Elixir
CollapsedStablecoin · $deUSD · born 2022 · ✝ 2025
A stablecoin killed by lending 65% of its reserves to Stream.
Elixir Network issued deUSD, a synthetic dollar used across DeFi. When Stream Finance collapsed in November 2025, Elixir's $68M exposure — 65% of deUSD reserves — rendered the stablecoin insolvent. deUSD fell 98% and the project shut down.
- Peak
- $68M exposure to Stream
- Cause
- Collapsed
- Year of death
- 2025
☠️ Cause of death
Concentrated counterparty risk: two-thirds of reserves were lent to a single opaque yield platform. When Stream froze, Elixir couldn't honour redemptions and deUSD became worthless collateral across lending markets.
📓 Lessons left behind
- —A stablecoin is only as safe as its least-diverse reserve line.
- —Lending reserves for yield turns dollars into unsecured credit.
- —Circular DeFi collateral (xUSD ↔ deUSD) amplifies contagion.
🌱 The idea that survived
Diversified, audited reserves
GENIUS Act-style 100% reserve rules and real-time attestations became the benchmark stablecoin issuers marketed against Elixir's failure.
#stablecoin#contagion#counterparty-risk#cedefi