Welcome to the GLC Research Newsletter.

We’re a buyside crypto research firm focused on delivering clear, independent insights. We also collaborate with a few select projects to help improve transparency and reporting for stakeholders.

In this edition, we’re covering Pendle performance, a comprehensive breakdown of one of the most compelling growth stories in DeFi right now. If you're looking to understand where Pendle stands today and where it’s headed next, this report has everything you need.

Thanks again for subscribing. We’re glad to have you with us.

Let’s get into it.

Pendle doubles TVL to $10B+, launches Boros to tap into funding rate yield, expands Citadel to HyperEVM, and trades at a sub-20 P/E. A deep dive into one of DeFi’s strongest growth plays.

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

Discloser: Analysts behind this research own $PENDLE.

Key Takeaways

• Pendle’s TVL has more than doubled in the last three months, growing from $4.87B to $10.4B.

• The stablecoin market continues to grow in line with Citi’s 45% CAGR projection, further validating Pendle’s position as top stablecoin beta play.

• Boros, Pendle’s new product for trading perpetual funding rates, is now live with $47M OI and $287M notional volume, unlocking a new source of yield.

• Citadel has launched on HyperEVM, reaching $785M TVL in under a month. Solana and TON are next, expanding Pendle’s model beyond EVM.

• Pendle is now generating ~$40M in annualized protocol revenue, with a forward P/E under 20, suggesting undervaluation relative to growth.

• With strong tailwinds, rapid execution, and product-market fit, Pendle remains one of the most compelling asymmetric opportunities in DeFi.

1. Introduction

Three months ago, we published one of our strongest investment thesis to date on one of our highest-conviction projects: Pendle.

This analysis, written in collaboration with Keno and Cheeezzyyy, highlighted Pendle’s strategic positioning as one of the best stablecoin beta plays in the industry.

It also underlined the numerous major catalysts driving the project, from its expansion to new chains (HyperEVM, Solana, Ton, etc.) to the launch of a brand-new product built from scratch, Boros.

Since publication, Pendle has continued to gain traction within the growing stablecoin sector while successfully deploying several of the catalysts we had identified. This has naturally translated into strong metric growth and a significant repricing of the PENDLE governance token.

It’s now time to take a closer look.

2. The best Stablecoin Beta Play 

As you know, the central pillar of our thesis on Pendle was the expansion of the stablecoin market and Pendle’s ability to capture growth from this sector.

In our analysis, we emphasized our full alignment with Citi’s projections, namely a 45% CAGR for the stablecoin market over the coming years. Since then, the market has grown from $242.36B to $267.64B, a 10.43% increase over the past three months. This equates to an annualized CAGR of ≈48%, perfectly in line with our forecasts.

This recent growth was further supported by President Trump’s official signing of the Genius Act on July 18, 2025, a regulatory framework for stablecoins, i.e. digital currencies pegged to stable assets.

The introduction of this legislation has been highly beneficial for stablecoin issuers, particularly Ethena, whose USDe supply more than doubled from $5.99B at the time of our thesis publication to $12.27B as of today.

Given Pendle’s close relationship with Ethena, it has been one of the main beneficiaries of this expansion. Since our analysis, Ethena-related assets in Pendle’s TVL have grown from $4.8B to $7.12B (+48%) and now account for around 70% of Pendle’s total TVL.

Over the same period, Pendle’s overall TVL has surged from $4.87B to $10.4B (New ATH) reflecting an impressive 113% increase. We can confidently assert that Pendle stands out as one of the best beta plays on the growth of the stablecoin sector.

3. Boros, The brand new product 

In our thesis, we highlighted Boros as one of the key catalysts for Pendle’s future. Boros is now live as Pendle’s newest product, designed to tokenize and trade perpetual funding rates, one of the largest untapped sources of yield in crypto. Unlike Pendle V2, which focused on passive yields (staking, LPs, restaking), Boros introduces active yield trading, unlocking access to a market estimated to be ten times larger than Pendle’s current scope.

Boros enables:

• Protocols to hedge against volatile funding rates

• Traders to speculate on funding rate direction

• DeFi users to capture an entirely new dimension of yield

In just three weeks since launch, Boros has already shown promising traction with:

• $47M in open interest

• $287M in notional trading volume

• $300K+ in total deposits

Growth is being carefully managed. The team is deliberately taking a measured approach, gradually raising caps and leverage, while actively collecting user feedback to improve the platform before scaling to a broader base of users and capital.

With Boros, Pendle also introduced a new concept: Yield Units (YU). This is an entirely new mechanism that users will need to learn, much like the PT/YT model at the early stages of Pendle. Education will be key, but we trust Pendle and its community of evangelists to take on this mission effectively.

We may also release dedicated reports to provide a full recap.

4. Expansion : Citadel

When Pendle released Zenith, a document outlining its 2025 vision, it announced Citadel, an expansion of its business model to non-EVM chains (HyperEVM, Solana, Ton, etc.).

In our thesis, we highlighted Citadel as a major catalyst, enabling Pendle to increase its TAM by replicating its unique model across ecosystems with massive growth potential.

One month ago, Citadel officially launched on HyperEVM. This marks a major milestone: one of the most innovative DeFi protocols has expanded to one of the most active chains with the deepest liquidity in the ecosystem.

As more yield-bearing assets emerge on HyperEVM, this integration provides users with powerful tools to speculate, hedge, or amplify their yield. It represents a key step toward building a more composable and sophisticated DeFi landscape on Hyperliquid.

The results have been impressive. In less than a month, the HyperEVM market on Pendle reached $785.67M in TVL, surpassing the Binance Smart Chain market ($450M), and becoming the second-largest market on Pendle by TVL.

This integration has also contributed to Pendle’s broader growth. Total TVL is now approaching $11B, while revenues are also on the rise.

And this is just the beginning. Following the successful launch on HyperEVM, the next phase of Pendle Citadel is expansion to Solana and TON.

• Solana: The second-largest chain by TVL, with minimal competition for Pendle’s product.

• TON: A gateway to global retail adoption through direct integration with Telegram.

These expansions are well positioned to be highly successful.

4. Pendle’s Valuation: $40 million

This section of the research feels like the most compelling one, as it points to a very low P/E ratio compared to crypto and DeFi standards. As TVL continues to grow, revenue generation increases as well, though it takes a bit of time for TVL to fully translate into earnings, we can see that this is now starting to accelerate.

The chart below shows Pendle’s revenue growth YTD. We can clearly see that ~$3M in monthly revenue is becoming the new baseline for $PENDLE. Importantly, 100% of these fees are distributed to vePendle holders, and that’s not even counting airdrops, which can also be highly lucrative for them.

With around $40M in annualized earnings, Pendle is trading at a P/E below 20, extremely low by crypto standards, especially given how fast the protocol is scaling and its role as a top-tier partner for DeFi protocols. Pendle’s PT/YT model is a true innovation with clear product-market fit, and the Pendle, AAVE, Ethena flywheel is perhaps the best example of the growth impact a Pendle integration can deliver.

Of course, crypto comes with volatility and uncertainty, but one thing seems clear: stablecoin growth will be massive in the years ahead, and Pendle is positioned to benefit significantly from that trend. A tech company with this kind of growth trajectory and multiple catalysts ahead, trading at a sub-20 P/E, looks undervalued. We expect revenues to continue rising in the coming months and years, suggesting a repricing is likely, with $PENDLE currently at $4.7 and valued under $800M.

5. Final Thoughts

Over the past three months, Pendle has not only validated the core pillars of our initial thesis but has also exceeded expectations in execution. The project has firmly established itself as the leading beta play on the growth of the stablecoin sector, with Ethena’s expansion serving as a powerful growth driver. This has translated into a doubling of Pendle’s TVL to new all-time highs and a stronger alignment with industry tailwinds supported by regulatory clarity.

At the same time, Pendle has successfully delivered on its major catalysts. Boros has introduced a completely new product vertical, unlocking access to one of the largest untapped sources of yield in crypto, while Citadel has expanded Pendle’s model to new ecosystems, with early results on HyperEVM already demonstrating meaningful traction. Upcoming deployments on Solana and TON further highlight Pendle’s ability to broaden its reach and increase its TAM.

In short, Pendle continues to execute with precision on its roadmap, scaling both product innovation and ecosystem expansion. With strong fundamentals, accelerating adoption, and multiple growth levers ahead, we believe Pendle is exceptionally well positioned to remain one of the most compelling opportunities in DeFi.

Hope you enjoyed reading this report.

If you found it valuable, feel free to share it with others and follow us on X. You can also join our free Telegram group, we’re always up for thoughtful discussions and idea-sharing with the community.

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