Maple Finance Becomes Largest Onchain Asset Manager
Onchain asset manager Maple Finance has surpassed BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. Its Assets Under Management (AUM) are nearing $4 billion. This growth is driven by strong institutional demand for its yield-bearing stablecoin, syrupUSD. Recent expansions to new blockchain networks also contributed.
Maple Finance CEO and co-founder Sid Powell highlighted a shift in the market. “The majority of Maple’s growth is being driven by institutional credit demand,” Powell said. He added that the market is moving away from opportunistic strategies toward stable, credit-driven yields.
Investor deposits now total $3.8 billion. These funds generate yield by lending capital to crypto-native businesses. These include prime brokers, trading firms, and Bitcoin miners.
Expansion and Incentives Fuel Growth
Maple Finance expanded its services to new blockchains this September. Early in the month, it deployed on Arbitrum to join its $40 million DRIP reward program. On September 15, Maple launched syrupUSD on the Plasma layer-2 network.
The Plasma launch included a $200 million pre-deposit vault. This vault filled within 24 hours and offers exclusive rewards to early liquidity providers.
The total deposits in DeFi lending systems have reached nearly $135 billion. Powell emphasized Maple’s sustainable model. He said its yield is based on “real credit demand, not by circular activity or opaque leverage.” Powell added, “We’re moving from experimental protocols toward durable financial rails that can support billions of dollars in capital.”
Outlook and Market Impact
Maple Finance’s growth signals a maturing onchain credit market. It shows growing institutional confidence in DeFi-native yield products. Maple provides stable, credit-driven returns from real-world business operations. This offers a sustainable alternative to volatile and speculative yields seen in earlier DeFi cycles.
The company aims to reach $5 billion in AUM by year-end. Achieving this could attract larger financial institutions to decentralized asset management.
