30 Days of Research: Day 2
Protocol: @pendle_fi | $PENDLE
MC/FDV: $464M/$775M
🧵
Honestly, I think most people reading this are familiar with @pendle_fi, but I'll quickly explain it for those who don't.
When @tn_pendle founded it in 2020, he introduced a novel concept of splitting yield-bearing assets into the principal and the yield.
"Hmm..."
Currently, @pendle_fi sits at $6.2B TVL with ~55% away from ATH, while being a top 10 protocol by TVL in the entire DeFi.
"What about $PENDLE?"
It sits at $464M MC and I honestly don't understand why.
Let's begin with vePENDLE.
Its holders can lock their tokens for up to 2 years to receive vePENDLE, non-transferable tokens that grant voting power, bribes, and yield boost.
They earn 80% of trading fees from pools they vote for.
Additional revenue come from unclaimed matured PTs.
@pendle_fi converts these into stablecoins, collects the yield, and redistributes it to vePENDLE holders.
Today, about 20% of PENDLE is locked as vePENDLE, with an average lock duration of 375 days.
Also, @pendle_fi has introduced @boros_fi, and to explain it, you need to imagine something.
Imagine a $BTC funding hits -10% and everyone rushes to go long, expecting a squeeze.
"So?"
What if you could trade that -10% rate directly?
That's exactly what @boros_fi offers. Instead of betting on the $BTC price, you bet on whether funding costs will rise or fall.
If you got curious, continue reading this quote below:
IV. At the heart of @boros_fi is YU (Yield Unit).
1 YU is the right to collect funding on 1 BTC or ETH on perpertuals on @binance (more CEXs on the way) up to a specific date.
Simply put, it's like if you took BTC or ETH, deposited them on the CEX as collateral for a short position, and started raking in funding.
@pendle_fi typically acts as a Customer Acquisition Engine for many protocols that have point campaigns.
Pendle functions as 1) an entry point for users to discover new airdrop campaigns, and 2) a top-of-funnel channel for capital to flow into new protocols.
@ethena_labs is a very strong case study to demonstrate this.
It leveraged @pendle_fi when USDe launched in February 2024, to bootstrap initial usage and liquidity.
In just 4 months, Pendle enabled Ethena to scale from 0 to $3B+ issuance, with Pendle responsible for driving 50% of growth and activity.
@0xCheeezzyyyy I believe @pendle_fi is often misunderstood as an "airdrop farming tool."
In reality, it functions as a Customer Acquisition Engine, efficiently onboarding new protocol cohorts at no cost.
It's biased, but every new narrative leads to @pendle_fi... whether it's BTCFi, stablecoins, or anything else.
@pendle_fi will succeed no matter which protocol dominates the market.
Also, I believe @pendle_fi has an extremely talented team who build fast enough to keep up with the market.
"And competitors, I guess?"
Well, @pendle_fi is a rather complex product that I doubt any small group of developers can easily replicate... There are no competitors.
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