DeFi’s “On-Chain Wall Street”: How Maple Finance Is Crafting a New Paradigm for Institutional Credit
Abstract – From Wild-West Lending to Institution-Grade Capital Markets Maple Finance was started by former bond-salesmen and structurers who believed blockchains could do debt markets better than Bloomberg terminals. In three years it has moved from “zero-collateral alpha” to a multi-chain, multi-asset credit platform that has underwritten > US $4 bn of loans, tokenised US $270 m of U.S. Treasuries and still kept defaults below 3 %. This piece walks through the product arcs, the 2022 near-dea...
What is RWA
the brief history of RWA
Detailed explanation of the RWA tokenization track: the next wave of crypto narrative
The concept of RWA is not unfamiliar in the blockchain industry. The earliest RWA project was the BTM Bytom Chain, which "puts assets on the chain". At present, the most successful RWA is the digital dollar USDT and USDC, which maps the US dollar to the chain and tokenizes it. Stablecoins have subtly influenced the entire crypto industry and have now become an important cornerstone. The full name of RWA is real world assets-tokenization, which is the process of converting the ownership value ...
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Boros: Pendle’s New Toy, Ethena’s Yield Stabilizer
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DeFi’s “On-Chain Wall Street”: How Maple Finance Is Crafting a New Paradigm for Institutional Credit
Abstract – From Wild-West Lending to Institution-Grade Capital Markets Maple Finance was started by former bond-salesmen and structurers who believed blockchains could do debt markets better than Bloomberg terminals. In three years it has moved from “zero-collateral alpha” to a multi-chain, multi-asset credit platform that has underwritten > US $4 bn of loans, tokenised US $270 m of U.S. Treasuries and still kept defaults below 3 %. This piece walks through the product arcs, the 2022 near-dea...
What is RWA
the brief history of RWA
Detailed explanation of the RWA tokenization track: the next wave of crypto narrative
The concept of RWA is not unfamiliar in the blockchain industry. The earliest RWA project was the BTM Bytom Chain, which "puts assets on the chain". At present, the most successful RWA is the digital dollar USDT and USDC, which maps the US dollar to the chain and tokenizes it. Stablecoins have subtly influenced the entire crypto industry and have now become an important cornerstone. The full name of RWA is real world assets-tokenization, which is the process of converting the ownership value ...
Funding-Rate Volatility: The Pain Point
Perpetual-swap funding rates swing wildly, giving traders migraines. Pendle’s brand-new Boros module—live on Arbitrum since August 6, 2025—turns those very rates into a brand-new, fully on-chain asset class. Users can now hedge exposure or speculate on future funding-rate direction, while protocols such as Ethena finally get a tool to smooth their volatile yield streams.
---
Funding-Rate 101
Perpetual contracts have no expiry, so exchanges use a “funding rate” to keep perp prices close to spot.
• If the perp trades above spot, longs pay shorts.
• If below, shorts pay longs.
Daily perp volume is now in the hundreds of billions; BTC and ETH funding rates have averaged 7.8–9 % annualized. That translates into millions of dollars swapping hands every day.
---
The Volatility Problem
Funding rates can flip fast. ETH, usually positive (longs pay shorts), can suddenly go negative in volatile markets.
Ethena’s USDe, a yield-bearing stablecoin, earns most of its yield by shorting perps and collecting funding. When the rate turns negative, the revenue stream becomes a cost center. Ethena has therefore:
• Built a $39 M+ insurance fund.
• Issued ENA incentives to keep some yield inside the protocol as a buffer.
Boros now offers a cleaner solution.
---
Boros: Turning Funding Rates into Tradeable Assets
Boros introduces Yield Units (YU)—tokenized claims on the funding-rate cash-flow of a given perp position over a fixed period.
Example: 5 YU-ETHUSDT-Binance entitles the holder to all funding payments on a 5-ETH short position on Binance until expiry. At expiry the YU settles to zero.
---
Two Rates Drive the Trade
• Implied APR – The market price of the YU expressed as an annualized fixed rate.
• Underlying APR – The actual funding rate generated by the perp, fluctuating in real time.
Trade mechanics:
• Long Rate – You pay the Implied APR and receive the real-time Underlying APR; profitable if actual rates rise above the implied.
• Short Rate – You receive the Implied APR and pay the Underlying APR; profitable if actual rates fall below the implied.
---
Use-Case 1: Longs Hedge Their Funding Cost
In heated bull markets, funding can spike. A perp long can Long Rate on Boros, locking in a fixed funding outflow. Any excess paid to shorts is offset by Boros cash-flows, stabilizing P&L.
---
Use-Case 2: Ethena Locks in Funding Income
By Shorting Rate, Ethena swaps its variable funding receipts for a fixed yield. If funding turns negative, Boros compensates Ethena, eliminating the need for massive insurance funds or token incentives.
---
Use-Case 3: Delta-Neutral Arbitrage
Cash-and-carry trades on centralized venues use dated futures to lock the basis. On-chain, perps lack expiry, so funding-rate volatility can erode delta-neutral profits.
With Boros, an arbitrageur can Short Rate after entering “long spot / short perp.” The floating funding income is swapped for a fixed rate, replicating the certainty of traditional futures convergence.
---
Impact on Pendle
Boros propels Pendle beyond fixed-yield tokens into the vast world of derivative rates. Funding rates—native to crypto and trading billions daily—now have native on-chain instruments. Pendle collects fresh fee streams, diversifying yield for PENDLE stakers and reinforcing the protocol’s position as the go-to hub for all on-chain interest-rate products.
---
Impact on DeFi at Large
By introducing fixed-for-floating swaps, Boros lowers systemic risk in perp markets, invites institutional capital, and nudges DeFi closer to TradFi-grade tooling.
---
Roadmap
Current caps: $10 M open interest, 1.2× leverage, BTC & ETH on Binance. Upcoming expansions include SOL, BNB, and integrations with Hyperliquid, Bybit, and more.
Boros has transformed the unruly funding-rate stream into a standardized, tradeable, hedgeable instrument—one more step toward the DeFi endgame: “Any yield is accessible, tradable, and hedged.”
Funding-Rate Volatility: The Pain Point
Perpetual-swap funding rates swing wildly, giving traders migraines. Pendle’s brand-new Boros module—live on Arbitrum since August 6, 2025—turns those very rates into a brand-new, fully on-chain asset class. Users can now hedge exposure or speculate on future funding-rate direction, while protocols such as Ethena finally get a tool to smooth their volatile yield streams.
---
Funding-Rate 101
Perpetual contracts have no expiry, so exchanges use a “funding rate” to keep perp prices close to spot.
• If the perp trades above spot, longs pay shorts.
• If below, shorts pay longs.
Daily perp volume is now in the hundreds of billions; BTC and ETH funding rates have averaged 7.8–9 % annualized. That translates into millions of dollars swapping hands every day.
---
The Volatility Problem
Funding rates can flip fast. ETH, usually positive (longs pay shorts), can suddenly go negative in volatile markets.
Ethena’s USDe, a yield-bearing stablecoin, earns most of its yield by shorting perps and collecting funding. When the rate turns negative, the revenue stream becomes a cost center. Ethena has therefore:
• Built a $39 M+ insurance fund.
• Issued ENA incentives to keep some yield inside the protocol as a buffer.
Boros now offers a cleaner solution.
---
Boros: Turning Funding Rates into Tradeable Assets
Boros introduces Yield Units (YU)—tokenized claims on the funding-rate cash-flow of a given perp position over a fixed period.
Example: 5 YU-ETHUSDT-Binance entitles the holder to all funding payments on a 5-ETH short position on Binance until expiry. At expiry the YU settles to zero.
---
Two Rates Drive the Trade
• Implied APR – The market price of the YU expressed as an annualized fixed rate.
• Underlying APR – The actual funding rate generated by the perp, fluctuating in real time.
Trade mechanics:
• Long Rate – You pay the Implied APR and receive the real-time Underlying APR; profitable if actual rates rise above the implied.
• Short Rate – You receive the Implied APR and pay the Underlying APR; profitable if actual rates fall below the implied.
---
Use-Case 1: Longs Hedge Their Funding Cost
In heated bull markets, funding can spike. A perp long can Long Rate on Boros, locking in a fixed funding outflow. Any excess paid to shorts is offset by Boros cash-flows, stabilizing P&L.
---
Use-Case 2: Ethena Locks in Funding Income
By Shorting Rate, Ethena swaps its variable funding receipts for a fixed yield. If funding turns negative, Boros compensates Ethena, eliminating the need for massive insurance funds or token incentives.
---
Use-Case 3: Delta-Neutral Arbitrage
Cash-and-carry trades on centralized venues use dated futures to lock the basis. On-chain, perps lack expiry, so funding-rate volatility can erode delta-neutral profits.
With Boros, an arbitrageur can Short Rate after entering “long spot / short perp.” The floating funding income is swapped for a fixed rate, replicating the certainty of traditional futures convergence.
---
Impact on Pendle
Boros propels Pendle beyond fixed-yield tokens into the vast world of derivative rates. Funding rates—native to crypto and trading billions daily—now have native on-chain instruments. Pendle collects fresh fee streams, diversifying yield for PENDLE stakers and reinforcing the protocol’s position as the go-to hub for all on-chain interest-rate products.
---
Impact on DeFi at Large
By introducing fixed-for-floating swaps, Boros lowers systemic risk in perp markets, invites institutional capital, and nudges DeFi closer to TradFi-grade tooling.
---
Roadmap
Current caps: $10 M open interest, 1.2× leverage, BTC & ETH on Binance. Upcoming expansions include SOL, BNB, and integrations with Hyperliquid, Bybit, and more.
Boros has transformed the unruly funding-rate stream into a standardized, tradeable, hedgeable instrument—one more step toward the DeFi endgame: “Any yield is accessible, tradable, and hedged.”
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