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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Diverse Ecosystem Fuels Hedera: How HBAR Won Market Favor
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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 ...
While the broader crypto market fluctuated, Hedera’s native token HBAR defied the trend: Surging 6x from its 2024 low (~$0.043) to hit a yearly peak of $0.29 in mid-July 2025. As of July 23, HBAR trades at $0.271, with a fully diluted market cap of ~$13.5B.
Unlike projects with retail-heavy communities, HBAR thrives in relative quiet—backed by a powerhouse institutional network. Its rally stems from foundational drivers: TradFi adoption for asset tokenization, critical network upgrades ensuring scalability, and a growing DeFi/RWA ecosystem generating real utility for HBAR. Below, we dissect these strengths and their implications.
Since late 2024, Hedera has attracted heavyweight TradFi players:
Nov 2024: UK-regulated Archax launched tokenized money market funds from State Street, Fidelity International, and Legal & General (LGIM) on Hedera. These "beneficial ownership tokens" enable institutional trading of fixed-income products on Hedera’s high-throughput network.
Feb 2025: The Hedera Foundation invested in Archax’s tokenized Fidelity USD fund, doubling down on institutional tokenization.
July 2025: Community members spotted unconfirmed tokens named after BlackRock, Fidelity, and others on Hedera—likely speculative but hinting at future demand.
Whales are accumulating too: Wallets holding 1M–10M HBAR have grown steadily since October 2024, with mega-holders (>10M HBAR) showing unwavering conviction.
Hedera’s iterative upgrades focus on performance without altering HBAR’s tokenomics:
v0.62 (June 2025): Kernel optimizations.
v0.63 (July 2025): Introduced shard/domain flexibility, fee throttling, and MerkleDB storage boosts—enhancing throughput for large-scale deployments.
Full open-sourcing (September 2024) via Linux Foundation’s Hiero project increased transparency, with all code and updates now public on GitHub.
May 2025 rebrand:
HBAR Foundation → Hedera Foundation (focus: DeFi/community growth).
Hedera Council (formerly "Governance Council") retains 30+ members like Google, IBM, and Nomura, ensuring decentralized, cross-industry oversight.
New CEO Charles Adkins prioritizes DeFi tools and institutional adoption, while the Council safeguards network security.
1. DeFi Liquidity:
SaucerSwap (top DEX): $284M 30-day volume.
New tools like Hedera Contract Builder lower dev barriers.
2. Stablecoins & RWA:
$212.5M in stablecoins (mostly USDC) issued by banks like Standard Bank and Shinhan.
Tokenized $100M+ real estate (StegX) and $1.1B carbon credits (DOVU).
3. Consumer Apps:
"Hedera To Earn" (HTE) integrates 20M+ users from Cashtree, Mars Labs, and Berryfox into Hedera’s Web3 economy.
Hedera’s TradFi partnerships, tech resilience, and diverse dApps have cemented its "enterprise-chain" niche. The question remains: Can it sustain HBAR’s momentum as adoption scales?
Key Metrics to Watch:
Institutional tokenization volume.
Stablecoin/RWA inflows.
HTE user retention.
(Charts: HBAR price vs. TVL/transaction trends omitted for brevity)
Data Snapshot (July 23, 2025):
HBAR Price: $0.271
Market Cap: $13.5B
Stablecoins Locked: $212.5M
30-Day DEX Volume: $284M
For institutional-grade blockchain, Hedera checks the boxes—but the race for mass adoption is just heating up.
While the broader crypto market fluctuated, Hedera’s native token HBAR defied the trend: Surging 6x from its 2024 low (~$0.043) to hit a yearly peak of $0.29 in mid-July 2025. As of July 23, HBAR trades at $0.271, with a fully diluted market cap of ~$13.5B.
Unlike projects with retail-heavy communities, HBAR thrives in relative quiet—backed by a powerhouse institutional network. Its rally stems from foundational drivers: TradFi adoption for asset tokenization, critical network upgrades ensuring scalability, and a growing DeFi/RWA ecosystem generating real utility for HBAR. Below, we dissect these strengths and their implications.
Since late 2024, Hedera has attracted heavyweight TradFi players:
Nov 2024: UK-regulated Archax launched tokenized money market funds from State Street, Fidelity International, and Legal & General (LGIM) on Hedera. These "beneficial ownership tokens" enable institutional trading of fixed-income products on Hedera’s high-throughput network.
Feb 2025: The Hedera Foundation invested in Archax’s tokenized Fidelity USD fund, doubling down on institutional tokenization.
July 2025: Community members spotted unconfirmed tokens named after BlackRock, Fidelity, and others on Hedera—likely speculative but hinting at future demand.
Whales are accumulating too: Wallets holding 1M–10M HBAR have grown steadily since October 2024, with mega-holders (>10M HBAR) showing unwavering conviction.
Hedera’s iterative upgrades focus on performance without altering HBAR’s tokenomics:
v0.62 (June 2025): Kernel optimizations.
v0.63 (July 2025): Introduced shard/domain flexibility, fee throttling, and MerkleDB storage boosts—enhancing throughput for large-scale deployments.
Full open-sourcing (September 2024) via Linux Foundation’s Hiero project increased transparency, with all code and updates now public on GitHub.
May 2025 rebrand:
HBAR Foundation → Hedera Foundation (focus: DeFi/community growth).
Hedera Council (formerly "Governance Council") retains 30+ members like Google, IBM, and Nomura, ensuring decentralized, cross-industry oversight.
New CEO Charles Adkins prioritizes DeFi tools and institutional adoption, while the Council safeguards network security.
1. DeFi Liquidity:
SaucerSwap (top DEX): $284M 30-day volume.
New tools like Hedera Contract Builder lower dev barriers.
2. Stablecoins & RWA:
$212.5M in stablecoins (mostly USDC) issued by banks like Standard Bank and Shinhan.
Tokenized $100M+ real estate (StegX) and $1.1B carbon credits (DOVU).
3. Consumer Apps:
"Hedera To Earn" (HTE) integrates 20M+ users from Cashtree, Mars Labs, and Berryfox into Hedera’s Web3 economy.
Hedera’s TradFi partnerships, tech resilience, and diverse dApps have cemented its "enterprise-chain" niche. The question remains: Can it sustain HBAR’s momentum as adoption scales?
Key Metrics to Watch:
Institutional tokenization volume.
Stablecoin/RWA inflows.
HTE user retention.
(Charts: HBAR price vs. TVL/transaction trends omitted for brevity)
Data Snapshot (July 23, 2025):
HBAR Price: $0.271
Market Cap: $13.5B
Stablecoins Locked: $212.5M
30-Day DEX Volume: $284M
For institutional-grade blockchain, Hedera checks the boxes—but the race for mass adoption is just heating up.
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