Stablecoin issuers back fiat-pegged tokens with liquid, interest-bearing assets like short-duration treasury bills or yield-bearing collateral. These issuers route a tiny basis-point percentage of their reserve float yield or mint/redeem mechanisms to open public infrastructure.
Reserve Float Yield Drip
Definition. A micro-percentage of the reserve yield generated by the stablecoin’s fiat or crypto-collateral backing is continuously streamed to the CaaS rail.
Value-stack tap. Market primitive (reserve collateral engine).
Cost-bearer class. Project paid, surplus (taken from interest accumulated on reserve treasury holdings).
Example protocols. MakerDAO / Sky (USDS, sDAI), Ethena (USDe), Liquity (LUSD).
Redemption / Minting Surcharge
Definition. A microscopic basis-point transaction fee levied during institutional stablecoin minting or redemption processes.
Value-stack tap. Execution surface (minting/redeeming gateways).
Cost-bearer class. User paid (paid by arbitrageurs and institutional users converting large sizes).
Example protocols. Tether (USDT), Circle (USDC minting APIs), Ethena.
CDP Stability Fee / Interest Stream Skim
Definition. For decentralized stablecoins minted via Collateralized Debt Positions (CDPs), borrowers pay a continuous stability fee (accruing interest rate) on their active debt. A fraction of this ongoing debt fee is programmatically split off as it accumulates.
Value-stack tap. Smart Contract Surface (global credit ledger interest accounting logic).
Cost-bearer class. Project paid, surplus (derived from the protocol’s base borrow interest margin).
Example protocols. Liquity (LUSD/BOLD borrowing parameters), MakerDAO / Sky (USDS stability fees), Curve (crvUSD borrow rates).
Flash Mint Premium Fee
Definition. Major stablecoins support a programmatic “flash mint” feature allowing users to mint millions of tokens with zero upfront capital, provided they burn the entire amount within the same atomic transaction block. A micro fee attached to this zero duration borrow is routed directly to the CaaS rail.
Value-stack tap. Smart Contract Surface (global credit ledger interest accounting logic).
Cost-bearer class. User paid (funded directly out of the flash execution profits captured by MEV bots).
Example protocols. MakerDAO / Sky (Flash Mint Module), Frax Finance.
Peg Stability Module (PSM) Skim
Definition. A Peg Stability Module allows users to swap the protocol’s stablecoin 1:1 for external trusted stablecoins (e.g., swapping USDC for USDS) to enforce a tight price floor. During high-volatility peg deviations, a localized dynamic fee is charged on these swaps, a fraction of which feeds the CaaS rail
Value-stack tap. Smart Contract Surface (PSM swap pools).
Cost-bearer class. User paid (extracted from arbitrageurs capturing immediate market pricing inefficiencies).
Example protocols. Sky (PSM), Frax Finance (AMO operations).