CoinDesk
Apyx's apxUSD stablecoin briefly fell to 93 cents on Wednesday as bitcoin dropped below $63,000, putting the protocol's preferred equity-backed peg model under its first public stress test. The stablecoin is primarily collateralized by Strategy's STRC preferred shares, which carry a $100 par value — when STRC trades below par, the market value of apxUSD's reserves declines, creating secondary-market volatility.
Why it matters
Apyx pushed back against the panic, calling the depeg "expected behavior" rather than a failure. The protocol argues its peg stability model has multiple layers: STRC issuers can raise dividend rates to draw demand back toward par, Apyx maintains overcollateralization in excess of circulating apxUSD supply, and its primary Morpho lending market uses a dividend-accrual oracle rather than STRC's spot price — meaning the depeg episode did not trigger cascading liquidations. Strategy has historically used the dividend-rate lever to pull STRC back to $100, and the shares have recovered from four sub-par episodes since August last year.
Market impact
The episode nonetheless rattled market participants and raised a structural question that will follow any preferred-equity-backed stablecoin: when the underlying asset is illiquid or sentiment-driven, the "overcollateralization" buffer can compress faster than redemption demand. Investors holding apxUSD or its yield-bearing sibling apyUSD should monitor the real-time collateral dashboard Apyx provides and watch whether STRC's mean-reversion pattern holds as broader crypto prices remain under pressure.
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