Cryptocurrency startup Saturn is raising funding for USDat, an on-chain dollar product that channels yield from the strategy’s Bitcoin-linked credit products into DeFi.
The round includes a $500,000 angel raise from YZi Labs and a $300,000 angel raise led by Sora Ventures, with Saturn positioning USDat as a dollar-denominated token with returns tied to the strategy’s STRC preferred stock.
STRC is a Nasdaq-listed perpetual security that currently pays out monthly dividends at an annual rate of 11%, according to Strategy.
Rather than structuring USDat as a traditional yielding stablecoin, Saturn is packaging public market credit exposure into a blockchain-native format.
Saturn’s USDat turns strategy-linked yield into a blockchain-native asset
This structure transforms Strategy’s dividend-paying preferred stock into a digital asset that can be held, transferred, and ultimately used within DeFi protocols.
This approach makes Saturn more like a tokenized credit wrapper than a stablecoin backed only by short-term U.S. Treasuries.
STRC, a strategy internally branded as “Stretch,” is designed to trade near its $100 par value through monthly dividend resets and adjusts its dividend to stabilize secondary market prices.
The strategy has a current dividend rate of 11.00% per annum, which is significantly above common cash benchmarks.
The yield on three-month U.S. Treasury bills was about 3.6% as of mid-January 2026, according to Trading Economics.
According to RWA.xyz, tokenized government bond products registered around 3.1% in the first seven days of January.
That gap is the center of Saturn’s pitch.
This yield comes not from higher on-chain interest rates, but from Strategy’s exposure to its capital structure and ability to maintain preferred dividends through Bitcoin-backed financing and securities issuance.
In this structure, Bitcoin price movements affect Strategy’s balance sheet, supporting STRC’s dividends, which are then directed into dollar debt tokenized by Saturn.
Saturn’s own messages reflect this hierarchy, although they are not always consistent.
How Saturn turns strategy exposure into tokenized yield
One Saturn explainer distinguishes between USDat, initially described as a liquidity-focused dollar token backed by tokenized U.S. Treasuries, and sUSDat, a staking variant that earns yield from STRC.
At the same time, Saturn’s homepage directly promotes USDat as offering “above 11% yield,” compressing the distinction between cash-like exposure and credit-backed returns.
This structure is consistent with the broader transition of the digital dollar market to a differentiated stage of risk and return.
While cash-equivalent stablecoins will continue to serve payment and settlement use cases, portfolio-backed dollar tokens bring clear exposure to credit, liquidity, and issuer risk.
Saturn is trying to occupy that second category, using Bitcoin and treasury company credit as a yield engine.
The macro context makes the contrast more pronounced.
According to RWA.xyz, tokenized government bonds have grown to a total of approximately $8.86 billion, indicating the rapid adoption of on-chain cash equivalents.
At the same time, stablecoins have expanded into mainstream financial plumbing.
There are currently over $300 billion of stablecoins in circulation around the world, and Visa and other incumbents are integrating stablecoin payments into their existing payment rails.
As stablecoins begin to offer yield rather than just transactional utility, they will increasingly intersect with products such as money market funds, broker financing, and short-term credit vehicles.
This convergence has drawn regulatory scrutiny, particularly regarding whether higher-yielding dollar tokens can serve as a substitute for unregulated deposits.
Saturn’s growth depends on Strategy’s issuance capabilities and market conditions.
Saturn’s expansion ambitions are closely tied to the strategy’s ability to issue.
Strategy’s STRC initial public offering raised approximately $2.47 billion, which was subsequently supplemented by a $4.2 billion market program, according to company disclosures.
While this provides billions in potential float, it also imposes a structural cap on the amount of STRC-backed digital credit that can be issued without leverage.
Reaching $10 billion in Saturn issued debt will likely require a significant percentage of the available STRC supply, along with a liquidity buffer to manage redemptions in times of market stress.
This dependency becomes more pronounced in unfavorable scenarios.
If Bitcoin prices plummet and capital markets tighten, the strategy’s ability to maintain its preferred dividend through continued issuance could be tested.
If STRC trades significantly below par, wrappers assuming stability near par will face coverage pressure upon redemption unless they are overcollateralized.
Policy risks add further uncertainty
U.S. lawmakers have just delayed progress on a virtual currency market structure bill that includes draft language that could limit interest and fees paid on stablecoins, following opposition from Coinbase.
Banking groups have also opposed high-yield tokens, saying they compete with insured deposits.
Frameworks such as the GENIUS Act subject stablecoin issuers with more than $10 billion in circulation to increased federal oversight, raising questions about how products like USDat will ultimately be classified.
These pressures can force design trade-offs.
If passive yields on stablecoins become limited, issuers may need to pivot to tokenized securities, limit distribution, or tie revenue to activity rather than simple ownership.
Despite these uncertainties, investors backing Saturn envision the project as an early bridge between public market Bitcoin credit and on-chain finance.
Jason Fang, founder of Sora Ventures, said his company backed Saturn because it connects institutional credit products with DeFi infrastructure in a different way than existing stablecoins.
Saturn co-founder Kevin Lee said the protocol aims to leverage Strategy’s digital credit products to scale transparent yield distribution to billions of dollars.
As tokenized U.S. Treasuries, payment stablecoins, and high-yielding dollars continue to converge, Saturn’s model puts public market credit behavior, not just DeFi mechanics, at the heart of whether the digital dollar can sustain double-digit returns at scale.
(Tag translation) Bitcoin
