Pendle

Pendle receives a B- risk grade (34/100) from Hindenrank, where lower scores indicate lower risk. Moderate risk — powerful yield technology with 5-year clean security history, but TVL declined 91% from peak as Ethena incentives unwound; H2 2026 pivot to RWA and institutional markets is the key recovery bet A platform that lets you lock in fixed yields or speculate on future interest rates by splitting yield-bearing tokens into separate pieces. It holds $1.2B in deposits across multiple chains, down from a $13.4B September 2025 peak as incentive cycles ended. Its B- risk grade reflects yield tokenization complexity and Ethena concentration risk. The January 2026 sPENDLE upgrade improved value accrual — 80% of revenue now goes to buybacks with emissions cut 77%, though 2% perpetual annual inflation began in April 2026.

The key risks identified for Pendle are: (1) A significant share of the $1.2B in deposits is concentrated in Ethena's USDe -- if Ethena has problems, the majority of deposits are directly at risk (2) Buying Yield Tokens is a leveraged bet on future interest rates. If rates drop, your token can expire completely worthless (3) The Boros product lets people make leveraged bets on exchange funding rates with ~$200M in open positions -- a sudden reversal could trigger mass liquidations

Pendle scores 34/100 across eight risk dimensions: Mechanism Novelty: 6/15, Interaction Severity: 8/20, Oracle Surface: 3/10, Documentation Gaps: 2/10, Track Record: 0/15, Scale Exposure: 7/10, Regulatory Risk: 2/10, Vitality Risk: 6/10. The highest risk area is Scale Exposure at 7/10.

Among 121 rated Yield protocols on Hindenrank, Pendle ranks #48 by safety (lowest risk score = safest). Its 34/100 risk score and B- grade place it in the middle tier of Yield protocols.

Pendle scores 0/15 on the Track Record risk dimension, indicating no significant exploits or security incidents in its history. However, past performance does not guarantee future security.