Maple

Lending

Maple is a permissioned money market that enables undercollateralized borrowing to select institutions. Only pre-qualified investors can participate as lenders.

Risk Rating
Watch Out
Protocol Code Quality
Protocol Maturity
Protocol Design
Summary
What we like
Maple lenders can earn attractive interest rates by supplying liquidity to a diversified pool of institutional borrowers with solid balance sheets.
What we like less
Only whitelisted institutions can borrow on the platform. These institutions mostly borrow without depositing any collateral, which leaves minimal protection for lenders in the event of default.
What it means for you
Offers you some of the highest yields on stablecoins across DeFi lending platforms, albeit with the added risk of no collateral backing.
Information
Exploit/Hacks
None
Info
Key Metrics
  • TVL: $4M (Rank #172)
  • TVL Ranking by Lending: #0
  • Blockchain: Ethereum, Solana
  • Chain TVL
    • Ethereum: $2.9M
    • Solana: $1.13M
Risk Assessment
Watch Out
Protocol Code Quality
Protocol Maturity
  • Latest protocol version launched in 2022; maturity over one year minimizes technical risk as smart contracts are well battle-tested
  • Top 20% by total value locked slightly reduces risk
  • Multisig wallet controls protocol upgrades
  • Multisig consists of less than 4 signers, which makes the protocol more susceptible to centralization risks
  • No timelock exists or no information documented, which mean a malicious actor could approve upgrades without any delay
  • Low voting power concentration reduces risk
Protocol Design
  • Protocol could be susceptible to negative feedback loops
  • Robust controls to mitigate oracle price manipulation
  • Unsecured lending market with robust investor protection mechanisms to recoup debt repayments in the event of default
Things to know about Maple

How Maple works

Maple is an institutional lending protocol built on Ethereum and Solana. The platform provides infrastructure for credit risk experts to efficiently manage unsecured loans to institutional borrowers. Maple offers borrowers transparent financing that is entirely on-chain. Lenders on Maple can access high-yield sources through lending to diversified pools of whitelisted institutions. Each pool is managed by credit professionals called Delegates that perform due diligence and set loan terms with borrowers. The protocol is governed by the MPL token, which enables token holders to participate in governance, earn a share of fee revenues, and provide pool cover to lending pools. Pool cover providers stake MPL tokens to provide first loss capital, which is the first line of defense against borrower's default. Cover providers receive a percentage of borrower interest and MPL staking rewards. Borrowers must connect with a pool delegate and be whitelisted before they can take loans. Lenders who deposit funds into a pool receive a Maple Pool Token (MPT) that represents their share of the pool. Earned interest can be claimed at any time and is reinvested into the pool to compound returns. However, the lender's principal amount is not withdrawable until the withdrawal period of 90 days has ended. Borrowers have a five-day grace period to make repayment if they miss an interest payment. All borrowers also enter a Master Loan Agreement during onboarding that enables legal enforcement if necessary.

How Maple makes money

Maple earns a portion of all fees generated by the platform and sends it to the protocol treasury. The establishment fee is paid by borrowers when their loans are funded. It is shared between pool delegates and the treasury.

How you make money on Maple

You earn lending fees on Maple by depositing your ETH and stablecoins to be used by institutional borrowers looking for leverage. Maple further enhances its yield by offering its native MPL token as an additional incentive. MPL stakers (xMPL) also accrue distributed protocol revenues over time.