Stablecoins don’t appreciate in value, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make money. Stablecoin issuers have built some of the most profitable businesses in finance through reserve yields, transaction fees and institutional services. You can earn yield on stablecoins through third-party mechanisms, such as DeFi lending, centralized yield products, and liquidity provision. Liquidity provision in decentralized exchanges lets providers earn a share of the fees paid to trade digital assets, with Balancer reporting over 331,000 yield-bearing liquidity providers and roughly $20.99 million in 24-hour trading volume generating about $21,060 in yield.
There are some ways for stablecoin holders to earn money, but these are often relatively minor profits, in stark contrast with the stablecoin issuers that have quickly become some of the most profitable businesses in finance. Tether, the issuer of USDT, reported $5.7 billion in net profits in the first six months of 2025. Its main competitor Circle, issuer of USDC, reports hundreds of millions in revenue and reserve income quarterly. Clearly, stablecoin issuance is a highly profitable and scalable business model.
The reserve yield model starts with the deposit: when someone deposits a dollar with an issuer, the issuer mints one stablecoin and holds that dollar in reserves, typically US Treasuries, cash, or similar liquid assets. The stablecoin then circulates freely in the market while the underlying dollar sits in the issuer’s reserve account, quietly earning yield that the issuer keeps. For the largest issuers, even low yields can generate billions of revenue given hundreds of billions in circulation. Beyond reserve yields, issuers monetize through minting and burning spreads, transaction fees, and institutional services.
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