Joe Flanagan on Maple Finance launching Syrup for institutional yield

0:01I'm ashon Addison from the Crypto Coin Show and today on blockchain interviews with Joe Flanagan co-founder and executive chairman of maple Finance Joe welcome to the show and thanks for taking the time thanks as great to be here likewise excited to dive into decentralized Finance institutional defi yields and how to get involved and where exactly the industry is at with it

0:25I'm curious to know with you being involved how the Bitcoin price that the upcoming hype in crypto assets is affecting institutional defi I would love to start off our conversation by getting a highle overview of what you and your team are working on at Maple finance and how that relates to institutional Defi and then we can dive into all the

0:47details absolutely absolutely so Maple is an Institutional lending platform and so we've been around for four years now and we are facilitating utilizing defi technology and Def markets to be crypto and def's institutional lender and so you can think about us as providing lending Market to all of the largest Crypton native institutions across a broad spectrum of Industries to be able

1:12to enable yield opportunities for lenders and so this is a combination of both retail and institutional participation to access the lending markets and yield that we're providing and from what I understand there's the demand can fluctuate depending on you know how crazy the market is if Bitcoin and all of the other crypto assets are going up

1:34then there's going to be a lot more demand to borrow money to invest that so what have you seen with the current market conditions in how that's affecting institutional defi yeah so we've seen a huge increase in the demand to borrow from all of our institutional customers and so as you see more volatility more volumes and price appreciation across the crypto

1:59industry then the demand to borrow from institutions increases drastically and so we really saw a big increase leading into the election with the speculation that there was going to be a lot of volatility around the election result and then that's only just continued to multiply post elction given that a trump Administration coming in is so much more bullish for the crypto industry

2:20more broadly and so we think this and we can delve into this more is that this sets us up for a pretty incredible 2025 and Beyond where the combination of crypto markets and risk assets continuing to go up with crypto legislation and more clarity enabling more institutional participation and so Maple's really at the precipice of those two or the Confluence of those two where

2:44you have defi participation and institutional adoption coming together MH yeah it seems like it's a pretty exciting time at least in with Bitcoin for those who aren't really deep into defi to see that the price continues to go up I think the total value locked in defi really hasn't got back to its all-time highs of the previous cycle I feel like there's a lot more room to

3:08grow do you think that the Bitcoin price and the hype there trickles down directly into Defi and you know we're going to be seeing more as as Bitcoin continues to rise definitely the Bitcoin drives the market right and I think we've seen that more and more this year with the introduction of the ETFs leading to just more inflows to bitcoin and bitcoin's

3:33dominance across the market growing back to kind of four-year highs or so but does that continue into 2025 and Beyond if people are drawing a lot of comparisons now between December 2020 and the and the moment that we're in now and what we saw in 2021 and then in the early parts of 2022 was where it went into more defi we had defi summer and then we had other altcoins outperforming

3:58Bitcoin so I think we're potentially set up for that to be the occurrence where a lot of people have made some money out of Bitcoin more retail Capital comes into the space and they start going looking for their 3x 5x 10x return which isn't going to be Bitcoin for them or at least they speculate that it isn't going to be Bitcoin for them in the short term

4:18and they start to look at other altcoins and other opportunities where they can get those types of multiples in lower priced assets mhm and with defi I understand that a large part of decentralized Finance is to do with stable coins because you're already you know you're trying to get some kind of stability where there's a lot of risk assets is that the major asset or a

4:41major part of Maple in that the institutions are mainly borrowing usdc or other similar stable coins that's exactly right so the 90% of our of our lending volume and we've done about five we've done over 5 billion in lending volume since Inception is done in stable coin so usdc or usdt and so this is where institutions are posting digital assets

5:05as collateral so think Bitcoin ethereum Soul as opposed to this collateral and then they're borrowing usdc or usdt against that collateral and so they're able to access an Institutional White Glove borrowing experience where they can post that collateral into qualified custody Solutions but then use our seamless smart contract driven interface and platform in order to access and run

5:30or operate with that lending infrastructure so what we're seeing is that demand is continuing to increase where the growth in the assets of Bitcoin ethereum and soul means that they have more propensity to borrow further and further and that in terms of stable coins the exciting thing is that we're really only back to where stablecoin total market cap or total

5:56volume was at the at the peak of last cycle so we've still got a lot of way to go for the growth of stable coin adoption and there that if you think about a trump Administration coming in probably the first legislation that gets passed is going to be something around stable coins and that's where we'll start to see broader institutional adoption within the US capital markets

6:18and then continuing to see kind of the dollarization of the rest of the world using stable coins as that backend infrastructure and that sets up Maple really well because where institutional yield Source there's nowhere else really in defi that you can come to access a quality institutional yield product that's really exciting and yeah I'm expecting something on the

6:42regulatory side with stable coins I feel like more clarity around that from institutions that are Deep In traditional Finance that gives them even further green light to jump into crypto assets and institutional defi absolutely absolutely and there's even things that will come with some lighter regulation where you know we've seen with banks shutting down

7:09Crypto accounts or not enabling stable coin companies to operate with banking infrastructure we just preventing the crypto industry from really operating without any friction or with so much friction within the US and so I think that this more lenient approach and the opening up of Regulation is just going to enable the crypto industry to really Thrive for the

7:32first time and it's pretty incredible to think that this whole industry has been able to operate so well without it being able to have kind of free reign to exist within the largest Capital Market in the world 50% of Capital Market activity is here in the US and so if you think about the potential for growth and adoption of not just crypto more broadly but

7:56especially institutional crypto this is just going to be an I think an unbelievable couple of years yeah I know it sounds very exciting for Maple finance and I know you and your team have been working on a lot of updates to the platform I recently saw there's a new launch of the syrup token it sounds very interesting and how that syrup token fits into Maple maybe you

8:20can touch on the launch of that token and how it fits into the ecosystem and what value it drives yeah for sure so we so firstly just to touch like the growth over the last 12 months is that Maple has grown to have over close to 600 million in assets on the platform that's a 10x over the course of the last 12 months and so we've really positioned ourself as def's

8:42institutional lender there's no one that's really competing with us that's providing the same Suite of yield products and that's experiencing this level of growth so we think we're super set super well set up for to capitalize on all of this opportunity that comes with the change in legislation and everything that we're expecting in 201 25 what we've done that was part of that

9:03growth story was that we launched syrup protocol and so you can think about it as we have two separate distribution arms we have maple which is our institutional distribution arm available to accredited investors only they have a little bit more selection on the yield opportunity they can go after and then we have syrup which is our retail product commission lless defi can

9:24integrate out into the world of permissionless defi so we're integrating into other protocols Pendle and other protocols like that and so we're able to access the broader defi ecosystem through serup and so there are our two main distribution angles what we've done to bring that all under one umbrella and to aggregate all the value that we're creating to our community is to launch

9:45the syrup token so we launched that yesterday and so that's a conversion from our existing token to a new token and brings all of the value of the institutional lending ecosystem that we're creating through Maple and through syrup into one place for the community to benefit from and so we think that sets us up really well and that as part of that we've introduce staking and

10:09so that's where you can stake your syrup tokens and you're able to share in the economic benefits and the economics that the maple ecosystem creates and so that's where when you stake you're distributed further syrup rewards as part of that economic activity and benefits that the ecosystem generates MH that's very cool and I think it's a great addition because there's a lot of

10:34demand for institutional Capital but also there's so many people that are are involved in crypto that are just retail investors and they're like I want a piece of this as well how can I get access to some kind of borrowing probably not as much as the institutions but they see that this is the future and they're like hey I need to get a part of this so with that

10:56you mentioned that you're actually tying into other D5 platforms like Pendle so how do people get started exactly in trying to replicate what is available for the institutions and if they are just sort of getting into defi yeah so I think that's you know one of the great things that the launch of our syrup protocol has enabled is that this is a permissionless defi

11:18accessibility to the same quality institutional yields and so I really think about it is the first time that institutional quality yield products are being able to be accessed by everyday people you know normally institutional private credit is an extremely opaque inaccessible market for most investors and so with the introduction of syrup in our permissionless defi distribution

11:42this is the first time that becomes really accessible to the broader world and to the to the crypto ecosystem and starts to play into our longer term vision of where we want to go so it's not just about you know what are we doing for Crypton native individuals today and we're providing great yield products for them but what does this look like in 5 years time and so that's

12:02the exciting part of the syrup token is it enables people to participate in the long-term vision and aspirations of the whole ecosystem and that's where in 2030 we see ourselves and the crypto ecosystem expanding so much that we will be not only servicing crypto native institutions but we will be servicing a broad range of other lending markets and plugging that into our underlying

12:27infrastructure to be able to provide yield and Lending Solutions into other Innovative Industries think about Ai and how that's plugging into the crypto industry think about deep in and how that's plugging into the crypto industry think about other infrastructure that's going to come into the crypto industry so it's all going to start to amalgamate together as more assets get tokenized

12:48Maple is then positioned to really be the institutional lending platform to facilitate utility yield products lending markets for all of these assets that come on chain yeah I love that greater Vision because I understand that there's so many other types of assets that are yet to be tokenized and integrated into dii platforms almost everything you see in

13:10the real world that is doesn't have the best liquidity and you know these big capital expenditure buildings and cars and assets that you know th those can definitely be tokenized and make it easier to trade you know fractions between people so I love that greater vision I'm looking forward to seeing that and you mentioned you mentioned there on the participation you

13:34with surup you're able to participate in the ecosystem from what I understand governance or like a dow is a part of part participating in how the ecosystem is actually shaped moving forward so is that like a dow format where people actually vote and participate in what they want to see in the platform that's right so the syrup token upon launch has two main functions

14:00one is governance and able to participate in the shaping and direction of the ecosystem and major decisions that are made around it and the second is the staking that I mentioned before where you can stake your syrup tokens to participate and share in the economic generation of the ecosystem but that's really just the start of the utility that we want to build out all of the

14:22value that is that exists and is created by the Maple and syrup ecosystems goes towards the syrup token so there's no other separation of value or going to any other entity or anything like that and then what we want to build out is further utility so that when you come to your syrup interface and you and you visit the syrup dashboard to see your

14:43syrup token Holdings you're then able to participate in lending products and be incentivized because you're a syrup token holder with Early Access or a Rewards program and so we can really start to build out an entire platform of one place to come for all of your institutional yield opportunities and so I think that's what's going to be the exciting part of the syrup token launch

15:09it starts to bring together the entire Community and be one place of aggregating all of the incentive structures and rewards that can be so well dispersed throughout a crypto product for the first time yeah it's very interesting where do you think the balance lies in keeping the original vision of the founders and the team and introducing that decentralization where

15:34people can participate in a dow but if it becomes fully decentralized how to not have that you know Divergence of opinions and like a stalemate where the platform stops growing so I think that's where it's important and the hus is on me and my co-founder to set what that longer term vision is and to get buying from a community that is aligned

16:00with that longer term vision and if we are all aligned on that longer term Vision then the path that we go can be you know woven with many different decisions in order to get there and that's what I think is important about governance is that it can't be that major long-term Vision decisions are being disagreed or that there's disruption in what the overall long-term

16:25direction is how we get there and the decisions that are made along the way are where we want more Community input new ideas to help facilitate our path to achieving that and then it's a process of gradually decentralizing governance more and more so it's not a snap your fingers and then it's it's decentralized fully it's a gradual process to continue to grow the

16:52community and ensure that there's proper stewardship and governance procedures in place so that you find the right balance between the benefits that decentralized governance can provide without introducing a lot of the frictions and problems that decentralized governance can introduce and so there's always that balance and we you know we're keen

17:13to ensure that we straddle where it should be in the middle of in the middle of those two elements yeah I'm looking forward to seeing how it grows and as you venture into the retail side as well there are many di platforms and it's sometimes it's hard for people to choose where they should go first what do you think are the deciding factors in

17:40which defi protocol somebody should use is it the assets the interest rate the participation or other factors yeah so I think that there should be two main two main factors that you're considering one is that it if you're coming into defi you're really going to be looking for yield yield is what powers and is the main product offering across the defi

18:04ecosystem today and so then you want to be looking at yes what am I earning and then what risk am I taking in order to earn that and so I think the second is where they're probably needs to be more education for the broader defi ecosystem and that's where we think that Maple is really separated in the product offering that it enables because these this is lending to the largest

18:28instit utions in crypto these are multi-billion dollar balance sheets and then it's all fully secured by digital assets so we're taking collateral in the event that the borrower doesn't repay or the price continues to decline we're able to liquidate that and so these are fully protected lending positions that are still providing High consistent yields yes we won't be providing 60%

18:51yields but I think it's then important to understand what risk are you taking in order to yield in order to earn that and I think that's sometimes where the defi Community can get a little bit lost in understanding the risk reward Dynamic yeah it's definitely important to remember that there's risk involved in everything and usually higher reward

19:16Equals higher risk as well so I'm glad that you guys keep that at the front of mind as well and now with the syrup token just launched there's a whole new part of the ecosystem available to retail investors I'm I'm 100% sure that you guys are are not just stopping at that as you mentioned at the beginning leading into 2025 it's just going to be more demand how is the maple

19:42finance and the syrup protocol preparing for more demand whether it's growing the product or otherwise yes so we are there is an insatiable demand for Capital from our institutional borrowers today so we have we continue to onboard new borrowers and we continue to expand the size that we're lending to our existing borrower Network so really the focus for

20:08us is how can we continue to on board more and more Capital when Capital comes into the platform we are 99% lending out so we have 99% utilization at the moment and that's been consistent for the last many months so we are continually trying to raise Capital and this is where we think that stable coin adoption just the introduction of more Capital into the

20:34ecosystem is what's going to enable not just Maple to continue to expand but other dii protocols in the entire dii ecosystem and so that's why we see ourselves as an important part of that equation because we're providing a product that institutions can really wrap their heads around and providing a way for them to be able to access it for the first time and play in and be an

20:56entrant for them into the defi markets and if we're going to see large amounts of capital flow on chain then it really needs that institutional adoption to come in not just for them buying Bitcoin in the ETFs but then starting to understand the benefits of blockchain Technology the benefits of smart contracts and the benefits of the defi ecosystem that are going to be able to

21:19drive financial markets of the future it's very exciting I'm definitely going to check out this syrup protocol and see how other retail Traders can get involved what is the best way to get started with that yeah so you can you can go to syrup. And you can review The Lending opportunities that are available there all in stable coins usdc and usdt

21:46you can also view the details about the recently launched syrup token and how you can stake and access that and then I would say that the other thing to check out there is when you're doing that risk due diligence we provide everything in realtime transparency this is where the benefits of smart contracts are on full display and so you can see every loan that's currently issued every

22:08loan that's been historically issued you can see the collateral that's been that's been protecting each of those lending positions you can then Trace exactly where that collateral is sitting on chain so you have real time transparency into every lending position and how your capital is being protected and so that's a core value of maple it's a core value of the infrastructure that

22:27we've built and is going to be what we think defines lending markets for institutions and lending markets more broadly into the future because it is showing and highlighting the benefits of blockchain technology so well that's great I love the transparency there Joe and I'm wishing you and the team all the best on the continued growth of syrup and of maple

22:49Finance obviously there's the demand for it so is like you just got to keep up as Bitcoin and the rest of defi ecosystem continues to grow it's hard to keep up because there's so much crypto news but it's great it's wonderful that the industry is growing so quickly I'm going to leave a link to Maple finance and syrup protocol and any other socials that are

23:10important in the show notes below I appreciate you taking the time to inform us on institutional Defi and where everything is at in the industry and let's definitely follow up in the near future thanks ason appreciate it