Cardano's Stablecoin Base Sees Record Growth Amid DeFi Decline

Cardano's founder Charles Hoskinson has been working on 'banking the unbanked' for years, and his latest project, RealFi, aims to make this vision a reality. On October 1, RealFi launched USDrf, a dollar-token system that connects stablecoin capital to a portfolio of direct loans, private-credit funds, public credit, investment-grade collateralized loan obligation ETFs, Treasuries, and money-market instruments.

The launch comes at a critical moment for Cardano, as its DeFi footprint has shrunk by more than 50% over the past year. However, the network's stablecoin base is expanding towards an all-time high near $70 million.

RealFi offers two main products: USDrf and sUSDrf. Eligible retail users can acquire USDrf and stake it for sUSDrf, which offers variable returns generated from the underlying portfolio. Direct minting and redemption with the issuer are reserved for verified institutional partners.