "medium-to-high risk, high-yield" on-chain credit asset, rather than a replacement for traditional over-collateralized stablecoins. However, it is precisely this risk stratification that gives Apyx its unique appeal in the current market environment.

The stablecoin market today faces an increasingly evident problem: yields are rapidly becoming commoditized. As US Treasury yields decline and traditional arbitrage opportunities narrow, the real yields that most stablecoin protocols can provide are becoming increasingly limited. The market needs new yield sources, and users are willing to take on a certain degree of risk for higher returns.

Over the past few years, from LSD and Restaking to Pendle's yield trading, the entire DeFi market has been validating the same thing: users have never shied away from risk; what they truly reject are "assets without a favorable risk-return ratio." The emergence of STRC provides the market with a new "risk versus reward" option.

In the past few months, the continuous growth in TVL for Apyx and the entire STRC track demonstrates that the market is voting for this narrative with real capital.