DeFi

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols let you put your USDC to work without intermediaries. You can lend it for interest, provide liquidity on decentralized exchanges, or use it as collateral to borrow other assets. DeFi offers higher yields than centralized platforms, but comes with smart contract risk.

Exchanges

Wallets DeFi

Payments

Bridges

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Editor’s picks

Uniswap

Editor’s pickDecentralized Exchange

The largest decentralized exchange. Swap any token for USDC or provide liquidity to earn trading fees.

EthereumBaseArbitrumPolygonOptimism+2

Decentralized Exchange

Curve

Stablecoin-specialized DEX with deep USDC liquidity and low-slippage swaps between stablecoins.

EthereumArbitrumPolygonOptimism+1

Aerodrome

The largest DEX on Base. High USDC liquidity with AERO token rewards for liquidity providers.

Base

Lending Protocol

Aave

The largest DeFi lending protocol. Deposit USDC to earn interest or use it as collateral to borrow.

EthereumBaseArbitrumPolygon+2

Compound

Pioneer of DeFi lending. Simple, battle-tested protocol for earning interest on USDC.

EthereumBaseArbitrumPolygon

Morpho

Lending optimizer that often offers better USDC rates than Aave or Compound by matching lenders directly with borrowers.

EthereumBase

DEX Aggregator

Jupiter

The leading DEX aggregator on Solana. Finds the best USDC swap rates across all Solana liquidity.

Solana

Yield Protocol

Pendle

Yield tokenization protocol. Lock in fixed USDC yields or speculate on future interest rates.

EthereumArbitrum

Stablecoin Protocol

Maker (Sky)

The protocol behind DAI. USDC is one of the largest collateral types backing DAI stablecoin.

Ethereum

Yield Aggregator

Yearn

Yield aggregator that automatically optimizes your USDC across DeFi lending protocols for the best rate.