# Introduction

> Spout lets you borrow USDC against tokenized US stocks and ETFs at 0% interest. You keep your position and never make a monthly payment.

Canonical: https://spout.finance/docs/introduction/

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## 0% Interest Loans Against Your Stocks

Spout lets you borrow USDC against tokenized US stocks and ETFs at 0% interest. You keep your position and never make a monthly payment.

**Borrow interest**: 0%

**Senior lender APY**: ~9%

**Junior lender APY**: ~32%

Target APYs are illustrations from the lending model on the Tranche Math page, not promises. Live rates are shown in the app.

## The idea in one paragraph

Every stock that sits as collateral can earn income by selling covered calls on it: buyers pay a premium today for the right to buy the stock at a higher price later. A borrower who just wants cash against their stock has no use for that income. A lender who wants yield has no stock to earn it with. Spout puts the two together. The borrower's stock earns the premium, the premium pays the lender, and because the lender is already paid, the borrower pays no interest.

## Prime brokerage terms, without the minimums

Institutions and the very wealthy borrow against their portfolios through prime brokers and private banks. They get financing priced at a spread over benchmark rates, leverage without selling, desks that write options on their holdings for income, and yield on idle cash. These services come with high minimums, account reviews and relationship managers, so most investors never see them. Why Borrowing Against Stocks Has Always Been Expensive lists current terms.

| What wealthy clients get | How it usually works | On Spout |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cash without selling | A securities backed credit line, typically from $100,000, with interest | A 0% USDC loan against tokenized stocks, at any position size |
| Leverage on long holds | Margin or a credit line, with interest charged every day | A leveraged buy of up to 2x, with no interest [1](https://spout.finance/docs/notes/#note-leverageCap) |
| Income from holdings | An options desk or adviser writes covered calls on the portfolio | Covered calls written on every collateral pool, with the premium paid to lenders |
| Yield on idle cash | Cash swept into money market funds or Treasury bills | Most unlent lender USDC held in a tokenized Treasury fund |

Spout rebuilds these terms as shared pools on Solana. Pooling is what removes the minimum: one set of calls is written on each asset's whole pool, so a holder of 5 shares gets the same terms as a holder of 5,000. There is no minimum balance and no relationship manager; you sign in with an email or a wallet where Spout is available.

## Built for holding, not for trading

Every other way to borrow against stocks charges you for time. Margin interest accrues every day the loan is open. Perpetual futures charge funding at set intervals, and when most traders are long, the longs pay it. The longer you hold, the more of your return goes to whoever finances you, whether the stock rises or not.

Spout charges no interest, so a loan held for a year costs the same in interest as a loan held for a day: nothing. What you give up instead is the part of a rally above the strike, and only in a cycle where the calls are exercised. Strikes are set above the current price with the aim that most cycles end below them, and in those cycles you give up nothing. That trade is worth most to people who hold for months or years: long term holders who want more exposure, and holders who need cash without selling.

If you open and close positions within a day, financing barely touches you anywhere, and Spout adds little. Collateral also works in weekly options cycles, so Spout is not built for intraday trading.

## The yield on your stocks should go to you

Stocks do not sit idle in the financial system. Options buyers pay premium every week for calls written on stocks like yours. In a typical margin account, your broker can lend your shares out, and it charges you interest to borrow against them. That income mostly goes to brokers, dealers and funds, while you carry the risk of owning the stock.

Spout turns that around. The premium from calls written on your collateral pays lenders, and because lenders are already paid, your loan costs nothing. The people who supply the assets and take the risk keep the income. Spout keeps only a protocol fee for running the system, shown on How Spout Works.

## Three participants

| Who | What they bring | What they get | What they give up |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Borrowers | Tokenized stocks as collateral | USDC loans at 0% interest, up to 50% of collateral value | Upside above the strike, only in a cycle where calls are exercised; a penalty if liquidated |
| Lenders | USDC | Yield from option premium plus Treasury bill yield on idle cash | Exposure to losses in the order set by their tranche |
| Options buyers | A premium, paid up front | The right to buy the stock at the strike before expiry | The premium, whatever happens next |

## What makes Spout different

**Built for long holds**: With no interest, the cost of a position does not grow with time.

**No interest**: Your loan balance only changes when you borrow more or repay. It does not grow on its own.

**Real yield for lenders**: Lender income comes from option buyers paying premium and from Treasury bills, not from token emissions or from borrowers.

**Institutional terms at any size**: Collateral for each asset is pooled, so a holder of 5 shares gets the same terms as a holder of 5,000.

**Onchain and verifiable**: Positions, pool balances, tranche values and the Insurance Fund live on Solana, where anyone can check them. The real shares behind the pools are held in Spout's brokerage account and reconciled against the receipt tokens onchain before each cycle moves on.

**Two risk levels for lenders**: Senior is paid first and absorbs losses last. Junior earns most of the extra income and absorbs losses first.

## How these docs are organized

| Section | Read it if you want to know |
| --- | --- |
| Overview | What Spout is and how the pieces fit |
| Getting Started | How to set up, fund your wallet and find your way around the app |
| Tokenized Stocks | What the tokens are, how they are backed, how to buy or deposit them |
| Borrowing | How loans, LTV, liquidation and assignment work, with worked examples |
| Lending | How the tranches, yield, settlement and withdrawals work |
| The Yield Engine | Where the premium comes from and how an options cycle runs |
| Risk Management | Who absorbs which losses, the safety controls, and the risks you take |
| Protocol and Security | How Spout is built, who controls what, and what you can verify |
| Reference | Assets, fees, points, parameters, FAQs and the glossary |

New here? Start with How Spout Works and Key Concepts in Five Minutes, then read Why Borrowing Against Stocks Has Always Been Expensive for the full case, and go to Borrowing or Lending.