RealFi launches on Cardano to offer institutional lending yields on stablecoins

RealFi launched on the Cardano network on October 1, 2026, enabling lenders to earn annual yields of up to 9 percent by allocating idle stablecoins into institutional credit and trade finance. The platform generates revenue from loans and bonds rather than standard crypto trading, introducing its dollar-pegged token USDrf alongside a yield-bearing version called sUSDrf.

Yields on sUSDrf are sourced from money market funds, government Treasuries, corporate bonds, private credit, and direct loans to financial technology lenders in Kenya and Uganda. Depositors face credit risks, as they bear initial losses in the event of borrower defaults, and must wait seven days to convert sUSDrf back into USDrf. The project has received backing from Cardano builder Input Output and several million dollars in personal investment from founder Charles Hoskinson, though access is currently restricted for users in the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.

The initiative comes as Cardano holds approximately $70 million in stablecoins, with its total value locked in decentralised finance falling by more than half since May to roughly $67 million. Meanwhile, ADA traded around $0.25 on October 3, down 4 percent over 24 hours. The platform aims to emulate the growth seen on the XRP Ledger, where tokenised U.S. Treasuries expanded nearly eightfold to roughly $418 million by April 2026, while Ethereum continues to hold the majority of tokenised credit and stablecoins globally.