Maple Introduces Composable Lending with Syrup

Syrup is a bullish development for the Maple ecosystem, as it should source more capital to deploy into various lending strategies, which should raise protocol revenue if demand continues to grow. 

All loans originating from the secured lending products are collateralized with digital assets at conservative LTVs to prioritize lender deposits throughout volatile market conditions. The protocol utilizes a rigorous credit due diligence process to monitor financial health and ability to fulfill obligations. The lending product has shown strong product-market fit, evidenced by $215M in un-incentivized TVL, $114M in loans outstanding, and over $4B in total loan originations since launch. 

This activity has generated only $5.7M protocol revenue since launch, but this is largely due to the fact that Maple passes the majority of lending interest to liquidity providers, who have seen a cumulative $56.6M in fees so far. Maple provided ~15.7% APY on lending deposits throughout Q2, evidencing a competitive set-and-forget passive income product that eclipses the stablecoin yields found across various DeFi platforms, such as Aave or Compound. Syrup should generate strong growth for the protocol as it introduces a new degree of composability across DeFi, where potential utilities include the collateralization of syrupUSDC for perpetual futures positions, further lending across blue-chip protocols, as well as AMM positions. 

Although MPL saw short term positive price action, the token has failed to accrue value YTD. While all MPL will be convertible to SYRUP in Q4, participants interested in long term growth will likely gain the best risk-adjusted allocation through simply depositing USDC into Syrup to generate incentives and lending returns. However, this is subject to change depending on both deposit and lending activity once the incentive program begins. Regardless, a long position in MPL closer to Syrup’s TGE in Q4 should offer a strong opportunity for short-term gains later this year.