Are we really giving Circle and Tether 0-interest loans?

I have a question about USDC, USDT and stable coins more generally, I may be missing something so pls let me know if I am! I recently learnt that Circle the company behind USDC invests user money to generate returns for themselves (to the tune of about 400 million a year). I also learnt that Tether does the same thing but the difference is the audits that Circle has received to ensure funds are there (so this post isn’t meant to be Circle FUD as I believe the funds are there).

When we leave our money in a bank it can appreciate in value every year perhaps maybe by a couple of percent if you are very lucky because the bank invests the money into an array of other assets. While this is small, it can add up (for example a retiree with 500k in savings can make 10k a year not even including interest which is another 200k in the 20 years you may be retired for).

Essentially when we give Circle USD we are giving them a 0-interest loan which is ridiculous in today’s terms. Circle and Tether cumulatively hold over 120 billion in 0-interest loans which they can get yield from, with little repercussion -

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1. For the long term survival of the blockchain, money held must appreciate in value like it does in bank (otherwise we are losing money to inflation)
2. Are CBDCs which produce yield the solution (because I’ve read that they give negative yields)
3. Are tokenising assets (like securities or investable assets) the solution

Maybe I’m overstating/misunderstanding something but I find it slightly shocking that we are giving out 100+bn dollars in 0-interest loans to these companies (so pls correct me if I am wrong)