WOO X Research: What to do about market Fluctuation? Take a look at these low-risk return options.

Author: WOO X Research

In April 2025, Trump's tariff policy brought wild volatility to global financial markets. On April 2, he announced the implementation of "reciprocal tariffs" on major trading partners, setting a benchmark tariff of 10% and imposing higher tariffs on specific countries: 34% in China, 20% in the European Union, and 32% in Taiwan (exempt for semiconductor products). On April 5, the 10% benchmark tariff came into effect, and global supply chain tensions intensified. On April 9, Trump suspended high tariffs for 90 days (until July 8) on 75 countries that did not implement retaliatory measures, but further raised tariffs on China to 145%, citing China's retaliatory tariffs of 34% on US goods. The European Union, for its part, announced the suspension of retaliatory tariffs on 21 billion euros of American goods until July 14 to gain room for negotiations.

These policies have triggered a strong reaction in the market. The S&P 500 lost $5.8 trillion in market value within four days after the tariff news was announced, marking the largest single-week loss since the 1950s. Bitcoin prices have fluctuated between $80,000 and $90,000. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated on April 17 at the Chicago Economic Club that tariffs could drive up inflation and suppress growth, but the Fed will not intervene in the market by cutting interest rates, focusing instead on long-term data. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have raised the probability of a U.S. economic recession to 20% and 45%, respectively. Corporate profits and prices may be affected, and the market outlook is quite murky. In such a time, what should investors do? Low-risk stablecoin yield products in DeFi might be a good choice to stabilize during this turbulent period, and the following will introduce four types of yield products based on stablecoins.

This article does not constitute investment advice and investors should conduct their own research.

Spark Saving USDC (Ethereum)

Connect your wallet through the Spark official website (spark.fi), select the Savings USDC product, and deposit USDC.

Note: Spark is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that provides the front-end interface for the blockchain-based liquidity market protocol SparkLend. Users can participate in lending and borrowing activities through this platform.

Source of income: The income generated from saving USDC comes from the Sky Savings Rate (SSR), which is supported by revenues generated from cryptocurrency collateral loan fees, U.S. Treasury investments, and providing liquidity to platforms like SparkLend. USDC is exchanged for USDS at a 1:1 rate through the Sky PSM and deposited into the SSR vault to earn income, with the value of the sUSDC token increasing as the income accumulates. Spark provides liquidity for USDC.

Risk Assessment: Low. USDC's stability is high, and Spark's multiple audits reduce smart contract risk. However, it is important to be aware of the potential impact of market volatility on liquidity.

Current data situation:

Data source: Spark official website

Berachain BYUSD|HONEY (Berachain)

Visit the Berachain official website, enter BeraHub, connect a Berachain compatible wallet, select the BYUSD/HONEY pool on the Pools page, and deposit BYUSD and HONEY to provide liquidity. Users will receive LP tokens, which can be staked in the Reward Vaults to earn BGT.

Note: Berachain is a high-performance, EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain that adopts an innovative Proof of Liquidity (PoL) consensus mechanism to enhance network security and ecological vitality by incentivizing liquidity providers. This product is the BYUSD/HONEY liquidity pool, deployed on Berachain's native DEX BEX, where HONEY is Berachain's native stablecoin (multi-asset collateralized, soft-pegged to the US dollar), and BYUSD is another stablecoin on the Bear Chain.

Source of Income: The yield is mainly derived from BGT rewards (3.41% APR, based on staking weight and BGT emissions allocated by validators, updated every 5 hours) and in-pool transaction fees (0.01% APR, from the share of transaction fees). BGT is Berachain's non-transferable governance token, which can be burned 1:1 to BERA (irreversible) and share in the fee revenue of core dApps such as BEX, HoneySwap, and Berps (the specific proportion is determined by governance). The BYUSD/HONEY pool has a low risk of price fluctuations due to the characteristics of the stablecoin pair.

Risk assessment: low to moderate. BYUSD and HONEY are stablecoins with stable prices; Berachain's PoL mechanism has been audited by Trail of Bits and others, and the smart contract risk is low. However, BGT rewards rely on validator allocation and governance decisions and can fluctuate due to emissions adjustments.

Current data situation:

Data source: Berachain official website

Provide Liquidity to Uniswap V4 USDC-USDT0 (Uniswap V4)

Connect your wallet through the Merkl official website (app.merkl.xyz) and deposit USDC or USDT into the "Provide Liquidity to Uniswap V4 USDC-USDT0" product to provide liquidity for Uniswap V4.

Note: Merkl is a DeFi investment aggregator platform that provides users with a one-stop solution covering opportunities such as liquidity pools, lending protocols, and more. The product provides liquidity to Uniswap V4's USDC/USDT pool via Merkl. Uniswap V4, launched in 2025, introduces "hooks" that allow developers to customize pool features such as dynamic fee adjustment and automatic rebalancing to improve capital efficiency and yield potential.

Source of income: UNI token incentives.

Risk Assessment: Low to Moderate. The USDC/USDT pool is a stablecoin pair with lower price volatility risk, but attention should be paid to smart contract risks and the potential decline in returns after the incentive period ends.

Current data status:

Data source: Merkl official website, Uniswap official website

Echelon Market USDC (Aptos)

Visit the Echelon Market official website (echelon.market), connect an Aptos compatible wallet, select the USDC pool on the Markets page, and deposit USDC to participate in the supply. Users will receive supply certificates, with earnings accumulating in real-time.

Note: Echelon Market is a decentralized cryptocurrency market based on the Aptos blockchain, developed using the Move programming language. Users can borrow or lend assets through non-custodial pools, earning interest or using leverage. This product allows users to deposit USDC into the funding pools on the Aptos mainnet, participate in supply, and earn yields. Echelon Market is integrated with the Thala protocol, which provides stablecoins and liquidity layers on Aptos, generating deposit receipt tokens such as thAPT.

Source of income: Income includes USDC supply interest (5.35%) and Thala's thAPT rewards (3.66%). thAPT is Thala's deposit certificate, minted and exchanged for APT at a 1:1 ratio, with a 0.15% fee charged upon redemption, and the fee goes into the sthAPT (staking reward token) prize pool.

Risk assessment: Low to medium. USDC has high stability, but attention should be paid to the smart contract risks in the Aptos ecosystem and the impact of thAPT redemption fees on returns. Instant withdrawal provides high liquidity, but market fluctuations may affect the value of thAPT rewards.

Current data situation:

Data source: Echelon Market official website

Summary

The table is arranged in descending order by TVL and is for reference only, not as an investment recommendation.