Low-Risk Yield Options: 4 Stablecoin Strategies to Navigate Market Volatility

In April 2025, the global financial markets experienced severe fluctuations due to tariff policies. Trump announced the implementation of "reciprocal tariffs" on major trading partners, setting a baseline tariff of 10% and imposing higher rates on specific countries. This triggered a strong market reaction, with the S&P 500 significantly shrinking in market value in a short period, and Bitcoin prices also experiencing sharp fluctuations.

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell stated that tariffs could raise inflation and suppress growth, but the Fed will focus on long-term data and will not intervene in the market by cutting interest rates. Several investment banks have raised the probability of a U.S. economic recession, and the market outlook is filled with uncertainty.

In this context, investors may consider low-risk stablecoin yield products in the DeFi space to cope with market volatility. The following introduces four yield strategies based on stablecoins for reference.

Spark Saving USDC ( Ethereum )

Users can deposit USDC into the Spark platform to participate in savings. The earnings come from the Sky savings interest rate (SSR), generated by cryptocurrency collateral loan fees, U.S. Treasury investments, and providing liquidity to other platforms. USDC is converted to USDS at a 1:1 ratio through the Sky PSM and deposited into the SSR vault to earn earnings, with the value of the sUSDC tokens increasing as earnings accumulate.

Risk assessment: Low. USDC has high stability, and Spark has undergone multiple audits, but attention should be paid to the potential impact of market volatility on liquidity.

Berachain BYUSD|HONEY (Berachain)

Users can provide funds for the BYUSD/HONEY liquidity pool on Berachain's native DEX BEX. Earnings mainly come from BGT rewards and transaction fees within the pool. BGT is Berachain's non-transferable governance token, which can be burned 1:1 for BERA, and share the fee income from core dApps.

Risk Assessment: Low to Moderate. BYUSD and HONEY are stablecoins with lower price volatility risks. However, BGT rewards may fluctuate due to emission adjustments.

Uniswap V4 USDC-USDT0 Liquidity Pool (Uniswap V4)

Through the Merkl platform, users can provide liquidity for the USDC/USDT pool of Uniswap V4. Uniswap V4 introduces a "hook" mechanism, allowing developers to customize pool functions such as dynamic fee adjustments and automatic rebalancing, enhancing capital efficiency.

Source of income: UNI token incentives.

Risk Assessment: Low to Medium. The USDC/USDT pool is a stablecoin pair with lower price volatility risk, but attention should be paid to smart contract risks and potential declines in returns after the incentive period ends.

Echelon Market USDC (Aptos)

Users can deposit USDC into the funding pool of the Aptos mainnet on the Echelon Market platform to participate in supply. Echelon Market is integrated with the Thala protocol, offering USDC supply interest and thAPT rewards. thAPT is the deposit certificate of Thala, which can be exchanged for APT at a 1:1 ratio.

Risk Assessment: Low to Medium. USDC has high stability, but attention should be paid to the smart contract risks in the Aptos ecosystem and the impact of thAPT redemption fees on returns.

Summary

The above four strategies provide investors with different low-risk stablecoin yield options on various chains, which can be chosen based on individual risk preferences and investment objectives. During market volatility, these products may help investors stabilize their portfolios and reduce risk exposure. However, all investments carry risks, and investors should carefully assess and make informed decisions.