Maple Finance Now Accepts EtherFi’s weETH as Collateral
Maple Finance, one of the bigger names in decentralized lending, just made a move that could matter for institutions dealing with staked Ethereum. Starting today, borrowers can use EtherFi’s weETH—a token tied to restaked ETH—as collateral to secure loans.
It’s a niche move, sure, but it’s part of a larger shift. More platforms are figuring out how to let people borrow against staked assets without forcing them to unstake and lose rewards. Maple’s approach? Lock in weETH, take out a USDC loan, and keep earning staking yields.
How It Works (and Who It’s For)
The details are pretty specific. Loans start at $5 million, run for two months, and require over-collateralization—meaning you’ll need to put up more weETH than the loan’s value. There’s also a limited-time perk: a 2% APY rebate in ETHFI tokens for the first $50 million borrowed.
This isn’t for casual users. Maple’s press release mentions “allocators, treasuries, and professional market participants” as the target audience. In other words, outfits with deep pockets and a need for liquidity while their ETH stays staked.
EtherFi’s weETH isn’t exactly obscure, either. Over $5.3 billion worth is floating around DeFi, and about 75% of it is already locked up as collateral elsewhere. So Maple’s move feels less like a gamble and more like catching up to demand.
Why This Matters
Sid Powell, Maple’s CEO, put it bluntly: restaking isn’t just a trend anymore. It’s becoming part of Ethereum’s financial backbone. “With over $2 billion in assets under management,” he said, “Maple will turn this momentum into real institutional activity.”
The pitch is simple. Institutions can borrow cash without selling their staked ETH—which keeps generating yield—and still pocket extra rewards from ETHFI. Powell also hinted that funds and treasuries are getting more interested in restaking, but they don’t want the headache of managing it themselves.
This isn’t Maple’s first rodeo with staked assets. Two weeks ago, they teamed up with Lido Finance to offer loans backed by stETH. Lido’s the giant in liquid staking, so that partnership made sense. But the EtherFi deal feels like doubling down.
The Bigger Picture
Maple’s had a solid year so far. Its total value locked (TVL) has jumped by over $2 billion since January. The platform’s native token, SYRUP, is up about 25% in the past week and 70% over the last month.
None of this means restaking is risk-free, of course. But for now, it’s clear that staked ETH is becoming more than just a way to earn yield—it’s turning into a building block for loans, leverage, and maybe even bigger things down the line.
