Mantle is taking its Vault product from centralised exchanges into decentralised finance, opening a new deposit-and-earn product to stablecoin holders on its network. Built with Grove and CIAN and distributed through Fluxion, the expansion marks another step in the competition to bring institutional-style real-world asset strategies into permissionless financial markets.

Institutional-style yield products have traditionally sat behind the walls of banks, asset managers and centralised crypto platforms. Mantle is now attempting to move that model further into decentralised finance.

The open financial network announced the expansion of Mantle Vault, bringing the product beyond its existing centralised-finance presence on Bybit and into DeFi. The new version allows users holding USDC or USDT0 on Mantle to deposit stablecoins and earn variable returns from an underlying strategy.

The product is being developed with Grove and CIAN, with Fluxion providing the access and liquidity layer.

The move is significant because Mantle is positioning the Vault not simply as another crypto yield product, but as an interface between stablecoin liquidity and institutional-oriented capital-market strategies. That puts it at the intersection of three increasingly important areas of fintech: decentralised finance, stablecoins and real-world assets.

Mantle said its Vault had already surpassed $200 million in assets under management on Bybit before the DeFi expansion. The company also reported that its real-world asset total value locked grew from $22 million to $257 million over the past year, while overall DeFi TVL exceeded $755 million.

Those figures show momentum, although TVL and assets under management should not be interpreted as equivalent measures of revenue, profitability or user adoption. In DeFi, capital can also move quickly between competing protocols in response to incentives and yield changes.

The new Mantle Vault accepts USDC and USDT0 and provides variable yield based on its underlying strategy. A central component is sUSDS, a yield-bearing token associated with Sky Protocol, alongside Fluxion Points.

CIAN has structured the product around a non-leveraged approach, which the companies describe as conservative and transparent. That distinction matters in a market where some DeFi yield strategies depend heavily on leverage, liquidity incentives or complex derivatives.

Grove supplies the capital foundation through Grove Savings, described as an on-chain interface to the Sky Savings Rate. The rate is determined through Sky governance and delivered through the Sky Agent Network, which allocates capital across governance-approved strategies.

In practical terms, that means the Vault is not generating yield from a single proprietary trading strategy. Instead, it packages exposure to an existing yield-bearing financial ecosystem into a product that stablecoin holders can access through Mantle.

CIAN’s role is closer to portfolio construction and product engineering. The company built the original Mantle Vault available through Bybit and is now adapting that architecture for a non-custodial DeFi environment.

That transition changes the risk profile and user experience.

Centralised platforms can provide familiar account structures, custody and compliance controls. DeFi products generally give users direct control of assets through blockchain wallets, while placing greater responsibility on smart-contract security, protocol risk, liquidity and the user’s ability to understand the underlying strategy.

Fluxion acts as the distribution and liquidity layer for the new Vault. The Mantle-native decentralised exchange also operates across real-world asset markets, combining automated market-maker and request-for-quote mechanisms with xStocks’ xChange infrastructure.

Mantle’s broader RWA strategy is important here. Tokenised equities, funds, credit instruments and other real-world assets require more than a blockchain for issuance. They need trading venues, liquidity, settlement infrastructure and financial products that allow users to deploy capital.

The Vault potentially supplies another piece of that ecosystem: a yield-bearing destination for stablecoins.

The competitive environment is already crowded. DeFi users can access lending markets such as Aave and Morpho, liquid-staking products, stablecoin savings protocols and structured-yield products across networks. Meanwhile, traditional financial institutions and fintech companies are increasingly exploring tokenised funds and blockchain-based settlement.

Mantle’s differentiation is therefore less about inventing stablecoin yield and more about integrating yield, RWA distribution and liquidity within a single network.

The company’s approach also reflects a larger change in DeFi. Early decentralised-finance products often competed primarily on composability and headline yields. More mature protocols are increasingly attempting to package blockchain infrastructure into products that resemble conventional financial services.

That brings institutional-grade language into the consumer DeFi market—but also raises a difficult question: what exactly qualifies as institutional grade?

For enterprise and professional investors, yield alone is insufficient. They will want visibility into underlying assets, counterparty exposure, smart-contract audits, liquidity conditions, redemption mechanisms and governance. The absence of leverage may reduce one source of risk, but it does not remove market, protocol or liquidity risk.

Mantle is also introducing an incentive programme involving 5.14 million GROVE tokens, with a target of up to 6.5% APY. The company notes that programme terms, duration and rates can change with market conditions and that incentives are not guaranteed.

That caveat is important. Incentive-driven APYs can attract liquidity quickly, but they can also make yields difficult to compare with sustainable returns generated by underlying assets. Users evaluating the product will need to distinguish between base yield and token incentives.

For Mantle, the larger strategic objective is clear: create an open network where stablecoin liquidity can reach tokenised financial products without relying exclusively on centralised exchanges.

Whether that model can scale will depend on more than TVL. It will require durable liquidity, transparent risk management, reliable infrastructure and enough demand for tokenised assets to keep capital circulating after promotional incentives decline.

The DeFi expansion of Mantle Vault is therefore best viewed as an infrastructure play. It connects stablecoin capital with a portfolio strategy, a yield-bearing asset and a decentralised distribution venue. If that architecture proves durable, it could offer a blueprint for how RWA-focused blockchain networks attempt to turn institutional financial strategies into accessible on-chain products.

Market Landscape

The RWA sector is increasingly becoming a bridge between traditional finance and DeFi. Stablecoins provide the liquidity layer, while tokenised funds, securities and credit products provide potential sources of yield and financial exposure.

Mantle is competing against established DeFi lending and yield ecosystems such as Aave and Morpho, while also operating in a market where institutions including banks and asset managers are experimenting with tokenised financial products.

The key differentiator is integration. Mantle is attempting to combine an RWA-focused blockchain ecosystem with a native DEX, stablecoin liquidity and structured yield products.

However, enterprise and professional adoption will depend on transparency and risk controls. A non-leveraged strategy can reduce certain risks, but users still need to evaluate smart-contract vulnerabilities, underlying-asset exposure, liquidity, governance and incentive sustainability.

Top Insights

• Mantle Vault is expanding from Bybit into DeFi, allowing stablecoin holders to access yield through USDC and USDT0 deposits without relying solely on centralised platforms.
• Grove, CIAN and Fluxion provide complementary infrastructure, combining yield-bearing assets, portfolio construction and liquidity distribution within Mantle’s RWA-focused financial network.
• The strategy includes sUSDS exposure and Fluxion incentives, with Mantle targeting up to 6.5% APY while warning that rates and rewards can change.
• Mantle’s RWA ecosystem is growing rapidly, with reported RWA TVL increasing from $22 million to $257 million and overall DeFi TVL exceeding $755 million.
• Enterprise adoption will depend on risk transparency, including smart-contract security, liquidity, governance, underlying assets and the sustainability of incentive-driven returns.

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