DeFi

Suilend (SEND): Lending and Borrowing Made Easy on Sui

Intermediate
DeFi
Explainers
Altcoins
Dec 13, 2024

In the world of decentralized finance (DeFi), complex lending protocols and high fees create barriers for users seeking to borrow and lend. Suilend was built by the team behind the successful Solend lending protocol with over $400 million in total value locked (TVL). It’s launched on Sui with a clear mission to make DeFi lending simple, secure and accessible.

This article explores Suilend's innovative features, its native SEND token and its reshaping of DeFi on Sui’s blockchain. We'll delve into Suilend's history, examine its unique offerings and analyze its potential as an investment opportunity in the growing Sui ecosystem.

Key Takeaways:

  • Suilend is a decentralized lending protocol built on Sui that enables users to borrow and lend crypto assets. Its features include multi-asset collateral support, dynamic interest rates, risk-isolated lending pools and liquid staking.

  • Looking to trade Suilend tokens? Bybit now offers the SEND/USDT Spot trading pair.

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What Is Suilend?

Suilend is a decentralized lending protocol built on Sui that enables users to borrow and lend crypto assets, with features including multi-asset collateral support, dynamic interest rates, risk-isolated lending pools and liquid staking.

History of Suilend

Launched in March 2024, Suilend represents Solend's strategic expansion from Solana to Sui. The Suilend team brings proven expertise to Sui's growing ecosystem from Solend, the tenth-largest protocol on Solana, with $432 million in TVL and over 170,000 users across 70 assets (as of December 2024).

The project is led by pseudonymous Solend founder Rooter, and combines expertise from 15 team members (including 11 developers from Morgan Stanley, Bell Labs and IBM). The move to Sui was driven by the blockchain's advanced capabilities and the Move programming language's superior tooling.

Suilend's vision has attracted $6 million across two funding rounds, with Robot Ventures leading the latest $4 million investment. Suilend has already become the largest DeFi protocol on Sui, with a TVL of over $500 million and $10.48 million in annualized revenue (as of Dec 12, 2024)

What Does Suilend Aim to Achieve?

Suilend aims to transform DeFi lending by removing traditional barriers to entry. The protocol tackles the key challenges of high transaction costs that eat into profits, complex interfaces that deter adoption and the depegging risks common in liquid staking.

Leveraging Sui's architecture, Suilend achieves unprecedented performance with 297,000 TPS and 480-millisecond finality. The protocol combines this speed with comprehensive features, such as isolated lending pools, a points system and its innovative SpringSui LST standard.

With a strong focus on security, Suilend has undergone thorough audits by leading blockchain security firms Zellic and OtterSec. This commitment to security and user-focused features establishes a trusted foundation for DeFi innovation.

How Does Suilend Work?

Suilend operates through distinct categories of lending pools: main assets, which undergo rigorous due diligence, and isolated assets for newer or more volatile tokens. Users can lend their assets to earn interest or borrow against collateral, with all transactions automated through smart contracts.

For main assets, users can freely combine different tokens as collateral. However, isolated assets require dedicated collateral that can't be shared across positions, protecting the protocol from risk spillover. Borrowing limits for isolated assets are more conservative and require closer monitoring, due to potential price volatility.

The platform employs a dynamic interest rate model that adjusts based on pool utilization. Rates typically fluctuate more for isolated assets, depending upon market demand and availability. Suilend implements a simple one-time borrowing fee structure with no hidden charges in order to keep costs predictable.

Beyond traditional lending, Suilend integrates the SpringSui liquid staking solution for instant unstaking of SUI tokens. Users can stake SUI to receive sSUI tokens, which maintain their peg through SIP-33 implementation and can be used as collateral within the protocol.

Robust security measures and automated risk management systems protect user assets at every step. The protocol monitors positions continuously, adjusting requirements based on market conditions, and ensuring users maintain adequate collateral to prevent liquidation.

Features of Suilend

Suilend offers a comprehensive suite of features to enhance efficiency and user benefits.

Pools

Suilend operates two types of lending pools: main assets and isolated assets. Main assets undergo rigorous due diligence, and support combined collateral positions, while isolated assets operate in separate pools to contain potential risks from newer or more volatile tokens.

Each pool features specific risk parameters and collateralization ratios, allowing users to earn yields while maintaining security. Through this dual-pool system, Suilend balances high-yield opportunities with robust risk management.

Swap

Suilend incorporates an efficient swap mechanism, allowing users to exchange tokens directly within the platform. This integration reduces the need for external DEXs and minimizes transaction fees to enhance the overall user experience.

Bridge

Suilend facilitates asset transfers between different blockchain networks through its bridge functionality. The system ensures secure cross-chain transactions to expand accessibility while maintaining robust security measures.

Points

The Suilend Points system distributes 10 million points daily to active users, based on deposit amount and duration. These nontransferable points unlock benefits, such as reduced borrowing rates and future governance participation, to incentivize long-term platform engagement.

SpringSui

SpringSui represents Suilend's open-source standard for liquid staking on Sui. Users who stake SUI receive sSUI tokens, which can be traded, used in DeFi or instantly converted back to SUI, thus eliminating the traditional multi-day waiting period for unstaking.

Built on protocol upgrades SIP-31 and SIP-33, SpringSui solves the depegging risks common in liquid staking. The platform will soon enable other teams to create their own liquid staking tokens, driving LST adoption and promoting liquidity across the Sui ecosystem.

Suilend Road Map

Suilend has achieved significant milestones since its inception by following a strategic development plan. The protocol launched on Sui's mainnet in March 2024, quickly establishing itself as the chain's largest lending protocol.

Key achievements include securing $6 million in funding across two rounds, reaching nearly $470 million in TVL and generating monthly revenues of $820,000. The platform has also successfully integrated multiple assets and launched innovative features such as the SpringSui LST standard.

Looking ahead, Suilend plans to launch Steamm, a capital-efficient AMM that lends idle assets for additional yield, in Q1 2025. The protocol also aims to expand its ecosystem through enhanced governance mechanisms, additional asset support and deeper integration with other Sui protocols.

SEND Tokenomics

SEND, Suilend's native token, has a total supply of 100 million tokens distributed with a community-first approach. The allocation comprises 65% for the community, 20% for investors and 15% for the team.

A significant portion (40%) of SEND will be distributed through the Mdrop mechanism, with 20% going to points holders and early users, 5% to ecosystem communities and 15% to SAVE holders on Solana. When users redeem their SEND allocation, they receive mSEND tokens, which they can use to claim SEND.

Mdrop maturities vary by allocation type: three months for Points and Ecosystem holders, six months for Team and Investors, and 12 months for SAVE holders. After these periods, users can claim their full SEND allocation without penalty. To ensure sustainable token distribution, investor tokens unlock over two years and team tokens over four years.

SEND Price Prediction

Given Suilend’s recent market entry, prominent crypto analysts haven’t yet published detailed price forecasts for the SEND token. Several key factors will likely influence its value: Suilend's continued platform growth, broader Sui ecosystem participation and overall cryptocurrency market conditions.

For comparison, Solend's SLND token is currently trading at $1.20, with a fully diluted valuation of $138 million and $456 million in TVL (as of Dec 12, 2024). Since Suilend has already achieved a larger TVL of $470 million, its protocol could potentially support a similar or higher market capitalization.

Where to Buy SEND

Looking to trade Suilend tokens? Bybit now offers the SEND/USDT Spot trading pair. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the SEND/USDT Spot trading page

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Is SEND A Good Investment?

While Suilend has demonstrated impressive growth and strong fundamentals in the DeFi lending space, investors should carefully consider both its strengths and risk factors before making investment decisions.

Growth Potential

  • Impressive TVL growth, reaching $470 million with $820,000 monthly revenue

  • Strong team track record, with previous protocols reaching $1.8 billion in TVL

  • Strategic $6 million funding from reputable investors such as Robot Ventures

  • Innovative features, such as SpringSui LST and Points system

  • Deep integration within the rapidly growing Sui ecosystem

Risk Factors

  • Competitive DeFi lending landscape

  • Market volatility and regulatory uncertainties

  • Success dependent upon continued Sui network adoption

With its institutional backing, proven team experience and innovative approach to DeFi lending, Suilend (SEND) shows significant potential. However, potential investors should conduct thorough research and consider their own risk tolerance before investing.

Closing Thoughts

Suilend tackles key challenges in DeFi — namely, high costs and complexity — by leveraging Sui's technology to create a more accessible platform. With innovations like the SpringSui LST and dynamic interest rates, Suilend could mark a turning point for DeFi adoption by making lending and borrowing accessible to users previously deterred by technical barriers.

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