Coinbase has introduced DeFi ‘yields’ using the Dai stablecoin for customers in more than 70 countries.
Touted by the exchange as “a new way for Coinbase’s global customers to put their crypto to work and earn yield” and “making DeFi more accessible”, DeFi Yields will enable eligible customers in more than 70 countries worldwide to earn yields on their held Dai with “no fees, lockups, or set-up hassle”.
Launched today, Coinbase customers will be able to earn APY rates of between 2-6% on their Dai. When users opt-in to earn DeFi yields, their Dai is deposited into Compound Finance, a DeFi platform.
The exchange will then use their APY rates to calculate the returns. Coinbase is also covering the gas fees required to access the DeFi protocol.
According to Coinbase, held assets will “remain available to you on Coinbase at all times”, and allow customers to continue to “spend and trade as usual”.
Introducing DeFi Yield — a major milestone in Coinbase's decentralization strategy. We are building the on-ramp to Defi https://t.co/hnQPci5qXX
— surojit (@surojit) December 9, 2021
The exchange was quick to highlight the risks involved with DeFi, saying that the higher rates “reflect both the unique access to global liquidity and increased risk that can come with DeFi”.
It also noted that it “cannot guarantee against potential losses” incurred by users when using the yield feature.
The Dai stablecoin is a cryptocurrency asset ‘pegged’ to the value of one US Dollar. It was launched by Maker protocol and is the “world’s first crypto-collateralised and decentralised stablecoin” according to the platform.
A graphic showing how users can earn yields on their Dai stablecoin
The feature is now available to eligible Coinbase users in more than 70 countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain. To get started, Coinbase users can visit the Dai asset page in the Coinbase app or on Coinbase.com.
However, the feature isn’t currently available for customers in the United States, which may be reflective of the exchange’s recent run-in with the SEC regarding a similar yield product titled ‘Coinbase Lend‘ that wished to use – the Circle-operated USDC stablecoin.
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