What Is CIAN? How the CIAN Yield Layer Works

CIAN calls itself a "yield layer": a protocol that collects yield from liquid staking tokens, liquid restaking tokens, real-world assets and perpetual funding rates, then passes it to depositors through vaults ¹. It sits on top of other protocols. Your return depends on staking rewards from Lido-style tokens, borrowing rates on lending markets such as Aave, and any incentive points. CIAN's risk page names Aave and Lido as partners ⁶.

The documentation does not name a company, founders or investors. The Terms of Use give only a contact email and send disputes to arbitration in Singapore ⁸. DefiLlama's TVL history for the Yield Layer starts in May 2024 ⁹.

1. Deposit. Pick a vault, approve the token and sign the deposit. You receive a receipt token representing your share of the vault, such as ylstETH for the stETH Yield Layer ³. The stETH vault accepts ETH or stETH ⁷.
2. The strategy runs. Two main patterns are documented ³:
   • Recursive staking (RS): supply stETH, wstETH or rETH as collateral, borrow ETH, stake it again, and repeat. This amplifies the gap between staking yield and the borrow rate.
   • Recursive restaking (RR): the same loop using restaking tokens such as weETH, ezETH or rsETH. See restaking.
3. Value accrues to the receipt token. Your position is the token quantity times its price. Earnings are that value minus what you deposited ³.
4. Withdraw. Submit a withdrawal request. The docs estimate you receive your assets in about five days ³. There is no documented instant exit.

Other vault families cover BTC (fBTC, BTCB), BNB (slisBNB) and stablecoins, including a Bybit USDC/USDT0 vault and a USCC (real-world asset) vault ². Each vault page shows its accepted tokens, TVL and deposit cap ³.

Other CIAN products

• Bondify splits yield into a fixed-style "yield token" and a riskier "junior token" for lenders, loopers and yield buyers ².
• Automated Strategies are older smart-contract-wallet strategies on Avalanche and Polygon, such as sAVAX/AVAX recursive staking up to 8x and MaticX/MATIC up to 6x ².
• Points programs (Voyage Points and others) track deposits for partner airdrops ²³.

• Performance fee: 8% of profits. It is already netted out of the APY the app displays ⁴.
• Exit fee: 0.02% of your position's value, charged once when you leave a vault. CIAN says it exists to deter abuse ⁴.
• No fee while a Yield Layer's strategy is inactive, and none on the Polygon/Avalanche automated strategies ⁴.
• Gas for approvals, deposits and withdrawal requests.
• Hidden cost: borrow interest. Leveraged vaults pay interest to lending markets. If borrow rates rise above staking yield, the net APY can turn negative for a while ³⁶.

Leveraged staking vaults combine several risk layers:

• Liquidation and LTV risk. The vault borrows against staked collateral. CIAN says it monitors loan-to-value ratios to avoid liquidation ⁶, but a sharp depeg of the collateral token can still force losses.
• Rate spikes. If a large supplier leaves a lending pool, utilization and borrow rates can jump. CIAN warns APY can go negative temporarily and says pools usually settle within about a week ⁶. The docs also note that real-time borrow costs can briefly reduce principal ³.
• Exit slippage. Unwinding may sell through DEXs, and CIAN assumes 1–2% slippage tolerance ⁶.
• Withdrawal delay. About five days, during which your assets stay exposed to the market ³.
• Smart-contract and dependency risk. Your funds depend on CIAN's contracts and on every protocol it uses: the LST/LRT issuers, the lending markets and any bridge to Mantle or other chains. See liquid staking and yield farming.
• Opaque governance. The pages reviewed do not document who can change vault parameters, or any multisig or timelock arrangements.

CIAN's docs list audit reports from Ackee and Omniscia (Ethereum), PeckShield (Avalanche), and Paladin Blockchain Security (Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon) ⁵. The page gives no dates or scope, so readers should open each report to see which contracts it covers. Some may cover the older automation contracts rather than current Yield Layer vaults. An audit lowers risk but does not guarantee safety. CIAN states it has had "no exploits or liquidations for 2 years" ¹. That is the company's own claim.