Overview
Pendle is a DeFi protocol that turns yield into something you can trade. It was founded by TN Lee and launched in 2021, and became one of DeFi’s fastest-growing apps in 2024–2025.
Many crypto assets earn a variable yield: staked ETH, Ethena’s USDe, lending deposits. Pendle lets users lock in a fixed rate or bet on the yield going up.
How it works
Pendle splits a yield-bearing token into two parts:
- PT (Principal Token): the base asset, bought at a discount and redeemable in full at a set date. Buying PT locks in a fixed return.
- YT (Yield Token): all the yield the asset earns until that date. Buying YT is a leveraged bet on the yield, and it often includes extra points or airdrops.
Both trade on Pendle’s own exchange. In 2025, Pendle launched Boros, a platform for trading funding rates (the payments between long and short traders on perpetual futures), which reached billions of dollars in open positions within months.
The 2026 token upgrade
In January 2026, Pendle replaced its locked vePENDLE with sPENDLE:
- protocol revenue is used to buy back PENDLE, which is given to active sPENDLE holders;
- holders can withdraw after 14 days, or immediately with a 5% fee, instead of long locks.
The PENDLE token
| PENDLE at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Total supply | about 282 million PENDLE (growing) |
| In circulation (Oct 2026) | about 174 million |
| Price (29 Oct 2026) | about $1.97 |
| All-time high | about $7.50 (April 2024) |
| Market cap | about $343 million |
| Deposits (Oct 2026) | about $1.1 billion (DeFiLlama) |
Risks
- Falling deposits. Pendle’s deposits peaked near $13.4 billion in 2025 and are about $1.1 billion in October 2026, as yields and incentive programs cooled.
- Concentration. A large share of activity has come from a few assets, especially Ethena’s USDe. Problems there would hit Pendle.
- Complexity. YT can lose most of its value if yields fall; PT carries the risks of the underlying asset.
- Smart-contract risk.
Pendle vs. the competition
| Pendle | Convex | Aave | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main use | Fixed yield, yield trading | Boost Curve rewards | Lending |
| Token value | Buybacks for sPENDLE | Fees + vote incentives | Buybacks (paused 2026) |
| Token | PENDLE | CVX | AAVE |
Our verdict
Pendle built something genuinely new in DeFi: a market for yield itself, used by traders and institutions alike. The sPENDLE upgrade ties the token more closely to revenue.
But deposits have dropped sharply from their peak, and PENDLE trades about 74% below its high. PENDLE is a high-risk bet on DeFi yields recovering. Invest only what you can afford to lose, and make sure you understand PT and YT before using them.
This review is for information only and is not financial advice.