Steakhouse Financial curates USDC deposits into Morpho lending markets using synthetic stablecoin collateral
Ethena announced June 11 that the Steakhouse High Yield USDC Vault has officially launched on Coinbase, marking the first live integration of Ethena’s collaboration with the cryptocurrency exchange. The vault allows users to deposit USDC, which a smart contract wallet then allocates across lending markets on Morpho.
According to Ethena’s official announcement, “The @SteakhouseFi High Yield Vault has officially launched on @Coinbase, powered by USDe on @Morpho. Coinbase’s user base now has access to a best in class savings rate through the vault, live in the…” The vault is curated by Steakhouse Financial and leverages USDe, Ethena’s synthetic stablecoin.
The collateral mix deployed in the vault can include synthetic stablecoin-linked assets such as USDe and USDtb. Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of Coinbase, has disclosed an investment in ENA, Ethena’s governance token, signaling institutional backing for the protocol.
The vault is available to eligible US users excluding New York, as well as select international markets. Base, Coinbase’s layer-2 blockchain, is being used as a distribution layer for the DeFi strategy. Yields generated through the vault are dynamic and variable rather than guaranteed, reflecting the underlying nature of Morpho lending markets.
The launch represents a shift toward integrating decentralized finance yield products directly into centralized exchange platforms. By routing user deposits through Morpho’s lending infrastructure, Coinbase is offering retail customers access to DeFi yield without requiring them to manage self-custodial wallets or interact with protocols directly. The use of synthetic stablecoin collateral, however, introduces concentration risk tied to the solvency and design of Ethena’s USDe mechanism.
Steakhouse Financial’s curation role involves selecting which lending markets receive deposits and managing the allocation strategy. This intermediation layer sits between Coinbase users and the underlying Morpho lending protocol, creating additional operational dependencies.
The vault’s integration into Coinbase’s platform extends Ethena’s reach beyond its native user base and positions USDe as a collateral asset within mainstream exchange infrastructure. Prior to this launch, such yield products required users to navigate multiple DeFi protocols independently.
