# The 100% APY That Made Me Walk Away *CryptoAZ Round2 #17* By [fariswebb](https://paragraph.com/@fariswebb) ยท 2026-06-15 #pendle, #defi, #3jane, #apy, #crypto --- Looking Beyond the 100% APY: My Thoughts on 3Jane ================================================= While browsing Pendle recently, I came across 3Jane's USD3 market. The headline numbers were hard to ignore. Some estimates suggested APYs above 100%, while others claimed that $1,000 invested in YT-USD3 could provide exposure to more than $20,000 worth of yield. At first glance, it looked extremely attractive. After digging deeper, however, I decided to pass. Not because 3Jane is a bad project, but because the opportunity wasn't what it initially appeared to be. What is 3Jane? -------------- 3Jane is a Paradigm-backed credit protocol focused on bringing credit markets on-chain. Unlike Aave or Morpho, which rely on overcollateralized lending, 3Jane aims to build a credit-based system where yield is generated from real-world credit activities. Its flagship product, USD3, is a yield-bearing stablecoin designed to give users exposure to private credit opportunities. From a narrative perspective, it's hard to find a stronger combination: * Private Credit * RWA * Yield-Bearing Stablecoins * On-Chain Credit Markets These are some of the most compelling themes in DeFi today. The Real Source of the Yield ---------------------------- The more I looked into the numbers, the more one thing became clear: The triple-digit APY is not primarily coming from USD3 itself. The return is a combination of: * Base USD3 yield * Pendle incentives * JANE token emissions And the largest contributor is often JANE. In other words, investors are not simply buying yield. They are making a bet on the future value of the JANE token. The Problem with the 250M FDV Assumption ---------------------------------------- What caught my attention was how many yield calculations relied on a projected JANE FDV of $250 million. The issue is simple: Why $250 million? What's the underlying justification? Without a valuation framework, the APY estimate becomes highly sensitive to assumptions. If JANE launches at a $250M FDV, the projected returns may look fantastic. But what if the market values it at: * $50M? * $100M? * $150M? The expected return changes dramatically. At that point, the discussion is no longer about yield. It's about token valuation. And that's a very different investment thesis. Yield Investing vs Token Speculation ------------------------------------ This is where I realized 3Jane doesn't fit what I'm currently looking for on Pendle. When I buy PTs, I am usually targeting: * Discounted future cash flows * Mispriced yield opportunities * Market inefficiencies For example, with PT-sUSDS or similar strategies, I can model expected returns with reasonable confidence. Likewise, when I analyzed USDD, the key question wasn't token price appreciation. The thesis was based on a specific event: Will the protocol extend its incentive program? That's something I can estimate and assign probabilities to. 3Jane feels different. The investment case depends heavily on: * Future JANE valuation * Future token supply * Future market sentiment Those variables are much harder to quantify. An Interesting Project, But Not My Trade ---------------------------------------- To be clear, I think 3Jane is one of the more interesting projects I've looked at recently. The team is strong. The narrative is compelling. And if on-chain credit markets become a major category, 3Jane could play an important role. But for now, I see it as a project worth watching rather than investing in. The opportunity being presented as "100% APY" is, in reality, largely a valuation bet on JANE. And that's not the type of edge I'm currently looking for. Final Thoughts -------------- The most important lesson from researching 3Jane wasn't about credit markets. It was about understanding where yield actually comes from. A triple-digit APY sounds exciting. But before chasing the number, it's worth asking a simple question: How much of that yield comes from actual cash flow, and how much comes from assumptions? In the case of 3Jane, the difference matters. A lot. --- *Originally published on [fariswebb](https://paragraph.com/@fariswebb/the-100percent-apy-that-made-me-walk-away)*