Pre-launch - Recoup runs on Base Sepolia testnet only. The lender pool's audit is done, the pool has not launched and this site takes no real-money deposits. Nothing here moves real funds yet.
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What is Recoup?

Recoup, a self-repaying loan protocol on Base, lets you borrow USDC against DexFi Treasury Bonds and uses the weekly yield those bonds pay to bring the loan down, with no interest and no required repayments.

Last updated · Written by Recoup

What is Recoup?

Recoup is a lending protocol: you deposit DexFi Treasury Bonds as collateral, borrow USDC against them, and the bonds' own weekly yield pays the loan off over time.

Collateral is what you lock up so a lender will trust you with a loan. USDC is a digital dollar, a token designed to stay worth one US dollar. Base is the blockchain network Recoup runs on.

DexFi Treasury Bonds are tokens issued by DexFi, a DeFi fund. Each bond is a share of the DexFi fund and pays out USDC most weeks. Despite the name, they are not US Treasury bonds and they are not government debt. The DexFi explainer covers them in full.

You can deposit bonds you already hold, or deposit ETH, which is used to mint new bonds for you at DexFi.

How does the loan pay itself off?

Once a week Recoup collects the USDC your bonds earned and puts 55% of it straight onto your debt.

Collecting the yield is called a harvest. Each harvest is split four ways:

  • 55% to you, applied directly to your loan balance.
  • 25% to lenders, the people who supplied the USDC you borrowed.
  • 10% to an insurance fund, which absorbs losses before lenders do.
  • 10% as the protocol fee. That fee, and only that fee, is agreed to be split 80% to Recoup and 20% to DexFi.

There is no interest rate, so your balance never grows on its own; only borrowing more adds to it. If the yield is high the debt falls quickly; if it is low the debt falls slowly. The split applies from the moment your bonds are deposited, borrowing or not: once the debt reaches zero, your 55% arrives as USDC you can claim, and the other shares still go to lenders, insurance and the fee.

The site shows yield as the trailing 12 weeks actually paid, labelled history, not a promise. It never shows a projected rate. The self-repaying loans explainer walks through the mechanics.

Who is it for?

Recoup is built for people who hold DexFi Treasury Bonds and want USDC now without selling them.

Selling is slow and costly. DexFi redeems bonds manually, at 90% of their value, 48 hours or more after you ask. Borrowing lets you keep the bonds and still get cash.

It is also for anyone curious how a loan backed by yield works. The testnet app lets you open a position with test bonds and watch it behave, with nothing real at stake.

What could go wrong?

You can lose your bonds: a Recoup position can be liquidated if the bonds' value falls far enough.

  • The bonds' value falls. You can borrow up to 25% of your bonds' value at launch. If your loan goes above 50% of their value, your whole position is sold in an auction. See how liquidation works.
  • The yield falls or stops. Your debt does not grow, but it stops shrinking, so the loan takes longer to pay off, or never pays itself off at all.
  • DexFi controls a lot. The bond contracts are run by a single DexFi key with no timelock, and a bond transfer only goes through when an address involved is on a list DexFi approves. See what DexFi is.
  • Custody is not only yours. The protocol owner holds an emergency unstake that can move every deposited bond to any address in one transaction, with no timelock. It exists as a rescue, and it is real custody risk.

Lenders carry their own set of risks, covered in lending USDC on Recoup.

Is it live?

Not yet: Recoup runs on Base Sepolia, a test network, with test bonds, and nothing is deployed on mainnet.

The lender pool's external audit by 33Labs finished in September 2026; the report and its scope are at app.recoup.fi/security. The public lender pool has not launched, and this site takes no real-money deposits.

Mainnet is planned in phases behind small caps: $5,000 of borrowing per account and $25,000 across everyone.

Where to start

Read the explainers in this order, or jump to the question you have.

  • Self-repaying loans - How a loan can pay itself off from yield, and the ways that can go wrong.
  • What is DexFi? - The fund behind the bonds, what a Treasury Bond is, and the risks that come with it.
  • How liquidation works - When a position can be sold, how the Dutch auction prices it, and what you get back.
  • Lending USDC on Recoup - Where lender returns come from, and the six risks lenders carry.
  • Verify it yourself - Where every number on the site comes from, and how to check it on-chain.
  • FAQ - Twenty short answers for someone who has never used DeFi.
  • Glossary - NAV, LTV, health factor and the other terms, in plain words.

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