Class rule for off-chain credit sold as a stablecoin

Ketju does not approve this kind of structure, whatever the protocol’s quality, and makes no finding against the protocol itself. A class rule never chooses a client position or amount.

Scope

Dollar-labeled tokens and pools whose yield or redemptions depend on private loans, off-chain collateral, centralized counterparties, or managed derivatives and basis trades. Funds of short-term government debt fall outside this rule, and Ketju reviews each one on its own.

The rule

Ketju does not approve a product when an advisor cannot independently check its assets, liabilities, counterparties, liquidity and loss allocation as often as needed to present it to a client as close to cash.

When the rule applies

• No one can independently check the main assets, liabilities, collateral or hedge positions on chain.
• Redemption depends on borrower repayment, manager action, custodian or exchange access, or the sale of assets that cannot be sold at once.

Research

How it works

Private-credit products lend to named or pooled borrowers. Basis products pair spot collateral with short derivatives or exchange positions. In both cases an on-chain token carries cash flows whose key records, collateral sales or hedge trades happen partly off the chain. The yield pays the holder for borrower, custodian, exchange, strategy and liquidity risk.

Who controls it

Managers choose borrowers, venues, collateral, hedge limits, valuation agents and redemption policy. Holders may see the smart-contract governance. The asset manager, custodian, special-purpose vehicle, exchange account or loan servicer still holds the powers that matter in a crisis.

Losses and incidents

In the 2022 credit cycle, permissioned pools and named borrowers did not prevent defaults that came together or slow recoveries. A basis strategy stays delta-neutral only while collateral, exchange access, margin and hedge trades work as designed. Funding yield can fall or turn negative with no contract failure.

Withdrawals

A token can promise frequent redemption while its loans mature slowly or its exchange collateral is pledged elsewhere. As a result, queues, gates, market discounts or manager discretion tend to appear just when holders want cash. A token that trades on a market can still hold assets that cannot be sold quickly.

Comparison

Tokenized Treasury funds that Ketju reviews one by one expose clients to custody and issuer control, but they hold transparent, short-term government assets with established pricing. Overcollateralized lending that Ketju approves can show collateral and liquidation state on chain. Both still carry risk, but in each the source of yield and the redemption route are easier to see.

Review triggers

• Audited reports on assets and liabilities, counterparty concentrations, legal seniority, loss allocation and liquidity tests become continuously available and independently verifiable.
• The product changes to hold only short-term government debt and qualifies for Ketju’s own review of tokenized Treasury funds.

Sources

Each source shows its type, the date Ketju accessed it, and the claims it supports. “Primary” means first-hand or governing material; it does not mean that Ketju verified the source independently.

• Maple documentation: Lending protocol overview · primary · accessed 2026-08-14
  Supports: private credit, pool delegates, defaults
• Ethena documentation: Solution design · primary · accessed 2026-08-14
  Supports: basis strategy, counterparties, redemption
• USD.AI documentation · primary · accessed 2026-08-14
  Supports: off-chain collateral, redemption, credit
• BIS: Prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures · secondary · accessed 2026-08-14
  Supports: redemption risk, reserve assets, counterparty risk

Memos under this rule

Each memo listed applies this version of the rule. The depth of research on each protocol varies by memo; where a memo has named sources and fuller research, the memo shows them.