What Is DeFindex? Stellar's Vault Layer for Yield

DeFindex by the numbers (October 2026)

Measure	Value	Source
TVL	$19.56M	DefiLlama, 8 Oct 2026
Asset mix	USDC $19.51M, EURC $41K, XLM $9K	DefiLlama
Peak TVL	$20.48M (18 Sep 2026)	DefiLlama
Tracked since	11 February 2026	DefiLlama
Blend Fixed pool USDC supply rate	6.68%	DefiLlama yields
SCF funding	$150K (SCF #28 and #32)	communityfund.stellar.org
Audits	OtterSec (Mar 2025), Runtime Verification (Jul 2026)	DeFindex docs

For scale, DefiLlama ranked DeFindex among the larger Stellar protocols by TVL, behind Blend ($144.3M) and Aquarius ($38.2M) on the same day. Because almost all of it is USDC routed to lending, the Blend USDC rate is the best single guide to what DeFindex vaults earn before fees. More on that rate: USDC yield on Stellar.

How to choose

• You use an app that offers a DeFindex vault: check which strategies the vault uses, its fee, and whether it was deployed upgradable or permanent.
• You want to lend USDC yourself: supplying on Blend directly avoids the vault fee, at the cost of claiming and compounding BLND yourself. See what is Blend.
• You are building an app: DeFindex's API and console let you create a vault, choose strategies and set a fee without deploying contracts.
• You want a fixed rate: look for a vault on the Stable APY product, and read how the fee moves to deliver it.

Vaults — what holds the money

A vault is the contract users deposit into, usually one per partner app. It holds the deposits, spreads them across the strategies chosen at creation, and reports one balance and one APY. Users receive dfTokens, vault shares held in their own address, and can withdraw at any time without lock-up or notice.

The safety properties are enforced in code, and DeFindex's docs list them: a vault can only invest in the strategies fixed at creation; money moves only between the vault and its strategies, and out only to the user who owns it; one call can pull everything back from a strategy; a strategy can be closed to new money while withdrawals stay open; and fees accrue only on gains. Vaults also lock "dead shares" on the first deposit to block share-inflation attacks.

Some money is deliberately left idle in the vault, which makes small deposits cheaper and gives funds somewhere to land in an emergency. The one way to change a vault's strategy list is a code upgrade, which the docs describe as a choice made at deployment: "a vault can be deployed upgradable or permanent."

Strategies — where the yield comes from

A strategy is a contract that knows how to earn in one place and how to exit. DeFindex writes and audits each one, and all expose the same six methods to any vault. Its contract-deployments page listed two strategy types on mainnet on 8 October 2026: Blend Autocompound and an RWA Wrapper.

Blend Autocompound lends an asset on a Blend pool, claims the BLND rewards, swaps them for the underlying on Soroswap, and lends the proceeds back; nothing is minted on reinvestment, so each share is backed by more underlying over time. Harvests are keeper-run with a minimum-output check so the BLND swap cannot be sandwiched. Seven instances were listed: USDC, EURC and XLM on Blend's Fixed pool, and USDC, CETES, USTRY and TESOURO on its Etherfuse pool. The compounding maths: auto-compounding explained.

RWA Wrapper turns a value-accruing bond token into vault yield: it swaps USDC for the token on Aquarius, holds it, and sells just enough back on withdrawal. One instance, for Etherfuse's CETES, was listed. Capacity is capped by the Aquarius pool's depth, and prices must agree between an oracle and a live Aquarius quote or the operation reverts. Background: Etherfuse stablebonds.

A K2 Autocompound strategy, supply-only on K2 Lend, is documented, with addresses to be published "as instances go live"; none was listed on 8 October. XOXNO's lending repository also contains a DeFindex strategy contract, which is not yet on DeFindex's deployment list.

Fees — a share of the yield

DeFindex charges performance fees only. The app that owns the vault sets the rate and can change it at any time; the fee is taken from yield, never principal, and split between the app and DeFindex. The protocol's standard share is 5,000 basis points, half of what the vault charges, falling as TVL grows.

The docs' worked example: a vault charging 20% earns 100 on a 1,000 deposit, the fee is 20, the user ends with 1,080, and the 20 is split. Fees accumulate in the vault and are collected at least monthly. The API reports APY net of fees, so the rate an app shows should already be after the cut. Rate terminology: APY vs APR.

Stable APY and Boost

Stable APY lets an app advertise a target rate. DeFindex moves the vault fee, within a floor and ceiling the app sets, so depositors receive roughly the target and anything earned above it becomes fee. Boost is the opposite tool: the app funds a budget that tops up the vault when yield runs below target.

The limits matter. Stable APY can only give back yield the strategies produced; if the fee is already at its floor and the rate is still short, only a Boost budget closes the gap. Boost transfers carry no fee. DeFindex can move the fee inside the app's range and nothing else; the bounds, target and any upgrade stay with the app. Both products were audited by Runtime Verification in July 2026.

Roles — who can do what

Each vault has four roles: a Manager, which controls settings, roles, fees and, on upgradable vaults, code upgrades; a Rebalance Manager, which moves funds between strategies; an Emergency Manager, which can rescue funds from a strategy and pause it; and a Fee Receiver. None can withdraw users' funds.

The Manager is the powerful one. On an upgradable vault it can replace the vault's code entirely, which is the one path to changing what the vault invests in. DeFindex recommends a multisig or a policy contract for it. If you use a DeFindex vault through an app, the app's key management is part of your risk.

Which apps build on it

DeFindex's site lists Beans, Seevcash, Soroswap, xPortal, Hana Wallet, Meru and Rozo Pay among its partners. Several newer apps funded by the Stellar Community Fund also build on it, mainly savings products for Latin American users and a regulated EU yield product.

• PigFi (SCF #45, $96.1K): a savings app for Brazilian and Latin American families that funds via Pix into USDC and allocates savings to DeFindex vaults; its SCF page says it is live on mainnet.
• Neko (SCF #45, $126.7K): a capital-routing app for Latin American savers that lists DeFindex, alongside Blend and Aquarius, as already shipped.
• BWB (SCF #45, $150K): a Brazilian tokenised real-estate platform whose funded work plan includes DeFindex integration and an idle-balance yield feature.
• TroqPay (SCF #44, $60K): a merchant payments app that plans to offer DeFindex as an optional savings module.
• For Yield (SCF #44, $144K): a French project routing regulated EU capital, EURC first, into Blend, Aquarius and Soroswap via DeFindex.

DeFindex itself received $150K from SCF across rounds #28 and #32. Beans, a wallet, is quoted on DeFindex's site as reaching $610K of stablecoin deposits in three months. How SCF funding works: the Stellar Community Fund.

Risks

• Underlying-protocol risk. Most DeFindex money sits on Blend. In 2026 a community-run Blend pool lost about $10M to an oracle attack and Blend's backstop pool lost about $717K; see Blend's 2026 incidents. On 8 October Blend's Fixed V2 pool reported "on ice" status, in which new borrowing is disabled.
• Reward-token risk. Blend Autocompound's extra yield depends on BLND emissions and on the price and liquidity of BLND when it is sold.
• Vault-owner risk. On upgradable vaults the Manager can replace the code. Ask the app how that key is held.
• Concentration. Several "different" savings apps may route to the same Blend pool, so holding two does not diversify the risk.
• RWA liquidity. The RWA Wrapper exits through an Aquarius pool, so large withdrawals pay price impact.

How it fits together

DeFindex sits between consumer apps and Stellar's DeFi protocols. Apps bring users and set fees; DeFindex supplies vaults, strategies and an API; Blend, Aquarius and Soroswap supply the yield and the swaps. The design keeps user funds in contracts that no role can drain, but it adds a layer of fees and a layer of dependency. Compare other vault products in the best yield aggregators.

The takeaway

DeFindex is a sensible way for apps to offer yield without writing DeFi contracts, and its vault design limits what operators can do with deposits. For a user, a DeFindex vault is Blend lending plus compounding, minus a fee, with the app's choices layered on top. Look through the vault to the strategy and the pool before trusting the rate.

Sources: DefiLlama protocol and yield APIs, 8 October 2026; DeFindex documentation (what is DeFindex, fees, vaults, Stable APY, Boost, strategies, vault roles, risks and audits, contract deployments, about us) and defindex.io; Stellar Community Fund project pages for DeFindex, PigFi, Neko, BWB, TroqPay and For Yield; github.com/XOXNO/rs-lending-xlm; read-only simulation of Blend's Fixed V2 pool configuration, 8 October 2026.