Real Yield vs. Fake Yield on Solana

Ben Nadareski, Founder of Solstice, was trading a delta neutral strategy at quarter-billion scale before he decided to make it public. The result is USX, a synthetic stablecoin on Solana that gives retail and institutions access to the same institutional-grade trading strategies that hedge funds have kept behind high water marks for decades.

In this conversation recorded at Solana Breakpoint 2025, Ben breaks down how Solstice generates real yield through funding rate arbitrage, basis trades, and hedge staking. Not token emissions, not subsidies, not looping strategies that collapse in six months. He walks through why the question every investor should ask is simple: is the yield sustainable, and can it scale? Solstice's answer is a 15% return over the last 12 months with a Sharpe ratio around 7, backed by third-party attested returns and real-time proof of reserves.

The conversation also covers how TradFi reacts when you tell them about 15% yields in crypto, why the crypto mercenary capital class keeps looking for token incentives that don't exist here, and how Solstice is going deep into Solana's DeFi stack through partnerships with Kamino, Loopscale, and Exponent to make composable yield-bearing assets actually usable. Ben closes with why he chose to build exclusively on Solana, a collaborative, non-zero-sum ecosystem where the most exciting evolution in financial markets is happening right now.

Key Timestamps:
00:00 - Cold open: "I say 15% yields with a 7 Sharpe... they say get the hell out of my office"
02:22 - From Deus X Capital to building Solstice on Solana
03:36 - Delta neutral strategy and USX stablecoin explained
08:50 - Fake yield vs real yield: "Is it sustainable? Is it scalable?"
15:05 - TradFi's first reaction and the education gap
17:03 - Retail usability: Kamino, Loopscale, Exponent partnerships
19:49 - Why Solana: "The most exciting evolution in financial markets is not on Wall Street"
21:08 - Solana stablecoin growth: $2B to $14B and counting

Recorded at Solana Breakpoint 2025.

Guest: Ben Nadareski, Founder of Solstice, https://solstice.finance/
Host: Drew Rogers
Follow Stabledash on X: @stabledash
Follow Solstice on X: @solsticefi
Follow Ben on X: @ben_solstice

The content of this video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice.