James Richardson
In a move to deepen its foothold in real-world assets (RWA), decentralized lending platform Maple Finance has received a $25 million investment from the Sky ecosystem, formerly known as MakerDAO, and its associated protocol, Spark.
According to a statement released by Sky, this strategic capital allocation establishes a direct connection between Sky Savings Rate (SSR) and Mapleโs on-chain yield generation engine. It allows USDS holders within the Sky network to gain exposure to institutional-level returns through Mapleโs infrastructure.
โThis marks one of the largest protocol-to-protocol capital deployments ever seen in the on-chain credit space,โ Sky noted in the announcement.
Plans to Scale Allocation Up to $50M
The initial deployment begins with $25 million, but Sky and Spark have outlined intentions to gradually increase the contributionโpotentially reaching $50 million. The approach involves injecting an additional $5 million daily into Mapleโs syrupUSDC pool, a fully overcollateralized lending market tailored for institutional borrowers.
Sky emphasized that the staggered rollout strategy aims to optimize capital utilization and enhance lending efficiency across the Maple ecosystem.
Maple’s Yield Opportunities Attract DeFi Liquidity
Participants in the syrupUSDC pool can access attractive yields, with Pendle Finance reporting annual returns as high as 13% APY for liquidity providers. This new liquidity from Sky and Spark is expected to boost loan origination, support protocol revenues through token buybacks, and increase demand for Mapleโs DeFi credit solutions.
The deployment reflects Skyโs broader initiative to expand its presence in the DeFi and RWA sectors. Spark, in particular, recently revealed the three winners of its $1 billion Tokenization Grand Prix, an initiative aimed at advancing the adoption of tokenized assets across the Spark Liquidity Layer.
Sky Liquidity Layer and Mapleโs Structured Yield Products Push Innovation
The Spark Liquidity Layer automates capital movement across the ecosystem, allowing assets like USDS, sUSDS, and USDC to seamlessly integrate into various DeFi platforms. This setup allows users to easily tap into the Sky Savings Rate while promoting broader liquidity access.
Meanwhile, Maple continues to develop yield-bearing strategies, most notably with the launch of its Lend + Long structured product. This unique instrument utilizes returns from the Maple High Yield Secured Pool to purchase Bitcoin call options, offering users enhanced on-chain investment opportunities.
