Upshift Is Now Live on Base, Starting With the Clearstar cbXRP Yield Vault

Upshift's vault infrastructure now runs on Base. The first vault, curated by Clearstar Labs, gives XRP holders a way to take part in Base's lending markets through cbXRP.

Upshift is now live on Base, and the first Upshift vault on the network is the Clearstar cbXRP Yield Vault. The vault accepts cbXRP, the version of XRP that lives on Base, and puts it to work in Base's lending markets under Clearstar Labs' risk management. Returns are added back to the vault in cbXRP, so your position stays denominated in XRP from deposit to exit.

Upshift is non-custodial vault infrastructure for onchain yield. Fintechs, exchanges, wallets, neobanks, chains and asset managers use Upshift to launch custom yield products without building vault contracts, risk controls, NAV accounting, fee logic or withdrawal processing themselves. Depositors remain self-custodied throughout.

What Is Upshift?

Upshift gives curators, fintechs, and asset managers the vault layer they'd otherwise have to build and audit themselves. A curator designs the strategy, and Upshift supplies the vault contract, the receipt token, the accounting, and the policy limits that decide where the curator can deploy funds. The vault never takes custody of user assets. As of September 2026, Upshift has reached more than $550M in peak TVL across 50+ vaults on 30+ chains (Upshift data), backed by 10 smart contract audits from six independent firms.

A risk curator like Clearstar focuses on markets and risk, while the infrastructure handles deposits, withdrawals, and reporting the same way across every vault. You can read more about the model in What Is an Onchain Vault?

Why Is Upshift Building on Base?

Base makes vaults practical for holders of any size. A transaction on Base costs a fraction of a cent, so the cost of depositing or withdrawing doesn't eat into a small position the way it can elsewhere. Base also already has the lending markets and stablecoin liquidity a vault strategy depends on. That fits Base's goal of bringing a billion people onchain, since a vault packages a multi-step strategy into one onchain position.

How Does the Clearstar cbXRP Yield Vault Work?

The Clearstar cbXRP Yield Vault keeps your cbXRP in place as collateral and puts a second asset to work alongside it. Your cbXRP stays in the vault for as long as you hold it, and the vault never sells it into another token. The process runs in five steps.

1. A holder deposits cbXRP. The vault issues upXRP, its receipt token, to the holder's wallet.
2. cbXRP goes in as collateral. Clearstar supplies it to a cbXRP/USDC lending market on Morpho.
3. The vault borrows USDC. It borrows well below the market's limit, which leaves a wide safety buffer.
4. The USDC goes to work. Clearstar places it in established lending vaults and stablecoin pools on Base.
5. Returns come back as cbXRP. Anything the USDC earns above its borrowing cost is converted into cbXRP and added to the vault, so each upXRP represents more cbXRP over time.

Clearstar starts with the most established venues on Base and plans to add fixed-rate and real-world asset positions as those markets deepen. Each step needs more liquidity first, because the vault has to unwind cleanly when you withdraw. Our guide to DeFi yield strategies covers how this kind of strategy works in more depth.

What Is cbXRP?

cbXRP is an ERC-20 token on Base backed 1:1 by XRP held in custody by Coinbase. It launched in June 2025 and lets XRP move and work on Base like any other token. Because the XRP behind it sits with a custodian, holding cbXRP also means relying on that custodian to keep the 1:1 backing in place.

Who Is Clearstar Labs?

Clearstar Labs is a DeFi risk curator whose approach is qualitative-first diligence on governance, permissions, contracts, and oracles. It curates vaults and lending markets on Morpho, Euler, and other protocols, including cbXRP markets on Base. You can read Clearstar's research at clearstar.xyz.

A Word From Upshift

"XRP has a large holder community that has had few ways to use Base's apps. cbXRP opens that door, and this vault gives those holders a product built to institutional standards from day one, with Clearstar running the risk."
Aya Kantorovich, CEO and co-founder, Upshift

What Are the Risks of the Vault?

The main risk in this vault is a sharp fall in the XRP price, because the vault borrows against your cbXRP. The table below covers each risk and how the strategy handles it.

Upshift's risk management framework sets out how operators work inside onchain policy limits. Always make sure to do your own research and be aware of the above and any other risks before using any vault.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does Upshift Do on Base?

Upshift provides the vault contracts, accounting, and policy limits that let curators and platforms launch vaults on Base. The Clearstar cbXRP Yield Vault is the first one live.

How Does the Vault Use My XRP?

Your cbXRP stays in the vault as collateral. The vault borrows USDC against it, puts that USDC to work on Base, and adds the returns back in cbXRP.

Is the Vault Custodial?

The vault is non-custodial. You hold the upXRP receipt token in your own wallet, and Clearstar manages the strategy within limits the vault enforces onchain.

What Is the Difference Between XRP and cbXRP?

XRP lives on the XRP Ledger. cbXRP is an ERC-20 token on Base backed 1:1 by XRP, which lets XRP be used in Base apps.

Can the Vault Lose XRP?

It can. A sharp XRP price drop, a smart contract failure, or a custody problem could reduce what you get back. The risk table above covers each one.

Keep Reading

• What Is an Onchain Vault? How vaults hold assets, issue receipt tokens, and process withdrawals.
• What Are DeFi Vaults? How vault strategies, curators, and risks fit together.
• What Is Upshift? The vault infrastructure behind this launch.