RWAs You Can Use For DeFi: USDY on Orca

⚠️ NOTE: USDY is not, and may not be, offered, sold, or otherwise made available in the US or to US persons. USDY has not been registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, a amended ("Act") or pursuant to securities laws of any other jurisdiction, and may not be offered, sold or otherwise transferred in the US or to US persons unless registered under the Act or an exemption or exclusion from the registration requirements thereof is available. Additional restrictions may apply. Ondo USDY LLC, the issuer of USDY, is not registered as an investment company under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Nothing herein constitutes any offer to sell, or any solicitation of an offer to buy, USDY. Acquiring USDY involves risks. A USDY holder may incur losses, including total loss of their purchase price. Past performance is not an indication of future results.

Ondo does not endorse, Ondo does not make any representation or warranty whatsoever (express or implied, including but not limited to any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement) regarding, and ONDO SHALL NOT HAVE ANY LIABILITY WHATSOEVER WITH RESPECT TO ANYONE'S USE OF, any third-party products, services or technologies referenced herein. Additional terms apply. Visit http://ondo.finance/usdy for details.

Real World Assets (RWAs) have often been touted as the groundbreaking development that brings traditional finance onchain. But a key challenge standing in the way of adoption has been the question of, “How can I use them?” - a valid question, with many iterations of RWAs representing things like obscure ownership rights or illiquid products.

In the case of Ondo's US Dollar Yield (USDY), an RWA backed by US Treasuries, it’s simple. USDY has many features similar to a stablecoin, functioning as an extension of cash management, allowing it to be used in many of the same ways but with the notable difference of daily yield accrual for holders, derived from US Treasuries returns. With one of the fastest-growing user bases for tokenized US Treasuries, USDY is illustrating the benefits, and usability, of RWAs onchain, notably on Solana, where over 50% of all US Treasuries token holders live (as USDY holders).

In this four-part series, we will explore how RWAs are finally becoming relevant in DeFi and how USDY on Solana, and RWAs as a whole, are creating a new category of cash management.

USDY and Orca: Making Real-World Onchain Finance Liquid

In Solana DeFi, Orca has emerged as a fixture of healthy markets, providing the liquidity to sustain an ecosystem of traders, developers, and innovators. For countless DeFi users, Orca is the first place their transactions get pointed to.

As RWAs like USDY begin to introduce traditional financial products to Solana’s DeFi ecosystem, Orca plays a key role. Orca serves as the gateway for RWAs to become effective DeFi tools, offering the liquidity engine needed to use RWA products across Solana’s ecosystem. USDY is already a first-of-its-kind – a yield-bearing, tokenized US Treasuries-backed asset on Solana. Add in a deep liquidity profile supported via Orca’s pools, the same features that make traditional financial markets thrive, and USDY is widely composable and deployable as a DeFi asset with yield.

RWAs You Can Actually Use on Solana

Historically, RWAs have been great in principle, but challenged with a lack of utility onchain. Ondo’s USDY is an RWA developed with composability in mind, providing a familiar stable asset experience but backed by tokenized US Treasuries with a predictable yield. Despite this, adoption in a mature ecosystem can be a challenge, and traditional stablecoins still hold a certain comfort factor for many users—people know them, and they’re widely accepted. To break through as an alternative cash management tool, RWAs must be highly composable and get critical mass to take advantage of network effects. Such is the value of liquidity on Orca, enabling liquid deployments across Solana for USDY.

USDY’s uptick in adoption on Solana is a product of its versatility. As users become more aware that they can tap into USDY across Solana’s DeFi applications powered by Orca, they recognize that USDY isn’t just a static asset—it’s a DeFi-ready asset that can be used across a range of strategies, from cash management to payments and beyond.

Some notable ways Orca allows you to use RWAs like USDY on Solana:

Liquidity Provision: Orca allows users to deposit RWAs into liquidity pools that generate fees for users based on RWA activity across the Solana ecosystem.
DEX Trading: Platforms like Orca’s front end offer exchange functions, creating liquid, low-slippage RWA access across Solana.
Liquidity Management: Orca’s concentrated liquidity powers platforms like Kamino, Solana’s #1 DeFi platform, that enable users to tap into automated liquidity management, providing DeFi composability for RWAs like USDY.
Ecosystem Health: Products that provide a view of ecosystem data and liquidity profiles, like Solscan and Token Terminal, are informed by Orca pools, allowing a clear vantage point into the health of RWA markets.

Bringing RWAs to the Forefront of Solana DeFi

Solana is becoming a home for RWAs, as the advantage of a low-fee, high-velocity ecosystem captures users and innovation to match. As user activity grows, so too does the advancement of RWAs from simple onchain 'certificates' of immutable ownership to actual onchain financial tools. This movement is being led by assets like USDY, giving users the benefits of native yield and real-world backing. RWAs you can actually use represent the 1->100 development for the convergence of DeFi and TradFi, and as such, Orca is a leader of this movement, powering nearly every other integration we will cover. RWAs don’t just mean idle, complex assets anymore—they can be practical options like USDY, ready to use as a cash management strategy.