Redefining Decentralized Finance: Maple and Syrup

Maple Finance: DeFi's Institutional Lender

Maple Finance, launched in 2021, is an institutional-grade lending and borrowing platform that bridges the gap between digital assets and traditional markets. Since then the DeFi platform has originated over $5 billion in loans across their various lending pools. It essentially acts as a gateway to growth for financial institutions and companies seeking capital on-chain. Currently, the platform offers four active lending pools that can divided into two categories:

Overcollateralized lending

• High Yield Secured Lending (USDC)
• Blue Chip Secured Lending (USDC)

Corporate Credit

• High Yield Corporate Loan (USDC)
• High Yield Corporate Loan  (WETH)

All these pools are permissioned and only for accredited investors, meaning that users must undergo a Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process and invest a minimum of $100,000 to participate. For many DeFi users, this is still a bridge too far as it goes against the pseudonymous nature of the market and only some have $100,000 at their disposal. As a result, they are missing out on significant real yield.   

Syrup: Institutional Yield in DeFi

To tackle this problem, Maple Finance has introduced Syrup. Syrup allows everyday users to access 20% APY on their stablecoins deposits. This incredible yield is generated from fixed-rate, overcollateralized loans to institutional borrowers which are generated by Maple’s High Yield Secured Lending and Blue Chip Secured Lending. 

The best of all of this, Syrup is permissionless, meaning that this yield can be accessed without a KYC process or being an accredited investor. 

This allows Syrup to kill two birds with one stone as digital assets users can generate consistently high yields on their stablecoin deposits while institutional borrowers can unlock the growing liquidity of the market. This solution has been welcomed with open arms as the platform has amassed approximately ~$300 million in total value locked.

$SYRUP: Participate in the growth of the ecosystem

Maple Institutional and Syrup are united under the $SYRUP token, which governs the whole ecosystem. $SYRUP can be staked to directly participate in the growth through staking rewards that come from the protocol treasury.

$SYRUP Token holders:

1. Are Part of DeFi’s Institutional Lender – Support the leading platform driving institutional credit within DeFi.
2. Can stake SYRUP for Rewards – Align with Maple’s growth and earn sustainable rewards through staking.
3. Will shape the Future – Participate in governance by voting on key decisions, including staking rewards and protocol enhancements.

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Why Maple & Syrup are poised to grow

DeFi Renaissance

Maple and Syrup are at the crossroads of various interesting narratives in digital assets that pave the way for significant growth. The first is the DeFi Renaissance, with Trump’s recent victory and the Republicans winning the Senate and the House of Representatives, the DeFi sector has awakened from its slumber. The past four years under the Biden administration have been incredibly difficult for the DeFi sector as every protocol left, right, and center was sued. With Republicans winning the Trifecta, market participants expect a more friendly environment and looser digital assets bills. As the leading institutional DeFi platform, Maple is poised to leverage this DeFi growth. 

Institutional Adoption

The second factor is the increasing institutional adoption of digital assets. Since 2020, numerous institutions have begun experimenting with digital assets, and the introduction of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs has further accelerated this trend. Moreover, as the market continues to accumulate liquidity, interest from institutional investors is expected to grow even further.

Real-World Assets 

The final narrative is Real-World Assets (RWA), which aligns closely with the trend of increasing institutional adoption. RWAs are digital tokens that represent physical and traditional financial assets, such as currencies, commodities, equities, and bonds. These assets are tokenized and placed on the blockchain, leveraging its transparency and efficiency. An increasing number of institutions are experimenting with this technology, with BlackRock serving as a leading example after launching its first tokenized treasury fund on Ethereum in March. In Maple’s case, all loans are issued to institutions, bringing direct lending on-chain, allowing it to ride the RWA wave.

Maple in numbers

We have compiled key numbers and figures to highlight Maple's and Syrup's remarkable growth. The first illustration below showcases Maple's impressive revenue growth, driven by the DeFi Renaissance and RWA narratives. This momentum has propelled Maple’s revenue to approximately $4.3 million, representing a 106% quarter-over-quarter (Q/Q) increase and an 856% year-over-year (Y/Y) growth.

Furthermore, quarterly revenue paid to Maple has grown significantly to approximately $926.7K, marking a +231% increase quarter-over-quarter (Q/Q) and an impressive +1042% year-over-year (Y/Y). This highlights the remarkable growth Maple has achieved.

Syrup in numbers

Since its early access launch in late Q2, Syrup's TVL has grown from $10M in USDC to approximately $160M by the end of Q3—an impressive 1,300% quarter-over-quarter increase. The figures for Q3 can be seen in the accompanying illustration. Since then, Syrup has continued to grow even further. Currently, Syrup's USDC and USDT stand at TVLs of approximately $194M and $91M, respectively.

Added as a portfolio company

Due to the incredible team, high growth potential, and long-term vision, Hodl Ventures is thrilled to add Maple Finance and its Syrup protocol to its portfolio.

We believe Maple’s technology will play a crucial role in bridging institutions into DeFi by facilitating on-chain credit and enabling liquidity solutions beyond the reach of traditional finance.

“Maple is uniquely positioned to lead the shift to open finance, delivering transparency, capital efficiency, and global reach. I believe this will make credit truly frictionless, fueling the next wave of innovation not only in Web3 but across other sectors as well,” said Anton Shakur, Managing Partner of Hodl Ventures.

Check out more on maple.finance and syrup.fi