Sidney Powell, co-founder of DeFi lender Maple Finance, sits down with Decrypt reporter André Beganski to talk risk management in DeFi and how the crypto lending and borrowing landscape has changed within the last year.
This specific pool was launched in August amid soaring interest rates, earning a boon on American government debt.
What is Maple Finance?
Maple Finance is a blockchain infrastructure provider that lets firms whip up their own credit facilities on the blockchain. Base is the Coinbase-incubated layer-2 blockchain built using the Optimism tech stack.
Room 40 Capital is the sole borrower of the Cash Management pool. This means that when lenders deposit their USDC stablecoins into the pool, Room 40 uses the proceeds to buy T-Bills.
Joe Flanagan, Maple Finance’s co-founder, explained that “Web3 corporate treasuries” have dominated interest in this specific pool, adding that “more than 50% of deposits” come from this group. After that, high-net-wealth individuals are another key demographic.
These treasuries are usually turning to the pool to conservatively extend their runway, he added.
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“All Lenders for Maple Cash Management go through KYC/KYB and an accredited investor check,” Maple co-founder Joe Flanagan told Decrypt. “Maintaining these standards ensures the compliance of the offering and that it can be accessed around the globe.”
Flanagan added that the integration means Maple is “gaining direct access to thousands of current and future Coinbase Institutional customers.”
"Within our ecosystem, we have seen builders develop and launch new applications that span retail and institutional categories," a Base spokesperson told Decrypt. "We remain excited about bringing new tools and experiences to market and seeing the innovation from builders on Base.”
As for the future, Flanagan indicated that the new tie-up will come with some sweet Base-exclusive products down the line.
"Before the end of this year, we will have at least one further pool launch on Base with more to follow in Q1 next year," he told Decrypt. "These opportunities will be a combination of private credit digital native opportunities and real-world yield sources."
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"While I can't provide a de...
