A stablecoin is a token designed to hold a fixed value, usually one US dollar: its peg. Some back it with reserves of cash and short-term bonds; others try to hold it with algorithms and incentives. Staking means locking up tokens to help run a proof-of-stake network in return for newly created tokens. Platforms advertise that reward — or interest from lending your tokens out — as a percentage: protocol yield.
It isn't the yield from the dividend lessons. A dividend yield is cash paid out of a company's profits. Protocol yield is usually paid in more of the same token, often newly created, which dilutes every holder, or it comes from lending to borrowers you can't see. A 10% yield on a token that then halves is a loss. Pegs can break: TerraUSD, an algorithmic stablecoin, fell from its dollar peg to almost nothing in 2022. Staked tokens can be locked when you want to sell, and lending platforms such as Celsius froze customers' withdrawals when they failed.
The yield was paid in the thing that fell.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.