0xResearch Curated Credit: How Maple and Morpho Approach DeFi Lending | Sid Powell & Merlin Egalite
Feb 2, 2026
Merlin Egalite, co-founder of Morpho building a permissionless credit layer for composable, intent-based lending. Sid Powell, CEO of Maple, running institutional on-chain lending with $4.5B AUM and active underwriting. They discuss the shift to curator-driven credit, how depositor risk migrates to curators, APY vs. hidden tail risks, transparency and ratings, and new collateral and distribution models.
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APY Wins Short, Risk Wins Cycles
- High APY attracts deposits short‑term, but long‑term winners are likely risk‑adjusted strategies.
- True risk‑adjusted performance only becomes clear ex post after cycle events reveal hidden tail exposures.
Tail Risk Lives In Liquidations Now
- The vector hiding tail risk has shifted from correlated stablecoin exposures to liquidation liquidity constraints.
- Assess how liquid the market for forced selling would be under stress, not just nominal collateral quality.
Break Down Net APY Components
- Decompose yields into native interest, incentives, and explicit fees before comparing products.
- Demand transparent on‑chain fee disclosures and compare net APY after performance and management fees.