Is Maple Finance Safe?

|Lending
C-

Risk Grade: C- (51/100)

Maple Finance is rated as elevated risk — multiple novel mechanisms and notable interaction risks.

Moderate risk — strong yields but the uncollateralized lending model means borrower defaults hit depositors directly

An institutional lending platform where you deposit stablecoins and earn yield from loans made to crypto trading firms. It manages $2.5B in deposits after growing 8.5x in 2025. Its C grade reflects the fundamental risk of lending without collateral backing. When borrower Orthogonal Trading defaulted in 2022, depositors lost $36M.

TVL

$2.3B

Mechanisms

7

Interactions

5

Value Grade

C

Key Risks for Maple Finance Users

1.

Loans are made without full collateral. If a borrower goes bankrupt, there is nothing to seize on-chain. You wait months or years for lawyers to recover pennies on the dollar.

2.

One lending pool had 80% of its money loaned to a single borrower (Orthogonal Trading) before that borrower defaulted. Concentration like this turns one bad loan into a near-total pool loss.

3.

Deposits grew 8.5x to $2.5B in 2025. Growth this fast creates pressure to lend to riskier borrowers just to keep yields attractive.

Top Risk Factors

  • Undercollateralized lending model inherently depends on borrower creditworthiness; $36M Orthogonal Trading default in 2022 demonstrated catastrophic counterparty failure
  • Credit delegate concentration risk: 80% of one pool's loans went to a single borrower (Orthogonal Trading) before default
  • Rapid 8.5x TVL growth to $2.5B in 2025 outpaces risk infrastructure maturation for institutional credit assessment

Risk Score Breakdown

Maple Finance's highest risk area is Track Record (12/15). Here's how each dimension contributes to the overall 51/100 score:

Mechanism Novelty8/15
Interaction Severity10/20
Oracle Surface2/10
Documentation Gaps3/10
Track Record12/15
Scale Exposure7/10
Regulatory Risk7/10
Vitality Risk2/10

Read the Full Maple Finance Risk Report

This protocol has 2 collapse scenarios. 1 critical and 2 high-severity interaction risks identified. See the full mechanism classification, interaction matrix, and deep-dive recommendations.

View Full Report →

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Ratings use Hindenrank's eight-dimension risk rubric. Lower score = lower risk. Grades range from A (safest) to F (riskiest). This is not financial advice.