Real yield
Yield denominated in a major asset (USD, ETH, BTC) sourced from protocol fees rather than token inflation.
Coined ~2022 to distinguish protocols whose distributions came from real revenue (GMX, dYdX, Lido) from those funded by inflation. For stablecoin yield, real-yield ≈ Native yield; both are sustainable in steady state.
Related terms
- Native yieldYield that comes from underlying protocol revenue (interest, fees) rather than token emissions.
- Incentive yieldYield paid in tokens emitted by a protocol or partner, on top of the underlying native rate.
- APY (annual percentage yield)An annualised yield that accounts for compounding — the standard quote for variable-rate lending.