A stablecoin protocol is only as sound as what backs it. Nest is backed by tokenized US equities, and the specific issuer matters as much as the asset class.
xStocksFi is the collateral layer for Nest. That choice was not arbitrary, and it is worth explaining precisely.
What xStocksFi actually does
xStocksFi issues tokenized representations of US equities directly on Solana. Each token tracks its underlying share price using Pyth oracle data and is redeemable through a regulated custodian relationship. Dividends are rebased into the holder's balance rather than distributed as a separate token, which means the collateral balance in a Nest vault grows with any dividend accrual automatically.
From a protocol design perspective, that rebase behavior is significant. Nest does not need to separately account for dividend cash flows or build a claims mechanism on top of the vault contract. The collateral's value increases in the vault directly, which tightens the relationship between collateral and debt.
Why liquidity and price discoverability matter
Collateral that cannot be liquidated cleanly is not real collateral. When a vault crosses its liquidation threshold, the protocol needs to sell enough of the deposited asset to cover the outstanding nUSD debt. That sale needs to happen at a price close to the oracle price, which requires depth in the on-chain order book.
xStocksFi tokens trade continuously on Solana DEXs during US market hours. Cumulative on-chain volume crossed $3.6 billion in early 2026, with the top tickers maintaining spreads tight enough for liquidation bots to operate without taking material slippage. Bridged equivalents from other chains do not have this depth. They route through thinner markets or require off-chain settlement steps that break the atomicity of a liquidation transaction.
Day-one collateral
Nest launches with seven xStocksFi tokens as approved collateral. Each has its own loan-to-value ratio and liquidation threshold set to reflect the volatility and liquidity profile of the underlying equity. Broad index ETFs carry higher LTVs because they are less volatile and more liquid. Single-name growth stocks carry lower LTVs and tighter debt caps.
| Ticker | Underlying | Max LTV | Liq Threshold | Debt Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xSPY | S&P 500 ETF | 75% | 85% | 5,000,000 nUSD |
| xQQQ | Nasdaq-100 ETF | 72% | 82% | 3,000,000 nUSD |
| xAAPL | Apple Inc. | 70% | 80% | 2,000,000 nUSD |
| xMSFT | Microsoft Corp. | 70% | 80% | 2,000,000 nUSD |
| xGOOGL | Alphabet Inc. | 68% | 78% | 1,500,000 nUSD |
| xNVDA | NVIDIA Corp. | 65% | 75% | 1,500,000 nUSD |
| xTSLA | Tesla Inc. | 60% | 72% | 1,000,000 nUSD |
Debt caps are per-collateral limits on how much nUSD can be minted against a single asset type. They exist to prevent concentration risk: if a single ticker experiences a sudden halt or a gap down on unexpected news, the protocol's exposure to that specific equity is bounded.
What happens when markets are closed
US equity markets are closed roughly two thirds of the week by hours. During those windows, xStocksFi token prices can diverge from where they last traded. Nest handles this by relying on Pyth's confidence intervals: when the oracle's reported uncertainty on a price exceeds a protocol-set threshold, the liquidation engine pauses for that collateral type rather than acting on a stale or uncertain feed.
This is the correct behavior. A liquidation triggered on a stale price that turns out to be materially wrong harms the borrower and destabilizes the protocol. The tradeoff is that some under-collateralized positions may persist until markets reopen. That risk is managed by requiring sufficient headroom in the initial LTV so that overnight moves alone rarely breach the liquidation threshold.
Why not a different issuer
Other tokenized equity products exist on Solana and elsewhere. Most of them lack one or more of three properties that Nest requires: native issuance on Solana without bridging, sufficient on-chain liquidity for liquidation bots to operate, and a rebase-style dividend mechanism that keeps collateral accounting clean.
xStocksFi is the only issuer that satisfies all three at scale. If that changes, the governance process can approve additional collateral types. The vault contract is designed to support multiple collateral sources with independent risk parameters.
Borrow against your equities
Deposit xStocksFi tokens, mint nUSD at 3 percent APR, and keep full exposure to the underlying equity. Your collateral earns dividend rebases while it sits in the vault.
Why Nest is built on Solana
The decision had nothing to do with chain preference. Tokenized equities live on Solana, fast settlement is required for equity-collateralized CDPs to stay solvent, and the entire dependent stack is native. Any other choice would have meant importing the asset class.
Why Pyth is the oracle
Equity-collateralized lending requires price feeds that update faster than markets move, carry confidence intervals the liquidation engine can act on, and never route through an off-chain messaging layer. Pyth is the only oracle that delivers all three on Solana.
Why Kamino is the yield engine
The USDC sitting in Nest's Peg Stability Module has to be deployable without compromising instant redemption. Kamino is the only Solana lending market that combines the yield, the liquidity depth, and the atomic withdrawal guarantee the PSM requires.