There's saying;

“授人以鱼，不如授人以渔。”

In the same spirit of empowerment, Maple Finance is transforming crypto lending by offering high-yield, overcollateralized loans with institutional-grade security. Powered by the $SYRUP token and Syrup.fi, it blends TradFi compliance with DeFi access in a market worth $8 trillion.

Founded in 2019, Maple Finance operates as an on-chain platform that delivers secure, fixed-rate loans to creditworthy crypto institutions, using digital assets like $BTC and $ETH as collateral. Its #Maple Institutional product is for accredited investors and requires KYC, while Syrup.fi—launched in May 2024—is a permissionless DeFi extension that opens the same high-grade loan infrastructure to regular users through yield-bearing stablecoins and integrations with platforms like Aave and Balancer. The ecosystem runs on $SYRUP, a governance token launched in November 2024 (replacing MPL), which allows stakers to earn rewards through inflation and protocol revenue buybacks. Staking #Syrup earns stSYRUP, the only token eligible to vote in governance, tying participation to protocol health.

Maple stands apart from platforms like Aave and Compound through its hybrid model—off-chain due diligence by Pool Delegates combined with on-chain execution. Loans are overcollateralized, custodied securely, and offer up to 10% higher APYs, with pools like Blue Chip Secured and High Yield Secured. Though this model ensures strong security and yield, it sacrifices some scalability and transparency, relying on just eight underwriters.

As of May 7, 2025, SYRUP trades at ~$0.24 with a $261M market cap and 1.06B tokens in circulation. Maple has processed $800M in lending and hit $1B in AUM, while Syrup.fi holds $58.2M in TVL. Despite strong audits and monitoring, challenges remain—staking is vote-dependent, legal clarity is thin, and market volatility is a risk. Still, Maple’s DeFi-TradFi blend positions it as a promising, yet cautious, solution.