Obex Secures $37M to Build Next-Gen Yield-Bearing Stablecoins

Obex Raises $37M to Revolutionize Stablecoins

Web3 incubator Obex recently announced the closing of a $37 million funding round, led by Framework Ventures, LayerZero, and Sky Ecosystem Fund. The funding aims to develop a new generation of yield-bearing stablecoins. Obex's mission is to invest in projects that bring Real World Assets (RWA) on-chain, and to introduce institutional-grade risk management and underwriting standards to this rapidly evolving market. Obex will serve as Sky's newest capital allocator, aiming to provide funding for Sky to scale its operations, while generating returns from projects through its strategies. Vance Spencer, co-founder of Framework Ventures, stated, "The total market capitalization of stablecoins is heading towards a trillion dollars, and I believe the momentum of yield-bearing stablecoins will be even stronger." Stablecoins are a class of cryptocurrencies that maintain price stability by pegging to external assets such as the US dollar. These tokens are rapidly evolving into a massive asset class. Currently, stablecoins are primarily pegged to fiat currencies and government bonds, and are widely used in cross-border payments. The emerging stablecoin category is attempting to provide holders with more competitive returns through back-end investment strategies. Among the stablecoins known as "synthetic stablecoins," Ethena's $8 billion USDe token stands out. This token generates returns for holders by holding spot cryptocurrencies while shorting equivalent derivatives to maintain a neutral trading position. However, the stabilization mechanisms of some tokens may involve hidden risks, leading to their decoupling from the pegged price. The recent attack on the decentralized protocol Balancer triggered risk contagion in the DeFi space, with a series of synthetic stablecoins, including Stream Finance's USDX and Elixir's deUSD, experiencing decoupling phenomena. Obex was created specifically to avoid these stablecoin collapse events. Spencer points out that these incidents show that the stablecoin industry needs more stringent regulation and a more complete technical infrastructure. "Institutions should not be allowed to arbitrarily issue stablecoins worth hundreds of millions of dollars and then let them collapse in an instant," he emphasizes. "The Sky platform has the infrastructure to enable these stablecoins to achieve safe expansion." The Obex incubator program will focus on stablecoins backed by high-quality RWA assets, primarily focusing on three key areas: computing resources (such as tokenized GPU infrastructure), energy assets (including municipal-level solar and battery deployment projects), and loans to large fintech companies (which often struggle to obtain traditional credit support despite their large size). Obex will provide emerging teams with 12 weeks of related services, providing funding, technologies, and the opportunity to use Sky's infrastructure. Teams that pass risk and governance reviews will be eligible for additional financial support from Sky. Sky recently approved, through a governance vote, the investment of up to $2.5 billion in USDS stablecoins into Obex. Spencer describes Obex as the "YC of the stablecoin world," referring to the influential startup accelerator Y Combinator in Silicon Valley. "All over San Francisco, there are stablecoin ads everywhere. We receive five to ten project proposals every day. The industry is booming," he says. Spencer adds: "What is currently lacking is the infrastructure – to provide sufficient support for these ideas, ensure their safety, and truly achieve scale."