Comparison, figures as of July 15, 2026
skUSD, sUSDe, and sNUSD, side by side.
Three staked synthetic dollars that a yield reader often lines up against each other. They share the ERC-4626 wrapper and the delta-neutral idea, and they split on where the backing sits, how you verify it, and how the yield is earned. Kerne's skUSD is the smallest of the three and is pre-audit. That is stated in the table, not around it.
The short version.
sUSDe is the staked form of Ethena's USDe, the largest synthetic dollar in the market. It is audited and proven, and its backing is held by centralized custodians whose reporting you rely on.
sNUSD is the staked form of Neutrl's NUSD on Ethereum. Neutrl labels the basis on every yield figure it publishes, and its realized number on chain lands close to what it advertises.
skUSD is the staked form of Kerne's kUSD on Base, minted one to one from USDC through an on-chain module, with backing you can recompute from the chain. It is the smallest of the three, it is pre-audit, and it has not yet paid meaningful realized yield. Its differentiator is verifiability, not scale or track record.
What each one is.
Ethena sUSDe
The yield-bearing form of USDe. USDe is backed by a delta-neutral basis position, staked ETH and liquid-staked assets paired with an equal short in ETH perpetuals, with the backing held through institutional off-exchange custodians and hedges run on centralized venues. As of July 2026 Ethena's own API published a sUSDe staking yield near 3.75%, roughly matching the on-chain realization. It is the category incumbent, audited, and by far the largest of the three. For current figures, ethena.fi is canonical.
Neutrl sNUSD
The yield-bearing form of NUSD, a synthetic dollar on Ethereum. Neutrl attributes NUSD's yield to a delta-neutral strategy and labels the basis on every APY it publishes, which is better discipline than most of the sector manages. As of July 2026 its 30 day average was near 4.3%, within a few basis points of what the vault realized on chain. For its exact strategy and reserve composition, neutrl.finance is canonical.
Kerne skUSD
The yield-bearing form of kUSD on Base. A holder mints kUSD one to one from USDC through an on-chain Peg Stability Module, then stakes it into skUSD, an ERC-4626 wrapper designed to earn liquid-staked ETH yield plus Hyperliquid perpetual funding, hedged to zero directional exposure. The USDC reserve, the vault collateral, and the hedge are readable on Base, with an hourly signed Proof of Reserves. skUSD advertises a live modeled APY in the low teens at /api/apy, but its realized figure is near zero: it has not yet distributed sustained strategy yield. Kerne is Genesis-stage and pre-audit.
The spec table.
Snapshot as of July 15, 2026. Yield figures are variable and move with funding; verify current values at each protocol's canonical site, and compare advertised against realized on Kerne's Honesty Index.
| Attribute | Kerne skUSD (this site) | Ethena sUSDe | Neutrl sNUSD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Underlying dollar | kUSD | USDe | NUSD |
| Home chain | Base (native) | Ethereum, multi-chain | Ethereum |
| Where the backing lives | On-chain: USDC 1:1 in the PSM, vault collateral, Hyperliquid hedge | CeFi custody: off-exchange settlement plus CEX venues | Per Neutrl's disclosures; see neutrl.finance |
| How you verify backing | Recompute from the chain; hourly signed PoR | Custodian attestations and Ethena reporting | Protocol disclosures and attestations |
| Yield source | lstETH yield plus Hyperliquid funding, hedged | Staked ETH yield plus perpetual funding | Delta-neutral strategy, per Neutrl |
| Advertised yield | Modeled, low teens, live at /api/apy (variable) | Near 3.75% current, per Ethena's API | Near 4.3% 30 day average, per Neutrl |
| Realized yield (30d, on chain) | Near zero (single test distribution) | Near 3.75%, matches advertised | Near 4.3%, matches advertised |
| Scale | Genesis stage, intentionally small | Largest synthetic dollar in the market | Mid-size, tens of millions |
| Audit status | Pre-audit (Hexens fieldwork underway) | Audited | See Neutrl's disclosures |
| Staked token contract | 0x96F5102C15b839757f811A98CEc3725Ac21DfA14 (Base) | 0x9D39A5DE30e57443BfF2A8307A4256c8797A3497 (Ethereum) | 0x08EFCC2F3e61185D0EA7F8830B3FEc9Bfa2EE313 (Ethereum) |
Where Kerne is the weakest of the three.
This page is on Kerne's own site, so the honest thing is to be specific about where skUSD loses this comparison.
- Realized yield. sUSDe and sNUSD have paid close to what they advertised. skUSD has not paid meaningful yield yet, so its modeled number and its record are far apart.
- Scale. skUSD is orders of magnitude smaller than sUSDe and smaller than sNUSD. A small book is easier to keep solvent, and it is also unproven at size.
- Audit. sUSDe is audited. skUSD is pre-audit, with Hexens fieldwork underway and no public report yet.
- The hedge leg. For all three, the perpetual hedge is not something a holder can independently verify. Kerne publishes a signed attestation of its hedge, which is better than silence and is not proof.
What skUSD offers in return is the one thing the other two do not: a backing you recompute yourself on Base rather than a custodian's report you read. That is a trade a specific kind of holder wants, and not everyone.
Sources and related.
Ethena figures are from ethena.fi and its public API; Neutrl figures are from neutrl.finance. Kerne claims resolve to live endpoints: /api/apy, /api/por/signed, and the machine-readable /facts.json. The live advertised-versus-realized board is the Honesty Index.
Related: advertised vs realized APY, explained, kUSD vs USDe, the delta-neutral risk checklist, and the reserve transparency scorecard.
Snapshot fields (yield, scale, audit status) age; the structural contrast is evergreen. Kerne is not affiliated with Ethena Labs or Neutrl. Nothing here is financial advice.