Yield-Bearing Stablecoins Gain Momentum as DeFi Adoption Grows

J.D.: This is Rune Christensen. He is the co-founder of Sky Ecosystem, also director of Sky Frontier Foundation. I hope I got all that right. Thank you for being here.

Rune: Super excited to be here.

J.D.: Can you give our viewers, first and foremost, a bit of an introduction to your current work? For anyone a bit unfamiliar? And Rune, what would you say are among your top priorities with the firm here in 2026?

Rune: Absolutely. So Sky backs USGS, which is the world's largest yield-generating stablecoin. And what really sets it apart is that it's entirely focused on tapping into the power of blockchain to deliver efficiency and risk adjusted returns. So it's one of the only stablecoins that can give you a built in native yield right now at 4%, called the Sky Savings Rate.

J.D.: How would you describe the state of digital assets in the United States at the end of January of 2026?

Rune: I mean, it's everything we have been dreaming of over the last ten years. I think as we came out of, you know, the early days of crypto, now, it's been institutionalized, right? All the big institutions, they're all in on stablecoins. Imean, you just mentioned, you know, there's yet another large firm launching a stablecoin at Skye. We are working with BlackRock, Janus Henderson, BNY Mellon, all these large names. They all want to come unchained. They want to tap into the benefits of DeFi. And actually, Sky has like a history of really being one of the major gateways to all of this. So we're super excited with all this momentum and and interest.

J.D.: Talk to me a bit more about that momentum. How do you see these USDS stablecoins kind of changing the game? And I got to imagine to the point of evolving conversation, a lot has changed in just the last year. I feel like now with the new administration, a new look Congress finally willing to take up some of these issues that lawmakers previously kind of punted on for for many years.

Rune: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think fundamentally it's the benefit of stablecoins, right? You have the GENIUS act, and you have this sort of recognition that stablecoins are the future of finance. And so the thing is, right now, there's more than $300 billion in stablecoins that are on the blockchain, but they're not earning a yield. So all this money is idle. And the thing about capital is it wants to generate a return. And this is what's really fueling the growth of USGS. In the last year, it actually doubled in size. And at the Sky Frontier Foundation we're projecting another doubling over the next year. Coming from these, you know, all this capital getting into blockchain through these more sort of more traditional systems that are centralized and then sort of, you know, leaning into the benefits of blockchain, tapping into highly efficient systems like Sky and getting the Sky Savings Rate with USGS.

J.D.: What do people still get wrong about things like DeFi protocols? Or in this, the other parts of the conversation I got to imagine from where you're situated, you still see a lot of misconceptions and maybe some misinformation out there.

Rune: Yeah, I think I mean, a lot of people think all crypto is super risky. And if you look at a system like Sky, I mean, we have an eight year track record. We're using best in class risk frameworks based on Basel, and all of this sort of traditional systems to manage risk. I think that's something that's really also the institutions are coming around, and that's also why we're seeing so many institutions like BlackRock and so on, actually being willing to really work with us and tap into these, this potential.

J.D.: Rune Christensen, co-founder of Sky Ecosystem, also director of Sky Frontier Foundation. Rune. Terrific interview. Come back on the show anytime. Really good to have you.

Rune: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.