Moneda Explains: Earnings Accounts

If your bank pays you close to nothing on your savings, it is not because your money cannot earn. It is because the bank is not designed to share.

Banks generate returns on deposits every day. They lend, invest, and manage money as part of their balance sheet. The difference between what they earn and what they pay you is their profit. That gap has a name: the spread.

For most people, saving has quietly become a bad deal. You do the patient part, and someone else earns the upside.

Moneda's Earnings Accounts exist for a simple reason: saving should earn, and the way it earns should be transparent.

What is an Earnings Account?

An Earnings Account is a savings-style account built on stablecoins. Instead of your money sitting idle, it is supplied into a lending market where borrowers pay interest to access liquidity. That interest becomes your earnings, and your balance grows while you hold it.

The rate is variable and rises or falls with market demand because it is set in an open lending market rather than decided behind closed doors. It reflects real borrowing activity rather than promotional offers or temporary incentives.

Why this matters

This is bigger than a product feature.

Savings should be the foundation of financial confidence. The problem is that the old system stopped rewarding it while continuing to profit from it.

Earnings Accounts represent a shift towards finance that is more transparent and more aligned with the person providing the capital.

A world where saving is boring again, but not pointless.

That is what Moneda is building. Finance without middlemen, borders, or fine print. A simple interface, with modern financial rails underneath.

Finance without the noise. Just better money.

Where does the yield come from?

The most important question to ask of any product that offers yield is where that yield comes from.

Yield does not appear out of thin air. Either someone is paying for it, or it is being subsidised.

In Moneda's case, earnings come from borrowers paying interest.

A simple example makes this tangible. Imagine someone holds an asset such as gold but does not want to sell it. They may want to remain exposed to its price, avoid triggering a tax event, or simply need liquidity for a short period. Instead of selling, they deposit that asset as collateral and borrow against it. Borrowing has a cost, and that cost is interest. That interest is where your earnings come from.

This is also why the projected annual yield changes. It reflects supply and demand in the underlying lending markets, not a fixed rate that can disappear overnight.

What happens when you move money into a Moneda Earnings Account?

You move funds into the Earnings Account, your balance begins to earn, and you can withdraw without lock-ups.

Behind the scenes, Moneda deploys funds through Morpho, a decentralised lending protocol built specifically for efficient, over-collateralised lending. Morpho does not take directional market risk or speculate with funds. Instead, it acts as infrastructure that routes capital into carefully defined lending vaults, each governed by clear rules around collateral, borrowing limits, and liquidation mechanics. Vaults are curated by professional risk managers who decide which markets are used and under what conditions, allowing lending to remain disciplined while adapting to changing market dynamics.

How USD and EUR are deposited to your Earnings Account

For USD balances, Moneda uses USDC, the fully regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Circle. USDC is designed to be redeemable one-to-one for US dollars, with weekly reserve disclosures and monthly third-party assurance reports.

That USDC is supplied into the Spark USDC Vault on Morpho, a lending vault curated by Spark Protocol that allocates across over-collateralised lending markets.

For EUR balances, Moneda uses EURC, Circle's euro-denominated stablecoin, supplied into the Steakhouse EURC Vault on Morpho. This vault dynamically allocates EURC across lending markets with a conservative risk profile.

In both cases, the principle is the same. Borrowers post collateral, borrow stablecoins, and pay interest. That interest flows back to depositors.

Why can this earn more than a traditional savings account?

Banks are not optimised to reward savers. They are optimised to maximise their spread. If they can access deposits cheaply, they will. If they can earn more than they pay you, they will keep the difference.

Open lending markets operate differently. Borrowing is faster and more convenient because borrowers do not need to navigate approval processes or credit committees. They simply need to provide sufficient collateral in exchange for funds. This simplicity increases the velocity of borrowing and lending activity.

In addition, borrowers can execute instant, same-transaction loans (known as flash loans), which increase the velocity of capital movement and, in turn, support higher market-priced returns for lenders.

Earnings Accounts reflect what borrowers are actually willing to pay. When borrowing demand rises, rates rise. When liquidity is abundant, rates fall. You earn what the market pays, rather than what a bank decides to offer.

So is it safe? What are the real risks?

It is important to be clear. Earnings Accounts are designed to be conservative, but they are not completely risk-free.

Morpho is widely regarded as best in class from a risk perspective within decentralised lending. The protocol has been operating for several years, has undergone multiple independent audits over time, and today secures billions of dollars in assets across its vaults. Its design prioritises over-collateralisation, automated liquidations, and clearly defined risk parameters.

Asset exposure is also limited by design. Moneda uses fully regulated stablecoins with deep liquidity, rather than volatile or experimental assets. This reduces exposure to extreme price movements and supports reliable market functioning during periods of stress.

That said, risks still exist.

There is stablecoin risk. USDC and EURC are designed to maintain a one-to-one peg, but stablecoins can experience de-pegs or redemption pressure in extreme scenarios. However, this is now largely mitigated due to the fact that both stablecoins are regulated under the EU's MiCA regulation.

There is smart contract risk. These systems are software. Audits reduce risk, but they do not remove it entirely.

There is liquidity risk. Under normal market conditions, withdrawals are available immediately. In rare periods of extreme market stress, liquidity can be temporarily constrained, as in any lending market.

There is also network risk. Moneda operates on Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by Coinbase. Whilst it inherits Ethereum's security model, it can still experience congestion or outages.

For a more detailed breakdown of these risks and how Moneda approaches them, refer to the FAQ on our website.

If someone promises high yield with zero risk, they are either wrong or hoping you do not ask questions.

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For the curious: the deeper mechanics

At a deeper level, these lending markets are governed by a combination of collateral requirements, real-time pricing, and automated risk controls rather than human discretion.

Collateral values are tracked continuously using price feeds sourced from multiple markets. As market prices change, borrowing capacity adjusts automatically. This means risk is recalculated constantly, not periodically, and positions are managed proactively rather than reactively.

Liquidations are not designed as a punishment mechanism but as a stabilisation tool. When a position becomes unsafe, third-party participants are incentivised to step in, repay part or all of the debt, and receive collateral in return. This creates a competitive process that helps ensure positions are closed efficiently and that the system remains solvent even during sharp market moves.

Interest rates are determined algorithmically based on utilisation. When more capital is borrowed relative to what is available, borrowing becomes more expensive. When liquidity is abundant, rates fall. This pricing mechanism aligns incentives between borrowers and lenders without the need for central rate setting.

Vaults introduce an additional abstraction layer. Instead of lenders being exposed to a single market or collateral type, capital is allocated across multiple markets according to predefined rules. Curators adjust allocations over time based on observed risk, liquidity conditions, and market structure, rather than chasing short-term yield spikes.

The result is a system where returns emerge from real economic activity, risk is continuously repriced, and capital moves towards where it is most efficiently used. Over time, yields reflect not optimism or speculation, but what borrowers are genuinely willing to pay for liquidity under transparent conditions.

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