The Federal Reserve's 25 basis point rate hike on September 16, which set the target range at 3.75%-4.00%, has driven the one-year Treasury yield to 4.45%. This move establishes a new benchmark for risk-free returns, making crypto lending yields less competitive. Coin Metrics data shows that Aave USDC lenders earned 31 basis points less than the one-year Treasury on average in 2026, underperforming in 78% of measured intervals. While Morpho's median USDC vault beat Treasuries by 65 basis points, it came with 3.3 times the volatility. Analysts note that monetary policy transmission to DeFi stablecoin deposit rates is weak in the short term, with on-chain rates often driven more directly by crypto market deleveraging.