Summary
LlamaRisk preliminarily supports onboarding syrupUSDT to the Aave V3 Core market, conditional on the successful bootstrapping of on-chain liquidity, given the current absence of meaningful DEX depth. This is expected to improve with the planned deployment of a syrupUSDT/USDT pool (~$20M liquidity) by the Maple team later this week. Our assessment builds upon prior analyses of syrupUSDC and syrupUSDT, with no new structural concerns identified at this stage.
However, on Ethereum, nearly all of Maple’s USDT liquidity reserves are deployed within Aave, and during recent stress events (e.g., HTX withdrawals), these reserves have at times accounted for a significant portion (>30%) of Aave’s available USDT liquidity. Since Maple currently relies on these Aave deposits to meet redemptions in the absence of deep DEX liquidity, the setup introduces a degree of interdependence between the two systems. Thus, we recommend that any increase in syrupUSDT exposure on Aave be implemented gradually, alongside Maple maintaining adequate diversification of its liquidity reserves to reduce reliance on Aave for redemptions. This approach would help mitigate potential circular liquidity dependencies and ensure greater resilience during periods of market stress.
Asset Risk
According to the Asset Classification Framework (AAcA), syrupUSDT is classified as a yield-bearing stablecoin backed by overcollateralized institutional loans underwritten and managed by Maple Direct. The syrupUSDT ERC-4626 vault currently manages 566.8M USDT, representing the sum of all USDT deposited into the pool and managed by various syrupUSDT strategies. The open-term loan composition shows that the USDT backing syrupUSDT is primarily lent out to BTC-collateralized borrowers, totaling $253.7M at an average collateralization ratio of 1.45x. Additional exposure includes $170M lent against USDC collateral at a 1.00x ratio (loan1, loan2), and $20M lent against jitoSOL collateral at 1.66x. In total, these loans account for roughly $444M of active lending, at a 1.29x ratio. When combined with the $122.5M supplied to Aave V3 Core as liquidity reserves via AaveStrategy, the aggregate matches syrupUSDT’s ~$567M in total USDT deposits, indicating that nearly all Maple’s USDT liquidity reserves are deployed within Aave, leaving redemptions primarily dependent on the Aave protocol’s available USDT liquidity.
Source: Maple Finance Active USDT Loans, LlamaRisk, October 27, 2025
This concentration creates a reflexive structure: a significant portion of syrupUSDT’s backing, $122.5M worth of aEthUSDT, is held within the same Aave market it seeks to be onboarded to. Since these reserves can be withdrawn by Maple to meet redemption demands, onboarding syrupUSDT introduces a circular dependency where part of its collateral is sourced from and simultaneously influences the Aave Core market’s own liquidity conditions.
During stress scenarios such as the recent HTX-related withdrawals, when USDT liquidity on V3 Core contracted sharply, Maple’s reserves accounted for over 30% of the market’s available USDT at times, as shown in the chart below. Even at lower balances below $200M (less than 5% of the total USDT Core market size), Maple’s aUSDT position has occasionally represented a meaningful share of available liquidity. We therefore recommend that Maple maintain adequate diversification of its liquidity reserves to reduce reliance on Aave as a single source of redemption liquidity, as correlated withdrawals during market stress could exacerbate liquidity strain on V3 Core.
Source: LlamaRisk, October 27, 2025
Introducing a syrupUSDT/USDT E-mode would encourage recursive positions where users borrow USDT to acquire more syrupUSDT, indirectly cycling USDT liquidity toward Maple. This would reduce available USDT liquidity on Aave and, during stress events, may contribute to temporary rate spikes as users unwind these loops or Maple withdraws liquidity to meet redemptions. While current exposure levels seem manageable, any increase in syrupUSDT exposure should be gradual and closely monitored to mitigate potential feedback effects.
Market Risk
Currently, only a single liquidity pool exists on Ethereum, the Uniswap V4 syrupUSDT/USDC pool, with limited liquidity of approximately $310. The Maple team has indicated that a syrupUSDT/USDT pool with projected liquidity of $20M is being set up, which, once live, should materially improve syrupUSDT’s secondary market depth.
Source: syrupUSDT DEX Liquidity, GeckoTerminal, October 27, 2025
To date, a total of 515.6M syrupUSDT has been minted on Ethereum, the majority of which has been bridged to Plasma. The current circulating supply on Ethereum stands at approximately 62M.
Source: Dune, October 27, 2025
Technological & Counterparty Risk
Since our previous assessment on July 3, 2025, the technological and counterparty risk profile of the protocol remains largely unchanged. The protocol underwent two new security audits for the 24-hour Governor Timelock Contract upgrade, with all identified findings either resolved or formally acknowledged by the team:
- Sherlock (September 10, 2025): 3 low issues
- 0xMacro (September 18, 2025): 1 low issue
Access Control
Here are the syrupUSDT controlling wallets on Ethereum:
- GovernorTimelock: 24-hour RBAC timelock controlled by Maple, handles protocol-wide admin functions such as redemptions, role/parameter changes.
- PoolDelegate: Syrup-controlled MPC, with upgrade functionality over PoolManager, WithdrawalManagerQueue, and LoanManagers.
- SecurityAdmin: 3/6 Safe multisig, can call emergency pause function (freezes the protocol entirely).
- OperationalAdmin: 3/5 Safe multisig, can execute a subset of operational functions.
The following contracts power syrupUSDT on Ethereum:
- syrupUSDT Pool: Immutable ERC4626 standard vault, allows users to exchange USDT for syrupUSDT token.
- PoolManager: Upgradeable contract managing core accounting of the pool contract, controlled by PoolDelegate.
- FixedTermLoanManager: Upgradeable contract, manages fixed-term loan types on behalf of PoolManager, handling fund flow.
- OpenTermLoanManager: Upgradeable contract, manages open-term loan type.
- WithdrawalManagerQueue: Upgradeable contract, used to process user withdrawal requests.
- Globals: Upgradeable contract, responsible for storing Maple-wide system parameters. It is controlled by the GovernorTimelock.
- PoolDelegateCover: Immutable contract facilitating funds transfer and the recipient of liquidation funds.
Note: This assessment follows the LLR-Aave Framework, a comprehensive methodology for asset onboarding and parameterization in Aave V3. This framework is continuously updated and available here.
Aave V3 Specific Parameters
Parameters will be presented jointly with Chaos Labs, including syrupUSDT/USDT E-Mode.
Price Feed Recommendation
We recommend pricing syrupUSDT on Aave using Maple’s syrupUSDT/USDT internal rate combined with Chainlink’s USDT/USD feed and CAPO adapter.
Disclaimer
This review was independently prepared by LlamaRisk, a DeFi risk service provider funded in part by the Aave DAO. LlamaRisk is not directly affiliated with the protocol(s) reviewed in this assessment and did not receive any compensation from the protocol(s) or their affiliated entities for this work.
The information provided should not be construed as legal, financial, tax, or professional advice.
