The average bank deposit rate in developed countries sits under 1%. In DeFi, stablecoin lending rates track US Treasury yields at 4-6%, and yield-bearing stablecoins built on strategies like delta-neutral perpetual funding push 8-15%. One protocol, Ethena, crossed $10 billion on this approach alone last year.

This is the first crypto episode on Odys Podcast: the High Stakes Growth Show. It exists because the gap between traditional banking yields and DeFi infrastructure returns has become too wide for any serious founder, operator, or growth leader to keep ignoring.

Wilbert Johan runs the stablecoin and real-world asset ecosystem at Pendle - the largest on-chain interest rate market in decentralized finance. He breaks down where on-chain yields actually come from, how to distinguish real yield from token inflation, what smart contract risk looks like versus trusting a centralized institution, and why in 3-5 years the financial products you use may run on DeFi protocols behind the scenes without you ever touching a wallet.

If you manage business cash reserves, personal investments, or just want to understand what changed since the last crypto cycle - this is the 26-minute briefing that reframes the conversation from speculation to infrastructure.