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Today, we’re sharing an interview we conducted with Martin De Rijke, Head of Growth at Maple Finance, as part of the preparation for our quarterly report. Below, you’ll find a short summary of this insightful discussion.

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Maple continues its phenomenal growth. In this interview, you’ll learn more about the drivers behind Maple’s Q3 growth, the outperformance of syrupUSDC versus its peers, Maple’s vision for the future of onchain asset management, and the rapid rise of syrupUSDT.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are the author’s personal views and should not be relied upon as investment advice.

Discloser: Analysts behind this report owns $SYRUP & syrupUSDC. In addition, GLC is working with Maple as independent research partner. Full disclaimer and disclosure here.

Question 1

Martin expressed strong satisfaction with Maple’s Q3 performance. Historically, “risk-on” markets with rising asset prices have been challenging for Maple, as investors often shift away from DeFi. This quarter, however, was different. Despite bullish conditions, Maple delivered exceptional metrics and maintained strong growth.

The multi-chain strategy proved highly successful, driving major traction on Solana, where Maple became the largest yield-bearing dollar asset, and expansion to Arbitrum and Plasma, which boosted AUM and user growth.

Maple’s brand has evolved from a solid DeFi player to a market leader. The team now attracts inbound interest from top projects and institutions, allowing greater selectivity in partnerships. A clear example is Plasma’s decision to collaborate exclusively with Maple, Aave, and Binance ahead of its chain launch.

Question 2

According to Martin, several factors explain this strong performance. A key reason is that Maple’s capital base has become much more sticky compared to the past, when high lender turnover often caused sharp TVL declines.

Today, outflows are limited. For example, during the last market downturn, Maple experienced only a 3% outflow that was quickly offset by new inflows.

Maple also launched new products and integrations that broadened its use cases, such as DeFi loopings, Pendle pools, and Perps collateral on Drift. These innovations created new opportunities for users, with yields reaching up to 30% depending on risk appetite.

This combination of stronger capital retention and expanded utility encourages users to keep their funds within the protocol rather than seek higher-risk opportunities elsewhere in the market.

Question 3

One key reason is that rising asset prices increase the value of collateral posted on Maple. For instance, the High Yield Secured Pool is currently overcollateralized by more than 570%. During Q3, the appreciation of asset prices significantly boosted collateral value, making TVL appear inflated compared to active loans. Active loans grew by about 45%, while TVL rose by roughly 60%. Even so, this remains a strong performance, especially in a seasonally softer period.

Another factor behind the lower monetization rate is a decline in Maple’s risk premium. As confidence in the protocol grows, investors perceive less risk and accept lower yields. The integration of syrupUSDC into money markets also enabled looping strategies that amplified TVL growth relative to active loans. Since revenues come primarily from interest on active loans, this dynamic naturally impacts the monetization rate.

Martin noted that monetization is best assessed relative to active loans, which drive Maple’s core revenues. On that basis, the ratio has stayed largely stable, aside from a brief dip in July when active loans temporarily decreased. The decline relative to TVL reflects the broader dynamics mentioned above.

Question 4

Martin noted that syrupUSDC is expected to sustain its strong performance in the coming quarters. Its main strength lies in delivering stable and predictable yields through a model based on overcollateralized fixed-rate loans.

Unlike other yield-bearing assets, which often exhibit higher yield volatility, syrupUSDC benefits from Maple’s fixed-rate lending framework, offering greater stability and transparency for investors.

Maple views its value proposition as particularly compelling. The recent Aave integration has enabled investors to create “forever loops,” allowing them to capitalize on syrupUSDC’s yield, which has consistently exceeded Aave’s borrow rate over the past year. This makes the strategy especially attractive within the largest money market in DeFi.

Question 5

The team is not concerned about Bitcoin’s long-term outlook. They do not believe BTC will ever “die” or disappear entirely, and if that were to happen, it would likely occur over a long period of time, with another digital asset eventually taking on Bitcoin’s role.

While that scenario seems unlikely, there will always be demand from borrowers seeking to leverage digital assets as collateral.

Maple remains confident that digital assets will endure and continue to grow in the coming years, and that more and more participants will want to borrow against them.

Question 6

According to Martin, syrupUSDT is expected to surpass syrupUSDC as early as Q4, driven by several key factors.

The partnership with Plasma is a major catalyst, as there is currently a large amount of idle USDT on the chain, and a significant share of it is likely to flow into syrupUSDT following the launch.

Additionally, Maple’s newly established partnership with Aave is set to accelerate growth. Since USDT represents a much larger share of the liquidity supplied on Aave compared to USDC, this collaboration should provide a meaningful boost.

Overall, USDT remains the dominant stablecoin in DeFi, and many holders are expected to seek Maple’s attractive and consistent yields.

Hope you enjoyed reading this interview.

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Stay tuned, more in-depth insights are coming your way soon.