Maple Finance has become a textbook case in the digital asset ecosystem. Designed as an institutional lending platform, the protocol is aimed at an audience familiar with financial markets, but looking to exploit the opportunities offered by blockchain infrastructure.

It's intriguing positioning: Maple claims the role of on-chain asset manager, while relying primarily on lending activities. The promise? Structured returns, greater transparency and an infrastructure designed for both institutional investors and native DeFi players.

Through its two branches (Maple Institutional, under permission, and Syrup, open to all) the protocol aims to bring together two worlds long kept at a distance: that of traditional finance and that of decentralised finance. It remains to be seen whether this hybrid model is robust enough to prevail in a market where institutional competition, whether from BlackRock or other DeFi players, is becoming more pressing every month.

The protocol is emerging from a phase of strong growth, with monthly revenues exceeding $1 million since May 2025 and assets under management (AUM) reaching $3.3 billion at the end of August.

This progress comes against a backdrop of growing institutional adoption of digital assets, driven both by gradual regulatory clarification and the increased maturity of blockchain infrastructures.

Project presentation

Maple Finance presents itself as an onchain asset manager, but its core business remains lending. The platform highlights transparent and secure solutions to offer structured return opportunities to two categories of users: institutional investors and native DeFi players.

To meet the needs of these two profiles, the protocol is based on two distinct branches:

→ Maple Institutional (access under permission)

→ Syrup (open access)

Maple Institutional: an infrastructure designed for professionals

The Maple Institutional business is primarily aimed at institutional funds, asset managers, hedge funds and corporates.

It is based on several key features:

• Tailor-made, over-collateralised pools: managed in-house by Maple's teams, who select borrowers, conduct full due diligence (KYC/AML, financial analysis) and define the collateralisation terms. Since the end of 2022, only over-collateralised loans have been offered in order to strengthen security for lenders.
• Advanced risk management: credit scoring models, hedging mechanisms and liquidation options in the event of default.
• Institutional reporting: auditability tools, regulatory compliance and detailed reports tailored to the expectations of professional investors.
• Yield optimisation: access to competitive rates on large volumes, tailored to stablecoin cash management.

Access to Maple Institutional's pools is not completely open. In theory, any investor can deposit funds there, but two conditions filter entry.

The first is a compulsory KYC, which verifies the identity and compliance of liquidity providers. The second concerns the entry ticket, set at an institutional level: as a general rule, the minimum deposit is 100,000 USDC. There are some exceptions, such as the pool managed by AQRU, which has lowered this threshold to just over 50,000 USDC.

These barriers allow Maple to target primarily funds, companies and qualified investors, rather than leaving access open to all individuals.

Today, Maple Institutional offers several strategies:

1. High Yield Corporate Loan (USDC)
2. USDC loans to a large crypto company, secured by a corporate guarantee but without on-chain collateral. The loans are short-term (30-day call period), with a target yield of 11% APY. Three loans are currently active, with stable liquidity. This product targets investors seeking yield on a stable asset, while accepting counterparty risk.
3. High Yield Corporate Loan (WETH)
4. Strategic WETH loans to a large crypto company, secured by a corporate guarantee. The loans are short-term (45-day call period), with a target yield of 7-8% APY, currently achieved over 30 days. However, they are exposed to ETH volatility.
5. High Yield Secured Lending (USDC)
6. Over-collateralised loans to leading institutional counterparties, with active collateral management throughout the loan cycle. The aim is to maximise risk-adjusted return while preserving lenders' capital, through strict borrower selection. Yields around 10% APY over 30 days, with eight active loans.
7. Blue Chip Secured Lending (USDC)
8. USDC loans to institutions against collateral in major digital assets, deposited with qualified custodians and tracked in real time. These loans have legal recourse to the borrower's other assets and are tailored to the risk profile identified. Stable yield of 8% APY over 30 days, with seven active loans.
9. Bitcoin Yield (BTC)
10. Product targeting a yield of 4-6% APY, paid directly in BTC. Staking issues are hedged to secure returns, with no risk of slashing. Capital therefore remains fully protected, with returns generated solely via on-chain staking on Core, with real-time auditing.

Access to credit on Maple is not open to all companies. Each borrower must go through a strict procedure conducted by Maple Direct: KYC/AML checks, financial analysis and review of the collateral structure. Only counterparties deemed strong can get a loan.

"Loans are structured to protect principal by being overcollateralised with liquid digital assets," a Maple spokesperson tells The Big Whale. "Maple proactively issues margin calls to borrowers to ensure they can complete their positions well in advance of liquidations, which are set at conservative ratios. Maple's historical performance shows that the model is effective as it has not suffered any losses."

Syrup: institutional DeFi open to all

Alongside its bespoke institutional offering, Maple Finance has launched Syrup.fi, a platform that gives the entire DeFi community (native users, DAOs or retail investors) access to the same institutional lending opportunities, with no barrier to entry.

Among its key features:

• Democratised access
• Syrup.fi allows any user to deposit stablecoins in institutional pools, with no KYC requirements for lenders. The conditions offered are identical to those available to large institutional investors.
• SyrupUSDC: a productive stablecoin
• USDC and USDT deposits are pooled in institutional pools and give entitlement to SyrupUSDC, a productive stablecoin backed by over-collateralised loans. The interest generated is redistributed to SyrupUSDC holders. The token is available on Ethereum and has recently been deployed on Solana (June 2025) and Arbitrum (September 2025).
• Advanced yield strategies and DeFi integrations
• SyrupUSDC is now integrated with several platforms, including Binance Earn, OKX Wallet and Etherfi. On Ethereum, it can be used via Pendle to obtain fixed (PT-SyrupUSDC) or variable (YT-SyrupUSDC) returns, or as collateral on Morpho to borrow USDC at competitive rates (up to 11% APY) and deploy leverage strategies.
• Security, liquidity and transparency
• The pools are over-collateralised, liquidity remains flexible according to lending cycles, and the main risks relate to the solvency of institutional borrowers. Maple emphasises enhanced security through rigorous due diligence processes, ongoing monitoring and regular audits. Pool performance and composition are visible in real time via public dashboards. Withdrawals are possible according to the rules specific to each pool.
• Rewards and incentives
• Beyond the interest generated, users benefit from additional rewards: Drips, SYRUP redemptions redistributed to stakers and liquidity providers, reinforcing the attractiveness of the Syrup ecosystem.fi.

When asked by The Big Whale about plans to diversify beyond the crypto ecosystem, here's what a Maple spokesperson had to say:

"Traditional financial institutions are becoming increasingly integrated with blockchain. A case in point is the recent 2 billion facility with Cantor. Cantor's Bitcoin finance business, which can make up to $2bn of funding available in its initial phase, offers leverage to institutional investors holding Bitcoin, bringing scale, structure and sophistication to the digital asset industry. This transaction marks a major milestone in the institutional adoption of digital assets, signalling the next phase of capital formation between traditional and decentralised markets."

Team

Maple Finance was founded in 2019 by Sidney Powell (CEO) and Joe Flanagan (co-founder), combining expertise from traditional finance and technology.

Sidney Powell worked in capital markets at National Australia Bank, where he managed over $3 billion of bond issuance and oversaw a $200 million programme. He then went on to become treasurer at a fintech specialising in trade credit.

Joe Flanagan worked at a Big Four before becoming CFO of an ASX-listed fintech, with a successful IPO and over $400m raised.

The executive team also includes:

Matt Collum (CTO), responsible for technology strategy.

Ryan O'Shea (COO), in charge of operations and growth.

As a whole, the team brings together extensive experience in finance, risk management and technology, with past backgrounds at institutions including J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Amazon, BlackRock, Galaxy Digital and PIMCO.

Technology and security

Maple Finance is deployed on Ethereum, where liquidity pools are managed via smart contracts compliant with the ERC-4626 standard.

V2 focuses on simplicity and immutability: each pool is deliberately limited to essential functions (deposit, withdrawal, token management), while the complex logic is outsourced to a specific contract, the PoolManager.

On the security side, Maple Finance has been audited more than eight times by recognised companies such as Three Sigma, Spearbit/Cantina, Trail of Bits and 0xMacro. The most recent, conducted by Three Sigma in 2024 on the main protocol and the Syrup Router, confirmed a methodical approach: the flaws identified were generally of low to medium severity and quickly corrected by the team.

During an audit by 0xMacro in December 2023, two issues of medium severity, one low issue and twelve remarks related to code quality had been identified, all of which were resolved immediately.

The protocol has not experienced any major technical flaws. The most notable incident remains the $36 million default by a borrower, Orthogonal Trading, at the time of FTX's collapse in November 2022. This default, linked to an external counterparty risk, led to a complete overhaul of the risk model and the transition to Maple 2.0, with loans now systematically over-collateralised and the introduction of advanced refinancing and liquidation mechanisms (notably via flash loans). Since this transition, no major incidents have been reported, and the protocol's growth bears witness to a return of confidence among institutional users in the robustness of its infrastructure.

The token: SYRUP (ex-MPL)

The SYRUP token has replaced the MPL in a ratio of 1 MPL per 100 SYRUP, in order to make the protocol more accessible while maintaining value for historical holders. Holders can place their SYRUP in staking to obtain stSYRUP, which entitles them to rewards from redemptions and inflation, but also participate in the governance of the protocol.

At the end of the migration (November 2024 - May 2025), approximately 1.15 billion SYRUP were created: 1 billion for the main offer, 100 million dedicated to initial inflation and 54.93 million corresponding to additional inflation until October 2024. Unconverted MPLs were transferred to the Syrup Strategic Fund, intended to support long-term initiatives.

As of 28 August 2025, the outstanding offer reached 1.17 billion SYRUPs (or 89% of the total), with a staking rate of 37.9% and an almost fully diluted valuation.

Financing

Since its inception, Maple Finance has raised a total of $17.7 million through several key stages:

• December 2020: $1.3 million seed round from Alameda Research, Framework Ventures, FBG Capital, as well as Kain Warwick (Synthetix) and Stani Kulechov (Aave);
• March 2021: 1.4 million led by Framework Ventures and Polychain Capital;
• April 2021: public sale of tokens for $10 million;
• August 2023: $5 million raised from BlockTower Capital, Tioga Capital, Cherry Ventures, The Spartan Group, GSR Ventures, Veris Ventures and historical investors.

This latest round has funded expansion in Asia, the launch of Syrup.fi and the development of new features. The funds also supported the building of a team of more than 40 specialists from institutions such as BlockFi, Kraken, Meta, Bank of America, Gemini and MakerDAO.

Business model and financial health

Maple Finance generates its revenues through three main sources:

• Establishment Fees (Establishment Fees): levied at the launch of each loan, at around 1% of the amount borrowed. 66% of these fees accrue to the protocol and 34% to the Pool Delegates, providing an incentive for active, high-quality management.
• Ongoing Fees: equivalent to around 10% of the interest paid by borrowers, these are shared between the Pool Delegates and the hedge providers, ensuring a sustainable alignment of interests and prudent risk management.
• Treasury pool management fees: set at 0.5% on pools for institutional investors wishing to optimise the management of their stablecoins.

These revenues are then split between three main categories of players. The Pool Delegates receive a share of the initial and recurring fees, which incentivises them to actively select and monitor borrowers. The protocol's treasury also receives a share, intended to finance development, technical maintenance and security. Lastly, SYRUP stakers (stSYRUP) benefit from a redistribution mechanism: since 2025, a proportion of revenues has been earmarked for SYRUP token redemptions, which are then redistributed to holders committed to staking.

"The SYRUP token plays a central role in the development of the Maple ecosystem," says a spokesperson for the project. "The community voted to introduce monthly recurring redemptions which were set at 20% for T1 and T2, and are currently at 25% for T3.”

In addition to this pattern are inflationary emissions: 20% of annual new SYRUP issuance (or 1% of total supply) is allocated to stakers, bringing the estimated return to stSYRUP holders to around 5% per annum. The remaining 80% (or 4% of the annual offering) goes into the protocol's treasury to fund operations and strategic initiatives.

Annual revenues are currently estimated at between $5 million and $11 million. With 20% to 25% allocated to buybacks, this represents $1 million to $2.2 million redistributed each year.

Financial health

As at 28 August 2025, Maple Finance's cash position stood at $6.7 million, consisting mainly of:

• USDC (61.38%)
• SYRUP (35%)
• Residual amounts in USDT, WETH, DAI, SAFE, MTV and CRG (less than 1% in total)

This breakdown illustrates typical management of DeFi protocols after migration: a large proportion of reserves in native tokens, supplemented by stablecoins to ensure immediate operational liquidity.

On the same date, Maple Finance's capitalisation was between $534 million and $543 million, for assets under management (AUM) of $3.03 billion. The Market Cap/TVL ratio is around 0.18, which means that the market valuation represents around a third of the value of the locked-in assets. Compared to other DeFi protocols where this ratio often exceeds 1, this level appears relatively conservative and can be seen as a conservative valuation for investors seeking institutional exposure.

The growth momentum is marked: TVL has grown from $85 million in January 2024 to $3.03 billion in August 2025, a 35-fold increase in a year and a half. Outstanding active loans have reached a record level of $1.261 billion. Since its launch, Maple Finance has granted more than $9 billion in loans, notably to institutions such as Circle and BlockTower, confirming its role as the benchmark platform for on-chain institutional credit.

Governance

Maple Finance's governance is based on a hybrid model that combines decentralised mechanisms and institutional expertise. Community discussions and proposals for changes to the protocol are organised on the Discourse forum, while official votes on Maple Improvement Proposals (MIPs) are held on Snapshot. Decisions require a quorum of 5% of the supply in circulation and a simple majority to be validated.

Since the adoption of MIP-012, only stSYRUP holders have been able to take part in votes, which promotes better alignment between the players who are actually committed and the protocol.

Institutional collaborations and DeFi integration

Maple Finance has established itself as a leading platform for on-chain institutional credit thanks to an extensive network of strategic partners and advanced integrations into DeFi. Its Maple Network Partners programme brings together essential providers for institutions (accounting, tax, qualified custody, risk monitoring) and facilitates access to tailored solutions.

Since its launch in May 2021, Maple has served more than 1,500 lenders and 80 borrowers across 15 diverse pools, ranging from crypto hedge funds to traditional asset managers. Its borrowers include players such as Circle, Cantor Fitzgerald and BlockTower Capital, illustrating the institutional confidence in the protocol's infrastructure.

In parallel, via SyrupUSDC, Maple is strengthening its integration with the leading DeFi protocols, creating an interconnected ecosystem that expands use cases for users.

On Ethereum (ETH):

• EtherFi: using weETH as collateral on Maple Finance allows ETH restaked holders to access liquidity while continuing to collect their staking rewards.
• Pendle: offers advanced yield management strategies, with the ability to earn fixed returns on SyrupUSDC (PT-SyrupUSDC) or speculate on future returns (YT-SyrupUSDC).
• Morpho (Gauntlet & MEV Capital): SyrupUSDC can be used as collateral to borrow USDC at competitive rates.

On Solana (SOL):

• Kamino: SyrupUSDC is integrated into its lending, leverage and liquidity vaults products, with $30m of on-chain liquidity and $500,000 of incentives to encourage adoption.
• Drift Protocol: launched as productive collateral on Solana's second perpetual DEX, SyrupUSDC enables margin traders to generate a 7-8% return on their collateral. Maple has deployed $100,000 in incentives and set a $50 million cap on this collateral.
• Jupiter Lend: accepts SyrupUSDC as collateral for lending and borrowing. The platform attracted $70 million in SyrupUSDC deposits within 24 hours of launch, a sign of rapid adoption.

On Arbitrum (ARB):

• Fluid: SyrupUSDC can be purchased natively and used in its leverage vaults. Users can lock in their positions with incentives that reduce borrowing rates by 2%, while earning native yield and ARB rewards via the DRIP programme. Deposit limits reach $40 million.
• Morpho: SyrupUSDC is supported in Morpho's lending markets. Users can deposit SyrupUSDC, borrow USDC and amplify their positions. An initial cap of $7 million has been set to limit risk.
• Euler: integrated into Euler on Arbitrum, SyrupUSDC can be used as leveraged interest-bearing collateral via the Multiply feature. An initial cap of $20 million has been set to accompany the launch.

"Maple continues to expand its asset management offering on the blockchain," says a spokesperson. "The recent deployment of syrupUSDC on Arbitrum shows that sustainable expansion to blockchains with DeFi use cases and scalability potential is one of the key growth areas. In addition, syrupUSDC is currently being integrated with Aave. If successful, this will open up a major new expansion path."

Competition

In the competitive landscape of institutional lending in DeFi, Maple Finance stands out from direct rivals such as TrueFi or Goldfinch through its focus on compliance and an infrastructure designed for professional investors.

In May 2025, Maple became the leading on-chain asset manager in terms of assets under management, overtaking BlackRock's tokenised BUIDL fund. This position was consolidated by a strategic partnership signed with Cantor Fitzgerald to set up a $2 billion bitcoin-backed credit line, an important milestone for the development of institutional lending in DeFi.

In this context and against its competitors, Maple is asserting itself as the most advanced platform for on-chain institutional lending, with notable financial strength, a strong compliance focus and an infrastructure tailored to the needs of professional investors. Compared to TrueFi or Goldfinch, the protocol benefits from a significantly larger market share and a more specialised approach to servicing institutions.

The Big Whale's analysis

Maple Finance's track record attracts attention. After seeing its TVL plummet by more than 95%, the protocol has managed to bounce back and return to sustained growth. Between January 2024 and August 2025, the locked-in value rose from $85 million to $3 billion. Monthly revenues now exceed one million, and more than $9 billion in loans have been granted since its creation. Maple is thus establishing itself as a central player in the RWA segment and on-chain institutional credit.

But behind these figures, several grey areas remain:

A fragile governance model: governance is still based on the Pool Delegates, who concentrate a significant proportion of decision-making power while exposing little capital. This asymmetry continues to foster moral hazard, even though transparency and coverage requirements have been strengthened since the 2022 crisis. The contested migration from MPL to SYRUP has also left some holders without recourse, raising questions about the fairness of the protocol.

Technological security under strain: despite more than eight audits and rapid corrections, the complexity of Maple's smart contracts exposes them to the risk of critical bugs or targeted attacks. The most recent audits have revealed exploitable flaws, reminding us that security remains an ongoing project.

High sector concentration: the majority of borrowers come from the crypto ecosystem, exposing the protocol to the specific cycles of this market. This dependence could weigh heavily in the event of another shock, despite the announced efforts to diversify.

An uncertain regulatory environment: the rapidly changing legal frameworks, particularly in the United States and Europe, represent a major risk. Increased compliance and reporting requirements could hinder the adoption and growth of a hybrid model combining centralisation and decentralisation. "Global regulations are becoming increasingly supportive of blockchain-based products," says a spokesperson. "As the largest asset manager on blockchain, Maple is well positioned to continue to grow in this environment."

Increased competition: established players such as BlackRock (with BUIDL) or new entrants specialising in RWAs are challenging Maple's position. Maintaining its lead will require constant innovation and rigorous risk management.

Maple is therefore at a turning point. Its ability to transform its recent successes into lasting standards will depend on its ability to reconcile innovation and security, but also growth and prudence. The team has set itself ambitious targets by the end of 2025:

• $4 billion in TVL
• $1.5 billion in SyrupUSDC
• $1 billion in Maple Institutional
• $1.5 billion in BTC Yield

Targets that, given the current momentum, appear attainable.

For institutional investors, Maple represents a structured opportunity, combining growth potential with increasingly sophisticated risk control mechanisms. The challenges remain numerous, but the strengths demonstrated position the protocol favourably. Provided it remains nimble and disciplined, Maple could emerge as one of the enduring pillars of institutional DeFi.

As long as institutional demand remains buoyant, Maple will be able to broaden its scope and strengthen its resilience. But in DeFi, even the strongest trees have to adapt to the seasons: no protocol is forever.