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1. Executive Summary

Maple Finance is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that redefines asset management by offering institutional-grade lending and yield strategies on the blockchain. It combines the rigor of traditional finance with the transparency and accessibility of DeFi, providing secure financial products for both institutional and individual investors.

Maple's lending pools generate consistent yields through fixed-rate, overcollateralized loans to institutional borrowers, with products like syrupUSDC and syrupUSDT enhancing user access. As of July 2025, Maple's assets under management (AUM) have reached approximately $2.7B, reflecting significant growth and adoption. The SYRUP token drives governance and incentivizes participation, while the platform's experienced team and backing from prominent investors position it for continued success in the rapidly expanding DeFi lending market.

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Now, let’s get back to the deep dive.

2. About the Project

2.1. Vision

Maple Finance aims to transform asset management for the digital age by creating an on-chain, transparent, and scalable financial ecosystem. It seeks to bridge traditional finance and DeFi, making institutional-grade lending opportunities accessible globally.

2.2. Problem

Traditional financial systems often suffer from inefficiencies, high costs, and a lack of transparency. They limit institutional access to capital and yield opportunities for investors. They also rely on intermediaries, which can slow processes and increase costs.

2.3. Solution

Maple Finance leverages blockchain technology to offer secure, expert-led financial products. Using smart contracts and a decentralized platform, Maple provides transparent and efficient lending solutions, enabling institutions to borrow against collateral and investors to earn yields through diversified lending pools. This hybrid approach combines traditional finance's risk management with DeFi's innovation, ensuring security and accessibility.

3. Market Analysis

Maple Finance operates within the DeFi lending market, specifically targeting institutional borrowers. This segment provides capital to crypto-native institutions, such as hedge funds, market makers, and exchanges, through overcollateralized loans.

As of July 2025, the DeFi lending market has a total value locked (TVL) of approximately $55B, representing about 47% of the overall DeFi market's TVL of $116B. Maple Finance's AUM of $2.7B accounts for roughly 2.3% of this market.

The DeFi lending market is poised for significant growth, driven by increasing institutional adoption and advancements in blockchain technology. Industry forecasts vary, with some projecting the DeFi market to reach $78.49B by 2030 at a CAGR of 8.96%, while others estimate it could grow to $351.75B by 2031 at a CAGR of 48.9%. The institutional lending segment is expected to expand as more traditional financial institutions enter the DeFi space, supported by clearer regulatory frameworks and improved risk management.

3.1. Competition

Protocol

Similarities

Differences

Aave Arc

Offers DeFi lending with a focus on institutions, using overcollateralized loans.

Permissioned pools requiring KYC/AML compliance, unlike Maple's permissionless approach.

Compound Treasury

Provides yield-earning opportunities for institutions via DeFi protocols.

Focuses primarily on yield generation rather than lending to borrowers.

Targets institutional borrowers with on-chain lending solutions.

Offers uncollateralized loans, contrasting with Maple's overcollateralized model.

Provides DeFi lending to businesses, often with real-world use cases.

Focuses on undercollateralized loans for emerging markets, not strictly institutions.

Facilitates lending against tokenized real-world assets for businesses.

Emphasizes asset-backed lending rather than digital asset collateral.

4. Features

  • Lending Pools: Lenders deposit assets (e.g., USDC, USDT) into pools to earn interest from overcollateralized loans to institutions. Pool Delegates manage pools, conduct due diligence, and set loan terms.

  • syrupUSDC and syrupUSDT: These products provide direct access to Maple's lending pools through a user-friendly interface. Rewards are in Drips and can be converted to SYRUP tokens.

  • Blue Chip Secured Pool: Accepts only BTC and ETH as collateral, held in qualified custody, ensuring high security.

  • High-Yield Secured Pool: Generates higher yields by underwriting loans backed by select digital assets and reinvesting collateral in staking or secured lending.

  • Integration with Pendle: Enables advanced yield opportunities and streamlined reward management.

  • Smart Contract Architecture: Utilizes ERC-4626 vault standards for simplified deposits and withdrawals, with robust loan management through PoolManagers and LoanManagers.

5. Token

$SYRUP is the native token of the Maple Finance ecosystem, with the initial supply of 1.15 billion and a total supply of 1.19 billion. The initial supply was derived from converting MPL tokens at a 1:100 ratio, with additional tokens minted through a 5% annual inflation schedule. Unclaimed MPL tokens were allocated to the Syrup Strategic Fund (SSF) for ecosystem initiatives.

5.1. Utility

  • Governance: Holders can vote on protocol upgrades, pool management, and community proposals.

  • Staking: Staking SYRUP earns rewards from platform fees and token buybacks.

  • Liquidity Provision: Used to collateralize lending pools or provide liquidity in secondary markets.

6. Team

Maple Finance was founded in 2019 by a team with extensive experience in traditional finance and technology. Sidney Powell (Co-Founder and CEO) has a background in financial services, with expertise from National Australia Bank and Angle Finance. Joe Flanagan (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman) has experience in credit investment, previously at PwC Australia. Matt Collum (CTO) is the technology leader with experience at Cisco. Ryan O'Shea (COO) is the operations expert with a background at EY and Kraken.

7. Traction 

Maple Finance has demonstrated strong traction. They have about $2.7B in Assets Under Management (AUM). Their current TVL is $1.74B, which has grown exponentially in the last year. The previous 24h revenue for the protocol is $33k, and the last 30d revenue is $486k, making their annualized revenue $5.94M.

8. Investors

The Maple Finance team has raised $17.7M across multiple funding rounds. The first was a seed round of $1.3M in December 2020 from Bitscale Capital, Cluster Capital, FBG Capital, Framework Ventures, One Block Capital, and others. The second was a venture round of $1.4M in March 2021 from Framework Ventures and Polychain Capital. The next was a public token sale of $10M in April 2021. The last round was strategic of $5M in August 2023 from BlockTower Capital, Tioga Capital, Cherry Ventures, The Spartan Group, GSR, and Veris Ventures. 

9. Conclusion

Maple Finance is a pioneering DeFi platform that effectively bridges traditional finance and blockchain technology, offering institutional-grade lending solutions with transparency and efficiency. Its focus on overcollateralized loans, robust risk management, and innovative products like syrupUSDC positions it as a leader in the institutional DeFi lending market.

With an AUM of $2.7B, a TVL of $1.7B, a strong team, and backing from top-tier investors, Maple is well-equipped to capitalize on the growing demand for DeFi solutions. As the DeFi lending market expands, Maple's hybrid approach and strategic partnerships will likely drive further growth, making it a compelling opportunity for investors and institutions.

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