Best USDC Interest Rates for Passive Income [in 2025]

Many crypto users are interested in earning a passive income. This is one of the top methods of creating wealth in this industry, accessible via a range of different avenues. And well-known route for this is with earning interest on USDC– but who offers the best interest rates? Let's investigate this, and find out what types of earnings you can passively make with USDC.

What is USD Coin (USDC)?

USD Coin (or USDC) is a stablecoin, meaning it’s a cryptocurrency with its price pegged to a fiat currency. In this case, it’s pegged to the US dollar, therefore 1 USDC = 1 USD.

Related content: What is USDC?

How Do I Earn Interest On My USDC?

Earning interest on USDC typically involves placing your cryptocurrency into a savings account of some sort. This is sometimes referred to as staking your USDC, although it does not serve the same function or purpose as regular staking (such as with cryptocurrencies like Ethereum or Solana, which run on full proof-of-stake blockchains). Rather, the term is a misnomer, and is used as a way of making interest and savings accounts feel similar to staking. 

To learn more about USDC interest rates check out our beginners guide here.

The Best USDC Interest Rates

Let's take a look at some of the best USDC interest rates in the market.

Ledn

With a reputation for being transparent and secure, Ledn is a great choice for people looking to earn a passive income with USDC and other crypto assets. This occurs via its interest-bearing Growth Accounts, which is a crypto savings tool that currently offers up to 8.5% APY on deposits over 100,000 USDC, and 6.5% APY on deposits below 100,000.

These Growth Accounts are ring-fenced, meaning their assets are isolated from the risks of other Ledn products and are only exposed to the counterparties that generate the interest in them. Ledn's USDC Growth accounts' primary objective is to fund their overcollateralized retail loan book. As a result, the USDC deposits are currently collateralized with the Bitcoin used to secure these loans, which have never experienced a loan loss, making it the most secure way to earn interest on USDC.

If you deposit 10,000 USDC in a Ledn Growth Account, then you would earn 650 USDC after a year, as the APY would be set at 6.5%. However, a 100,000 deposit would yield 8,500 USDC a year, as the APY would be at 8.5%.

Aave

Aave is a pioneer of the decentralized lending and saving industry, and is often many people's first port-of-call when they are looking for a completely blockchain-based service. The project offers USDC variable APY of 5.0% This means that if you stored, for instance, 10,000 USDC via Aave, then you’d earn 500 USDC.

Nexo

Nexo was once one of the top lending platforms in the US, however a settlement with the SEC caused them to pull away from the region. That being said, Nexo's savings accounts are still used in many other countries. Its USDC APY maxes out at a staggering 14.0%.

While this looks enticing, there is a caveat– this rate is only offered if you’re a part of their coveted loyalty program, which requires depositing a certain about of USDC, holding a sizable portion of Nexo’s own token, and opting for payouts partially in that token. Regardless, if you did fit this criteria, then a deposit of 10,000 USDC would yield 1,400 USDC.

Crypto.com

Crypto.com is a wide-ranging crypto ecosystem, suitable for a huge selection of blockchain-based activities. It is often known for its trading services, however many people use it for setting up savings accounts. Its USDC interest rates reach up to 8% APY. This is unlocked to those who deposit an equivalent of $40,000 to the platform, and who choose a 3-month term. If you deposited 10,000 USDC, then you’d be receive 6% APY for a fixed 3-month term, which would yield 600 USDC. 

Compound

Like Aave, Compound is a decentralized network offering lending and saving options. Compound's interest rates fluctuate regularly, and are subject to a wide array of variables (including market conditions), so it can be hard to offer a definitive percentage, but at the time of writing this, if you were to supply the service with USDC then your APY would be set to 2.01%.

This means that if you deposited 10,000 USDC for a year, you’d receive 201 USDC. However, that’s supposing the APY does not fluctuate during that time, which is extremely unlikely. For some, this can be off-putting, which leads them to stick with centralized exchanges and services that offer more stability.

Related Content: Aave vs. Compound

Goldfinch

Goldfinch is a decentralized lending protocols that allows people to earn interest on their USDC by investing it into certain companies and projects. It takes a strikingly novel approach to lending and borrowing in the crypto markets, where people can earn interest by adding their USDC to specific pools that connect to different businesses and endeavors. The pool you choose has a huge impact on how much interest you can earn. 

At the time of writing, Goldfinch only has one open pool, their “Senior Pool”. This offers a variable APY of 9.55%. If you deposited 10,000 USDC, then you’d receive 955 USDC, assuming the rate stayed the same. Like other decentralized protocols, this is affected by crypto market conditions and dynamics.

KuCoin

KuCoin is a leading crypto platform, often revered for its centralized exchange. However, it also provides lending and earning tools to its users. For USDC, their APY is set to 0.6% for their flexible term loans. At the time of writing, they appear to not have any fixed term loans on offer. This means that a 10,000 USDC deposit for a year would yield a mere 60 USDC.

Assessing Safety: Choosing the Right Platform for Your USDC

It’s not always obvious what platform is the safest, as they all present themselves as being secure and reliable. Therefore, if you want to cut through the noise and understand how to assess a network or service, you need to know what markers to look for.

By far, the most important sign of a safe platform is whether it has been well-received within an audit. This is true for both DeFi and CeFi projects, although both work a little differently. If you’re considering a CeFi platform then you’ll want to look for recognized certificates being issued by well-regarded third-party auditors. For instance, with Ledn, it was issued a SOC 2 Type 2 Certificate from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). This is a form of audit which deems them as being secure, available, confidential, privacy-focused, and displaying processing integrity. It can be treated as a bill of good health.

DeFi services can also be audited, but not exactly in the same way. Rather, their audits focus more on their code, architecture, and smart contracts. More emphasis needs to be placed on the fundamental building blocks of the network than in other areas, as a faulty codebase can lead to exploits. The top auditors in the space are Trail of Bits, CertiK, and OpenZeppelin.

Is USDC a safe stablecoin?

All cryptocurrencies have some inherent risks, and this is true for the stablecoin market as well. It’s a relatively new asset class, and so there is a lot of experimentation and learning curves to navigate, not only for yourself but also the organizations running them. That being said, USDC has a very strong reputation for being safe within this industry. 

This is because it is a stablecoin that is backed by a 1:1 reserve ratio of its fiat currency counterpart, the US dollar. This means for every USDC in circulation, the company that manages USDC (Circle) has a US dollar in reserve. Equivalent pricing is maintained, thus preventing the regular occurrence of major inconsistencies. You can even check the legitimacy of Circle's 1:1 reserve claim by freely looking through their monthly attestation report history.

With that being said, there have been complications for the asset. For instance, in the past, USDC became depegged from the US dollar, meaning that it lost its equivalent value for a brief period of time. In a nutshell, this was due to people panic selling the asset in relation to Circle's affiliation with Silicon Valley Bank. However, since then, the panic has subsided as Circle was able to show they had acted fairly and legitimately despite any connections. 

Is Earning Interest on USDC Worth It?

USDC interest rates can reach remarkably high percentages, provided you pick the right service and lock away a decent amount of the asset. For this reason, it is certainly worth considering as an option for earning a passive income. 

For instance, with Ledn's Growth Accounts, you can currently earn up to a staggering 8.5% APY on your USDC, making this a highly competitive rate. With enough crypto, and enough time, this can yield potentially huge returns. It all depends on how long you're willing to wait, and how much USDC you're open to placing in a Growth Account.

There is another reason why people might turn to earning interest on USDC. For a considerable amount of time, interest rates for the US dollar have been getting higher along with inflation, yet the interest rates offered by banks are still much lower than what you can find with dollar-backed stablecoins such as USDC. This is partially because banks have operating overheads, stringent regulatory requirements, and a traditional business model that rarely allows for the same flexibility and competitiveness as newer financial platforms.

How Do You Maximize Your Returns With USDC?

The first step to maximizing your returns is to choose the right service. This should be somewhere that has a trustworthy reputation, and is known to offer decent a APY. Ledn is definitely a strong contender for this, as it is known to be open and transparent with its clients, and its rates are highly competitive.

The next step is to figure out how much USDC to lock away and for how long. While you want high yields, it should fit within your own financial framework, and should not place you in an uncomfortable economic position. A professional financial advisor can provide specific guidance, help you avoid costly mistakes, and create a personalized plan that aligns with your financial goals and values.

Conclusion

Considering how high USDC interest rates can get, and how simple it can be to make returns, it’s understandable why so many people choose this asset for earning a passive income. Top services, such as Ledn, offer a stress-free and clear method of earning at a high interest level, whilst also offering risk-mitigating solutions and maintaining a strong reputation for trustworthiness and transparency. This makes Ledn a sound choice for building a passive income with USDC.

Sponsored by 21 Technologies Inc. and its affiliates (“Ledn”). All reviews and opinions expressed are based on my personal views.