Wrapped Steady (wSTDY)

Some applications don't play well with rebasing tokens. Some DeFi protocols (AMMs, lending markets, or collateral systems, for example) were built around fixed-balance ERC-20s and don't natively handle balances that change automatically. For those use cases, we created Wrapped Steady (wSTDY).

Same Product, Different Mechanism

wSTDY represents the same underlying value as STDY, but with one critical difference: instead of the balance growing over time, the price of wSTDY relative to STDY appreciates over time.

• STDY (rebasing): Your balance grows; the price stays stable
• wSTDY (non-rebasing): Your balance stays fixed but the price appreciates

Both reflect the performance of the same underlying. Both grow at the same effective rate. The only difference is whether the growth shows up in your balance or in the unit price.

Why wSTDY Exists

Rebase is elegant and frictionless for direct holders. But many DeFi protocols can't process rebase events correctly. An AMM pool, for example, expects token balances to change only when someone trades, not when the underlying token quietly increases everyone's balance in the background. The same goes for lending markets that calculate collateral ratios from token balances, or for protocols that calculate user shares based on fixed amounts.

wSTDY sidesteps all of these issues. Because its balance doesn't change, it behaves like any other static ERC-20 token. Protocols that work with USDC, DAI, or any other standard stablecoin work with wSTDY the same way, no special handling required.

How to Wrap and Unwrap

There is only one official Steady wrapper directly developed by our team. You can find it directly on our website at: wrapper.steadyprotocol.io. We do not endorse or support any other wrapper.

Wrapping and unwrapping are on-chain smart contract operations handled by our main Steady smart contract. If you want to directly interact with the contract, you have to call the wrap() or unwrap() functions. But since this is a non-standard operation unlike a transfer, we've created an official wrapper.

The exchange rate between STDY and wSTDY is determined by the cumulative rebase performance since wSTDY launched. As the rebase grows STDY balances over time, the same fixed quantity of wSTDY converts to progressively more STDY at unwrap, which is how wSTDY's effective price increases.

Wrap and unwrap operations require no additional onboarding. They're on-chain smart contract interactions available to anyone holding the relevant token, fully self-custodial throughout.

Use Cases for wSTDY

wSTDY is purpose-built for any context where rebase compatibility matters:

• DeFi liquidity pools — pair wSTDY with other stablecoins or assets in AMM pools without rebase events distorting balances
• Collateral in lending markets — use wSTDY in protocols that calculate ratios or positions based on token balance
• Yield aggregators and structured products — wSTDY plugs cleanly into vaults, strategies, and other DeFi infrastructure
• Long-term storage in non-rebase-aware wallets — some wallets handle rebasing tokens awkwardly; wSTDY avoids that entirely

For direct holding, STDY is the cleaner choice. For DeFi integration, wSTDY is the safer one. Together, they give holders the flexibility to use Steady in virtually any on-chain context.