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About Phoenix Labs
Phoenix Labs is a DeFi research and development company whose core product is Spark, a liquidity layer and lending platform built within the Sky (formerly MakerDAO) ecosystem. Spark initially launched as a pure lending protocol in May 2023, but later pivoted to a broader liquidity layer that allocates assets across DeFi, CeFi, and real-world assets (RWA) such as tokenized U.S. Treasuries. As of mid-2026, Spark manages approximately $7 billion in assets, making it the third-largest stablecoin protocol globally.
Its main competitive edge lies in trust, scale, and on-chain transparency. Spark maintains a conservative 25% cash reserve ratio to ensure stablecoin redeemability, and every dollar deployed is auditable on-chain, a stark contrast to traditional finance's opaque operations. The team positions Spark as an "institutional connectivity layer," aiming to serve banks and AI agents rather than retail users, arguing that the next phase of DeFi adoption will be driven by institutional participation.
The market pain point Spark addresses is the limited capacity of traditional lending markets and the need for stable, risk-adjusted yields during bear markets. By diversifying into RWA and OTC lending, it provides sustainable returns even when DeFi borrowing demand is weak.
In the past six months (March to September 2026), Spark has expanded its liquidity layer to $3.9 billion in deployed assets with an annualized yield of 4.95%. It integrated with Coinbase's Bitcoin lending product (contributing ~80% of its liquidity) and became a major liquidity provider for Maple Finance, deploying $200 million in OTC loans backed by off-chain Bitcoin collateral. The protocol also saw over 2,748 wBTC supplied as collateral within three days of launch. In June, the SPK governance token was unlocked, with total staked increasing from 551M to 616.3M. However, Spark's annual revenue declined from approximately $80 million during the bull market to around $20 million, reflecting the broader bear market conditions. The team acknowledged this by shifting focus from consumer apps to B2B/B2B2C models, a strategic pivot that has proven more resilient.
Phoenix Labs, the R&D firm behind Spark, began in May 2023 when Spark launched as a pure lending protocol for MakerDAO (now Sky), pioneering the sDAI savings product and SparkLend. By end-2024, sDAI reached $1.57B deposits and SparkLend $1.8B borrows, establishing the 'stablecoin + Earn + lending' pattern later adopted by Robinhood, Coinbase, and PayPal.
A pivotal shift came in late 2024 with the Spark Liquidity Layer, expanding from lending into a capital allocation platform across DeFi, CeFi, and RWA (tokenized Treasuries). Within six months it deployed $3.9B, making Spark the world's third-largest stablecoin protocol with ~$7B under management.
In 2025, Spark made the strategic decision to indefinitely shelve its consumer app, pivoting to a B2B2C infrastructure model. The Robinhood Earn integration, powered by Morpho vaults with Spark as a key liquidity source, validated this approach. Spark also entered OTC lending via Maple Finance ($200M deployed) and launched the Stablecoin FX Layer on Uniswap v4, capturing ~30% of stablecoin-swap volume.
The upcoming SPK token launch represents a governance milestone, transitioning Sky to a modular 'Star' architecture where Spark operates semi-independently. CEO Sam MacPherson's vision positions Spark as an 'institutional-grade connective layer,' anticipating AI agents as dominant on-chain operators and banks entering DeFi—a shift from retail-led growth to institutional capital allocation.
Over the past six months (2026-03-05 to 2026-09-05), Phoenix Labs has made key strides in stablecoin infrastructure.
Strategic pivot: Spark indefinitely shelved its consumer app to focus on a B2B2C model, supplying yield and liquidity to tech giants like Robinhood instead of competing for end users.
Robinhood Earn integration: Through spUSDG, Spark powers Robinhood's on-chain treasury, surpassing $200M in deposits—validating the Spark Liquidity Layer and Stablecoin FX Layer.
Uniswap v4 deployment: Spark migrated ~$150M into USDS/USDT and PYUSD pools, capturing ~30% of Uniswap's stablecoin volume with ~$1.5B traded in the first 30 days.
OTC lending: Bitcoin-backed loans via Anchorage reached ~$260M outstanding (cumulative $400M), targeting $1B by year-end.
Future focus: CEO Sam MacPherson sees DeFi shifting from retail to institutional capital and AI agents. Spark positions itself as an "institutional connectivity layer" with KYC/AML, fixed-rate products, and compliance-ready risk frameworks. Phoenix Labs emphasizes specialist capital-allocation infrastructure and anticipates AI agents becoming primary on-chain operators; governance may consolidate toward corporate structures if decentralized coordination fails at scale.
Nadia Alvarez: Co-founder. Former Head of Growth at MakerDAO and Business Development for Latin America, as well as Account Manager at Red Hat.
Lucas Manuel: Co-founder. Detailed background not publicly disclosed, but actively involved in Phoenix Labs as a co-founder.
Sam MacPherson: Co-founder. Former Smart Contracts Engineer at MakerDAO, Smart Contracts Technical Lead at Maple, and Blockchain Developer at EY.