Analysis: Pendle's new staking mechanism faces incentive imbalance issues and may struggle to reduce circulating supply

According to Odaily, Blockworks researcher Kunal Doshi posted on X stating that the new staking mechanism sPENDLE launched by Pendle may not achieve the "token sink" (reduction of circulating supply) effect that many expect.

Pendle has given significant multiplier bonuses to existing vePENDLE stakers, allowing these users to earn annual yields much higher than those of new stakers. Currently, the average lock-up period for vePENDLE is about 1.54 years, and when converted to sPENDLE, users can receive a yield multiplier of approximately 3.31 times, which will gradually decrease as the unlocking process progresses.

There is a clear imbalance in the incentive structure: new stakers only receive a yield of about 5%–7%, while vePENDLE stakers enjoying the multiplier can earn 16%–24%. The yield for new stakers is too low to attract a sufficient scale of new tokens to staking. If sPENDLE is to truly play a role in reducing supply, it must rapidly amplify protocol revenue through Boros and Pendle V2, thereby raising overall staking yields. Otherwise, real staking demand may only emerge at a later stage, that is, after the multiplier for vePENDLE stakers has decayed.

Yesterday, Pendle announced the launch of the liquid staking token sPENDLE, replacing the multi-year lock-up model of vePENDLE.