![1. Pendle V2 – Protocol Refinement
● Dynamic Fees: Adjusts fees based on market conditions to optimize for traders,
LPs, and protocol health.
● Permissionless Market Creation: Enables third parties to create custom yield
markets via Pendle’s UI.
● vePENDLE Governance Upgrade: More flexible participation and incentives for
protocol voters.
2. Citadels – Global Expansion
These are Pendle’s initiatives to capture new user bases and markets:
● Non-EVM Chains: Bringing PTs to Solana, TON, Cosmos and more.
● TradFi Integration: Building KYC-compliant products for institutions through
partnerships like Ethena.
● Islamic Finance: Launching Shariah-compliant yield products to tap into a $3.9
trillion market.
3. Boros – The Yield Superapp [It’s here]
Launched in August 2025, Boros is Pendle’s most ambitious product yet. It allows trading of
any kind of yield, including:
● DeFi yields
● CeFi funding rates (e.g., perp markets)
● TradFi yields (e.g., mortgage or LIBOR rates)
Boros enables floating-to-fixed yield swaps, empowering traders to hedge volatility or lock in
funding costs. For instance, TRUMP perps recently saw funding rates spike to ~20,000%
APY, making it costly for traders to stay long. Boros solves this by letting traders hedge
those floating funding costs and lock in a fixed rate instead.
2024-2025: A Year of Explosive Growth
Pendle’s growth over the past year has been nothing short of spectacular:
● TVL jumped from $4.4B to $7.3B, a 65% increase in just eight months.
● PTs alone now account for $2.5B, or 5% of all DeFi collateral, a strong signal of trust
from whales and institutions.
● Daily trading volume soared, with a 100x increase from early 2023 levels.
Pendle also processed $3.8 billion in matured positions during its largest maturity event in
June 2024, proving it can handle volume and stress like a seasoned TradFi system.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/protocolspotlightpendle6-8-25-250806142746-5b16170c/85/CIFDAQ-s-Protocol-Spotlight-Yield-Unlocks-Go-Deeper-with-Boros-4-320.jpg)
CIFDAQ's Protocol Spotlight: Yield Unlocks Go Deeper with Boros
- 2. Pendle Finance: Redefining Yield in DeFi In the fast-paced world of decentralized finance (DeFi), few projects have made as significant an impact as Pendle Finance. Since its launch in 2020, Pendle has evolved from a novel idea, splitting yield-bearing assets into tradable components, into a protocol managing over $7.3 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) as of August 2025. With roots in Ethereum but eyes on the global financial stage, Pendle is becoming more than just a DeFi protocol. It's shaping up to be DeFi’s answer to interest rate markets, offering tools and infrastructure that attract both crypto natives and institutional giants. Let’s unpack what Pendle does, why it matters, and where it's headed. What Is Pendle Finance? Pendle is a DeFi protocol that enables users to tokenize yield-bearing assets, in other words, to split the rewards an asset generates from the asset itself. When you deposit a yield-generating asset (like staked ETH), Pendle splits it into ● Principal Tokens (PTs): Represent the base asset (e.g., stETH). ● Yield Tokens (YTs): Represent the future rewards or interest generated by that asset.
- 3. These tokens can then be traded independently, allowing users to speculate on interest rates, lock in yields, or access liquidity without unstaking their tokens. This innovation brings a level of flexibility and capital efficiency previously reserved for Wall Street hedge funds into the open, permissionless world of DeFi. Why Tokenized Yield Is a Game Changer In traditional yield farming, users must lock their assets for extended periods, which limits flexibility. Pendle’s model separates principal from yield, allowing users to: ● Unlock liquidity without unwinding positions. ● Trade or hedge future interest rates. ● Build sophisticated DeFi strategies like leveraged yield farming or fixed income portfolios. This transforms passive yield farming into an active market, where users can bet on interest rate trends, hedge exposure, or secure predictable returns. How Pendle Works in Practice 1. Deposit a yield-bearing asset. 2. Receive PT (Principal Token) and YT (Yield Token). 3. Trade or stake YT for speculative or hedging purposes. 4. Optionally use PT as collateral to borrow or build new strategies. Pendle’s custom Automated Market Maker (AMM) is tailored to time-decaying assets like PTs and YTs, ensuring deep liquidity and efficient price discovery. The Pendle Roadmap: Zenith & Beyond In February 2025, the Pendle team launched “Zenith”, a strategic roadmap designed to cement its position as DeFi’s interest rate layer. It focuses on three core pillars:
- 4. 1. Pendle V2 – Protocol Refinement ● Dynamic Fees: Adjusts fees based on market conditions to optimize for traders, LPs, and protocol health. ● Permissionless Market Creation: Enables third parties to create custom yield markets via Pendle’s UI. ● vePENDLE Governance Upgrade: More flexible participation and incentives for protocol voters. 2. Citadels – Global Expansion These are Pendle’s initiatives to capture new user bases and markets: ● Non-EVM Chains: Bringing PTs to Solana, TON, Cosmos and more. ● TradFi Integration: Building KYC-compliant products for institutions through partnerships like Ethena. ● Islamic Finance: Launching Shariah-compliant yield products to tap into a $3.9 trillion market. 3. Boros – The Yield Superapp [It’s here] Launched in August 2025, Boros is Pendle’s most ambitious product yet. It allows trading of any kind of yield, including: ● DeFi yields ● CeFi funding rates (e.g., perp markets) ● TradFi yields (e.g., mortgage or LIBOR rates) Boros enables floating-to-fixed yield swaps, empowering traders to hedge volatility or lock in funding costs. For instance, TRUMP perps recently saw funding rates spike to ~20,000% APY, making it costly for traders to stay long. Boros solves this by letting traders hedge those floating funding costs and lock in a fixed rate instead. 2024-2025: A Year of Explosive Growth Pendle’s growth over the past year has been nothing short of spectacular: ● TVL jumped from $4.4B to $7.3B, a 65% increase in just eight months. ● PTs alone now account for $2.5B, or 5% of all DeFi collateral, a strong signal of trust from whales and institutions. ● Daily trading volume soared, with a 100x increase from early 2023 levels. Pendle also processed $3.8 billion in matured positions during its largest maturity event in June 2024, proving it can handle volume and stress like a seasoned TradFi system.
- 5. Pendle’s Competitive Edge While competitors like Element Finance and APWine also focus on yield tokenization, Pendle maintains a clear lead due to: ● Early Mover Advantage: Started in 2020, battle-tested through multiple cycles. ● Strong Protocol Revenue: Generates millions monthly from AMM fees and trading. ● Multi-Chain Expansion: Actively expanding beyond Ethereum. ● Strategic Partnerships: Working with names like Ethena and integrating with data sources like DeFiLlama and Messari. ● Brand & Governance: The vePENDLE model creates sticky, incentivized governance and value accrual. Risks to Watch Despite its strong fundamentals, Pendle isn’t risk-free: ● Market Volatility: Sharp price moves can trigger PT liquidations. ● Leverage Risks: Advanced users employing leveraged PT strategies can amplify losses. ● Regulatory Complexity: TradFi and Shariah-compliant products increase jurisdictional scrutiny. Looking Ahead: One Yield Layer to Rule Them All Pendle began as an experiment in tokenized yield. Today, it’s pioneering a new financial infrastructure, one where fixed income, interest rate swaps, and speculative yield trading all coexist under one roof. Whether you're a DeFi power user, institutional investor, or just crypto-curious, Pendle offers a glimpse into what the future of finance could look like: composable, transparent, global, and yield-optimized. If Pendle can continue executing across EVM and non-EVM chains, onboard institutional capital, and expand its product set with Boros and Citadels, it might just become the Bloomberg Terminal of yield in crypto. Image Source: DeFi lama, Pendle finance docs. Disclaimer: Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.