Pendle, recognized as the leading crypto yield trading platform globally, recently introduced a key upgrade to its native token by launching sPENDLE. This enhancement aims to unlock deeper liquidity, broaden revenue channels, and fortify Pendle’s role in the decentralized onchain yield and rates trading sphere.
Reflecting on Pendle’s robust 2025 performance, the upgrade aligns with the platform’s ambitions in decentralized finance (DeFi) by expanding market reach and offering more sustainable, efficient yield mechanisms.
Strong Growth Indicators and Market Position
Throughout 2025, Pendle recorded meaningful achievements in several critical network and financial metrics, demonstrating both extensive user engagement and effective market coverage in yield trading:
- Average Total Value Locked (TVL): Reaching approximately $5.7 billion, reflecting an increase of 76% year-over-year, and a peak TVL hitting about $13.4 billion. This signals substantial liquidity participation comparable with prominent DeFi protocols such as Uniswap, Aave, and Hyperliquid.
- Total fees accrued: Amounting to around $44.6 million, an impressive 134% growth year-over-year, with holders garnering revenues near $34.9 million.
- Monthly notional trading volume: Trailing a 90-day average of roughly $54 billion, including frequent daily trading volumes in the nine-figure range, emphasizing Pendle’s demand in fixed yield markets.
These metrics underscore Pendle’s notable presence within tokenized yield and funding rates trading, with fee realization and liquidity depth outperforming many fixed income platforms in the decentralized ecosystem.
Core Elements of Pendle’s Token Upgrade
The introduction of the sPENDLE token brings multiple enhancements designed to simplify participation and ensure equitable distribution throughout the protocol’s ecosystem:
- Protocol-generated revenue will fund PENDLE token buybacks, which will subsequently be allocated to active sPENDLE participants, incentivizing ongoing engagement.
- An improved liquidity framework enables sPENDLE to offer a straightforward 14-day withdrawal period. Alternatively, holders can opt for immediate redemption subject to a 5% fee, preserving flexibility.
- The sPENDLE token is both composable and fungible, supporting integration across various decentralized applications (dApps). This design removes the traditional trade-off between liquidity and participation timeframes.
- Beyond simplifying liquidity, Pendle is transitioning from a manual voting model to an algorithmic emission strategy. This aims to reduce PENDLE emissions by 20-30% while optimizing allocation efficiency.
- Effective January 29, vePENDLE locks will be paused. Existing vePENDLE holders at that time will receive a special multiplier on their virtual sPENDLE balance, up to four times, based on remaining lock duration. Rewards during this transition will be distributed according to this adjusted balance, enabling these holders to benefit from increased incentives.
TN Lee, Pendle’s Co-Founder and CEO, described the upgrade as a foundational enhancement supporting scale and sustainability for both Pendle and its partner platform Boros. The goal remains to replicate the efficiency and scalability of traditional fixed income markets within the DeFi landscape, positioning Pendle as more institution-ready.
Boros: Expanding Onchain Rates Trading Opportunities
A significant driver for Pendle’s token architecture update is Boros, a pioneering onchain platform that tokenizes perpetual funding rates. By converting previously non-tradable yield streams into tradable instruments, Boros represents a novel frontier in rates trading.
Metrics following Boros’ launch indicate strong organic growth:
- Within four months, Boros accrued approximately $6.9 billion in open interest.
- By the end of 2025, deposits stood at $6.8 million, alongside $91 million in associated metrics.
- Despite its nascent market, Boros collected $301,000 in fees, highlighting early product-market fit for onchain rate derivative offerings.
The perpetual markets covered by Boros have an open interest near $63 billion, presenting vast expansion prospects. Boros’ current market share is early but is projected to facilitate up to a tenfold increase in open interest penetration and an estimated 15% growth in protocol fees.
Boros has also begun listing unique instruments such as NVDAUSDC-Hyperliquid, allowing users to trade the funding rate of NVIDIA’s perpetual market. Additional exotic and equity perpetuals like S&P500, NASDAQ, AMZN, and TSLA are anticipated, broadening tradable assets.
Boros addresses a major untapped yield stream within DeFi — funding rate exposure — strengthening Pendle’s revenue diversification beyond mere total value locked and standard yield fees.
Strategic Outlook: Bridging DeFi Yield and Global Fixed Income
The upgrade of Pendle’s token infrastructure is part of a broader vision to scale decentralized finance’s yield layer and integrate it more seamlessly with centralized and traditional financial markets. Given fixed income’s prominence as a global finance sector, Pendle has created instruments such as principal and yield tokens and derivatives on funding rates to enhance market access.
Looking ahead, Pendle continues to expand its ecosystem through features including leverage strategies, artificial intelligence applications, collateralized principal token utilization, and cross-chain liquidity mechanisms, reinforcing its role as a comprehensive DeFi fixed income infrastructure.
About Pendle
Pendle stands as the largest cryptocurrency yield trading platform worldwide, focused on the tokenization and trading of assets bearing yield. It enables both retail and institutional investors to deploy sophisticated yield strategies, redefining the landscape of onchain fixed income markets.