Recently, a lending protocol on the BNB chain suddenly gained popularity—not due to a hack or exit scam, but because its borrowing interest rates are incredibly low. Borrowing stablecoins against BTCB as collateral comes with an annual interest rate as low as 1.64%. For reference, traditional bank mortgage loan rates range from 5% to 8%, and even Aave, the leader in DeFi, charges 3% to 5% for stablecoin loans on Ethereum. This protocol is Lista DAO, a BNB chain-native project focused on liquid staking and low-interest lending. Many may not be familiar with it yet, but it's already the second-largest DeFi protocol by TVL on the BNB chain, behind only PancakeSwap.
The core logic of Lista DAO draws on the CDP model of MakerDAO but has made extensive optimizations. Most traditional DeFi lending protocols adopt a pool model where all depositors' funds are mixed together, and borrowers take loans from the pool, with interest rates determined by supply and demand. The problem with this model is that interest rates fluctuate significantly, and when liquidity is exhausted, rates can soar to dozens or even hundreds of annualized percentages. Lista employs a CDP (Collateralized Debt Position) mechanism, where each user's collateral and debt are independent. The system dynamically adjusts interest rates through algorithms rather than being entirely market-driven. The benefits are more stable interest rates, and different risk parameters can be set for different collateral types. For blue-chip assets like BTCB and ETH, the system offers more favorable rates and higher collateralization ratios due to their relatively low liquidation risk.
Specifically regarding borrowing costs, I have compiled the latest data on several mainstream collateral types on Lista. Using BTCB as collateral to borrow USD1, the maximum loan-to-value ratio is 70%, meaning that collateralizing $100 worth of BTCB allows borrowing up to $70 in USD1, with an annualized interest rate of 1.64%. The current liquidity of USD1 is close to $9.3 million. When using BNB or its liquid staking version slisBNB as collateral, the loan-to-value ratio can reach 75%, and the borrowing rate is as low as 0.05%-0.82%, nearly free money. Using ETH-related PT-USDe (a yield-bearing token based on Ethereum) as collateral, the loan-to-value ratio is as high as 96.5%, with an interest rate of 2.08%. These figures are among the top levels in the entire DeFi industry. It's important to note that during the same period on Venus Protocol, while the interest rate for borrowing USDT dropped to 0.37% at the beginning of January, it quickly rebounded, and Venus's total lending scale is $800 million, with liquidity spread across dozens of pools, making the depth of a single stablecoin pool far less than that of Lista's focus.
Why can Lista offer such low interest rates? On one hand, it is the protocol design; under the CDP model, the USD1 minted by the system does not need to be drawn from the liquidity pool but is generated through excess collateral. The protocol only needs to cover operational costs and risk reserves, unlike traditional models that require paying interest to depositors. On the other hand, it is the ecological advantages of the BNB chain. Lista has deep cooperation with Binance, and Binance Labs is one of the early investors, giving Lista a natural advantage in liquidity introduction and user acquisition. More importantly, Lista concentrates a large amount of liquidity on a few core lending pairs, such as BTCB/USD1, BNB/USD1, and PT-USDe/USD1, with each pool's depth ranging from several million to tens of millions of dollars. This concentrated liquidity strategy ensures the stability of interest rates, unlike some smaller protocols that see rates soar due to a single large loan.
From the user's perspective, how can these low-interest assets be used for arbitrage? The most direct play is lending to mine. Suppose you hold 10 BTC (currently worth about $950,000), are reluctant to sell, and want to generate cash flow. The traditional approach is to deposit it into a centralized platform for wealth management yields, but the return is usually only 2%-4%. Now you can cross-chain BTC to the BNB chain to turn it into BTCB (Binance Peg BTC, 1:1 peg), and then collateralize it on Lista to borrow $665,000 in USD1 at a loan-to-value ratio of 70%. This $665,000 in USD1 can be transferred to Binance to enjoy a 20% wealth management yield, generating an annual income of $133,000; borrowing costs amount to $665,000 × 1.64% = $10,909; and the net income is $133,000 - $10,909 = $122,091. Thus, your BTC annualized return rate is $122,091 / $950,000 = 12.85%. This does not even consider the price increase of BTC itself. If during a bull market BTC rises by 30%, your total return would be 12.85% + 30% = 42.85%, far exceeding simple holding or traditional wealth management.
Of course, the risk of this strategy lies in BTC price volatility. Lista requires a minimum collateralization rate of 142.86% (100/70), which means that collateralizing $100 worth of BTCB can only borrow $70 in USD1, leaving a 30% safety buffer. If the BTC price drops more than 30%, your collateralization rate will fall below the minimum requirement, triggering liquidation. However, in practice, most players maintain a collateralization rate of 180%-200%, equivalent to borrowing only 50%-55% of the collateral value, so even if BTC halves in price, it will not be liquidated. Moreover, Lista has an advantage in that its liquidation mechanism is relatively friendly. Traditional protocols directly auction your collateral during liquidation, usually incurring a 10%-15% liquidation penalty. Lista employs a Dutch auction, where the liquidation price decreases from high to low, allowing users time to replenish collateral, and the penalty can be as low as below 5%, significantly reducing the losses from liquidation.
The play with ETH and BNB is similar, but there are some details that differ. On Lista, ETH is primarily collateralized through the derivative PT-USDe, which essentially locks USDe (a stablecoin) on the Ethereum network in the Pendle protocol to generate principal tokens. Its value is pegged to USDe, and it can yield fixed returns at maturity. The advantage of using PT-USDe as collateral is that the loan-to-value ratio is very high, 96.5% nearly borrows out the entire value of the collateral, but the risk also increases accordingly, as the price of PT-USDe may deviate from the peg, and if USDe decouples, PT-USDe will also fluctuate. The advantage of BNB lies in slisBNB (the liquid staking token issued by Lista). You stake BNB in Lista to obtain slisBNB, and then use slisBNB to borrow USD1. At this point, you not only receive staking rewards for BNB (around 7.2% annualized) but also can borrow funds for arbitrage, achieving a true two-for-one benefit. For example, by staking 100 BNB (worth about $68,000), you receive an equivalent amount of slisBNB, then use it to borrow $50,000 in USD1 (at 73% loan-to-value ratio), with borrowing costs of $50,000 × 0.05% = $25. The BNB staking yield is $68,000 × 7.2% = $4,896, and the Binance USD1 wealth management yield is $50,000 × 20% = $10,000. The total yield is $4,896 + $10,000 - $25 = $14,871, with an annualized return of 21.87%.
Speaking of which, some may ask if there's enough liquidity. I specifically checked Lista's on-chain data, and as of mid-January, the entire protocol's TVL on BSC is $784 million, with $493 million lent out, resulting in a borrowing utilization rate of about 62.8%. Among them, the total liquidity of the USD1-related lending pools exceeds $47 million, with the BTCB/USD1 pool depth at $9.3 million, the slisBNB/BNB pool at $3.46 million, the PT-USDe-related pool at $4.7 million, and the USDF/USD1 pool even having $14.8 million. This liquidity depth is second only to Venus Protocol's $1.72 billion liquidity on the BNB chain, but considering that Venus covers dozens of assets, Lista's focus on stablecoins and blue-chip collateral means that the depth of individual pools is actually competitive with Venus. Furthermore, Lista effectively controls its borrowing utilization rate, with most pools in the 50%-70% range, ensuring both yield and liquidity buffer, unlike some protocols that operate at dangerously high utilization rates of over 95%.
In terms of security, Lista has undergone reviews by five auditing firms: Peckshield, Veridise, Slowmist, Blocksec, and Supremacy. The codebase is open-source on GitHub, and the core contracts reference the mature architecture of MakerDAO, theoretically making the risks controllable. However, it is important to note that at the end of last year, some users reported that the utilization rate of certain vaults in Lista soared to 99%, leading to forced liquidations for some users. Although this situation was caused by extreme market fluctuations, it reminds us that the risks of DeFi protocols always exist, and even the lowest interest rates must be based on the safety of the principal. My advice is that if you participate in such high-leverage strategies, you must: first, maintain a collateralization rate of at least 150% or more; second, regularly check the vault utilization rate, and consider reducing positions if it exceeds 85%; third, diversify assets and not put all eggs in one basket; fourth, set price alerts to replenish collateral or repay in time when collateral prices approach the liquidation line.
Compared to competitors, although Venus is larger, its positioning is as a comprehensive lending platform that needs to balance the liquidity of dozens of assets, making it difficult to offer extremely low rates for a single asset. Lista, on the other hand, is an expert in a vertical field, focusing on blue-chip collateral and stablecoin lending, building a moat through deep integration with the BNB ecosystem (native products like slisBNB, lisUSD, etc.). From the data, in January, the borrowing rate for USDT on Venus fluctuated between 0.05% and 0.37%, seemingly lower than Lista, but Venus does not have a USD1 market; you have to borrow USDT and then swap it for USD1 on a DEX, and fees and slippage may offset the interest rate advantage. Moreover, Venus's safety record is not as good as Lista's; while its audits are fine, there was a security incident with its zkSync version last year, which, although it did not affect the BSC mainnet, raised some concerns.
From the ecological perspective, Lista is evolving from a simple lending protocol to a "currency bank" on the BNB chain. It not only provides lending services but also creates a complete DeFi closed loop through lisUSD (its minted stablecoin) and slisBNB (liquid staking asset). Users can first stake BNB to obtain slisBNB for staking rewards, then use slisBNB to borrow lisUSD or USD1 to participate in other DeFi protocols, and finally recycle the profits back into Lista for reinvestment. This closed-loop design greatly enhances capital efficiency and is the underlying logic for Lista's ability to maintain low interest rates—it does not rely on external liquidity pools but instead lowers costs through internal token economics. Holders of the $LISTA token can also participate in protocol governance, and if the protocol's revenue grows in the future, token buybacks or dividends are possible, which is an additional value not found in traditional lending protocols.
To summarize, Lista DAO has opened up a new arbitrage space with ultra-low borrowing rates (BTCB 1.64%, BNB 0.05%, PT-USDe 2.08%), allowing users holding blue-chip assets like BTC, ETH, and BNB to achieve additional returns of 10%-25% without selling their coins through a combination of borrowing and wealth management. The core of this strategy is to leverage Lista's low-cost funds and the high yield of Binance's USD1, with the interest spread being pure profit. However, any high yield comes with risks, including price volatility, liquidation risk, protocol risk, and liquidity risk, which need to be carefully assessed. My view is that if you hold these blue-chip assets and can accept some volatility, this strategy is worth allocating a portion of your position; but if you are new to DeFi, it is advisable to start with small amounts, familiarize yourself with the process, and then gradually increase your position. After all, in the crypto world, surviving is more important than making huge profits.
@ListaDAO #USD1理财最佳策略ListaDAO $LISTA
