#DeFi借贷市场 Maple Finance's single $500 million loan yesterday set a new record for outstanding borrowings—this signal warrants close attention.

From on-chain data, Maple's expansion in 2025 is indeed significant: AUM has surged from $500 million to over $50 billion, cumulative loans have exceeded $8.5 billion, and annualized revenue has surpassed $25 million. But the key is not how large these absolute values are, but that the liquidity structure of the institutional lending market is undergoing a qualitative change.

A $500 million USDC loan can be stably executed, reflecting: 1. Increased recognition of on-chain lending risk pricing by institutional funds; 2. The protocol's internal credit assessment system has reached a level of standardization sufficient to support large positions; 3. Cross-chain deployments (Linea, Solana, etc.) are expanding the depth of the funding pool.

From a strategic perspective, I focus on two dimensions: first, the sustainability of the outstanding borrowings—whether it continues to hit new highs or fluctuates, which determines the sustainability of the protocol's revenue; second, the marginal cost for institutions—progress in integration with partners like Spark, Plasma, etc., will directly impact the ceiling for the next round of financing/growth.

A 300% increase in protocol revenue combined with a 25% buyback mechanism—such designs have become standard in the DeFi lending sector, but the consistency of execution and data support still require ongoing monitoring.