Figment introduced in November 2023 a joint product with OpenTrade and Crypto.com that offers institutional stablecoin staking with a historically announced 15% APR yield. The offering converts staking rewards from SOL into stablecoin-denominated stable yield through a hedging strategy and targets institutional investors seeking liquid yield with explicit legal and operational controls.
The yield engine combines staking rewards on the Solana network with a derivatives layer that neutralizes SOL price exposure. SOL staking rewards provide the base of the yield, estimated at 6,5%–7,5% on the native asset, while the perpetual futures strategy on SOL seeks to convert that return into a stable flow in stablecoins, resulting in the historically announced 15% APR. “Any company with stablecoins can access a new category of yield options,” said Jeff Handler, co-founder and CCO of OpenTrade.
Perpetual futures are derivative contracts without an expiry date that allow positions to be kept open while exposures are hedged through funding adjustments. This definition contextualizes the tool used to neutralize price risk.
OpenTrade acts as manager of the design and execution of the hedging strategy; Figment operates the institutional validator on Solana that generates the rewards; and Crypto.com provides institutional custody services and exchange functions. Figment states it provides services to more than 1.000 institutional clients and manages approximately $18.000 M in staked assets, which supports the operational scale presented by the product.
Stablecoin staking: structure and performance
The product emphasizes legal and operational protections: Crypto.com holds the underlying SOL tokens in fully segregated accounts with a security interest in favor of investors, a clause designed to isolate those assets from the exchange’s operational funds.
The offering also does not impose lock-up periods for withdrawals, which grants immediate liquidity after deposit in stablecoins.
Risks to consider include operational dependence on the Solana validator (risk of slashing or other failures), counterparty risk and execution of the futures strategy, and exposure to market events that may affect the basis of the hedge (funding costs, slippage, liquidity in derivatives markets). For treasuries and managers, transparency on fees and net performance measurement (with operational costs already deducted) are key elements to verify in due diligence.
The proposal articulates a path for institutional capital to obtain yield in stablecoins by combining staking on Solana and hedging with derivatives, with segregated custody and operational accesses designed for institutional clients. The verified next step for interested parties is to request the granular breakdown of fees, the execution histories of the hedge, and the legal documentation that supports the segregation and the security interest.
