COIN Stock Rises After ‘CUSHY’ Launch – Coinbase Targets Crypto Lending Yield Amid Stablecoin Debate

• CUSHY is built across Ethereum, Solana, and Base, with Northern Trust as administrator and Coinbase Prime as custodian.
• The fund’s launch comes amid U.S. lawmakers debating whether stablecoin platforms should be allowed to offer yield directly to users.
• CUSHY’s structure as a credit fund may allow it to operate outside proposed restrictions tied to stablecoin interest payments.

Coinbase (COIN) shares rose on Thursday after the company launched a tokenized credit fund, and its structure may insulate it from one of the most contentious debates in crypto regulation.

The fund, called CUSHY, targets yield from lending to digital asset borrowers. Shares are tokenized on Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Base. Northern Trust handles administration. Coinbase Prime serves as custodian.

COIN’s stock rose 3.7% in midday trade. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the company remained in ‘neutral’ territory, accompanied by ‘high’ levels of chatter. 

Ethereum’s price edged 0.5% lower in the last 24 hours, unable to climb back above $2,300. It led losses among crypto majors, followed by Solana, which edged 0.2% lower in the last 24 hours. The overall cryptocurrency market moved 0.5% higher, in tandem with Bitcoin (BTC). 

Retail sentiment around Solana on Stocktwits fell to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day, accompanied by chatter at ‘high’ levels. Meanwhile, retail sentiment around Ethereum continued to trend in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, with chatter at ‘normal’ levels. 

CUSHY Might Be A New Way For Coinbase To Earn Yield

The fund targets yield by lending capital to borrowers in the digital asset economy, which includes companies and institutions that rely on stablecoins to move money. Stablecoins are dollar-pegged digital currencies that have become the dominant settlement layer for cryptocurrency transactions, processing more than $33 trillion in volume last year, surpassing Visa. 

The launch comes as the Senate is deadlocked over whether stablecoin holders themselves should be allowed to earn yield. The Banking Committee's January draft of the CLARITY Act would prohibit digital asset service providers from paying interest on stablecoin balances directly, a provision banks have pushed hard for, viewing yield-bearing stablecoins as deposit competition. 

CUSHY is not a stablecoin product. It is a credit fund. Rather than paying yield on a stablecoin balance, it lends to borrowers and distributes returns through a regulated fund structure, a distinction that likely places it outside the scope of what CLARITY is targeting.

If the bill passes with stablecoin yield restrictions intact, CUSHY's structure would remain largely unaffected. If it stalls, the fund operates under the same regulatory ambiguity that has governed institutional crypto credit for years. Galaxy Digital puts the odds of passage at roughly 50-50.

Read also: EXCLUSIVE: Robinhood CFO Says Gold Membership Built On Costco, Amazon Prime, Uber Playbook

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.