What Is Maverick Protocol (MAV)? How It Works, Tokenomics and Risks

Maverick Protocol is a DeFi infrastructure project running an automated market maker called Maverick AMM, with MAV as its native governance token. The protocol runs across multiple networks at once, including Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Base, and zkSync. Its defining feature is movement mode, which automatically shifts a liquidity provider's position as price moves, unlike conventional AMMs that require liquidity providers to manually rebalance their ranges.

As of October 26, 2026, MAV traded around $0.009322 with a market cap of $10.93 million, ranking it 1151 by CoinGecko's market cap list.

MAV Snapshot

Data as of October 26, 2026.

The Problem It's Trying to Solve

Classic concentrated liquidity AMMs, popularized by Uniswap v3, require liquidity providers to pick a specific price range for their funds. When an asset's price moves outside that range, the position stops earning fees and the LP has to manually shift it, which means new transactions and extra gas costs. For passive LPs who aren't actively watching the market, this is tedious and can leave capital sitting idle without generating returns.

Maverick Protocol was built to cut down on this manual overhead. Another stated focus of the project is trading for liquid staking tokens (LSTs) like wstETH, where according to Maverick's own project description it once overtook Uniswap and Curve to become the top platform by wstETH trading volume.

How Maverick Protocol Works

At the core of Maverick Protocol sits Maverick AMM, which offers what it calls movement mode. Through this feature, users pick a movement mode, and the system shifts their liquidity position to follow market price automatically, rather than the LP doing it manually every time price moves.

Other supporting features listed in the project's official description include:

• Customized liquidity distributions, letting LPs shape how their liquidity is spread rather than using a flat range.
• Fee auto-compounding, where trading fees earned are automatically rolled back into the liquidity position without manual claiming.
• Liquidity shaping through boosted positions, a mechanism for directing incentives toward specific pools.
• Native LST support with a price-following function, designed specifically for liquid staking token pairs like wstETH, so liquidity adjusts along with the LST's exchange rate against its underlying asset.

Maverick AMM first went live on Ethereum Mainnet in March 2023, followed by zkSync Era in April 2023 and BNB Chain in June 2023. The token and contracts later also became available on Base.

What the MAV Token Is Used For

MAV is the official utility and governance token of the Maverick ecosystem. Its primary function is governance, carried out through a vote-escrow (ve) contract. Users lock their MAV to receive veMAV, a non-transferable governance token that determines voting power over protocol decisions.

The ve model is designed so that greater voting power sits with users who commit to the ecosystem long-term. The longer someone locks their MAV, the more veMAV they receive, and the more voting power they get in return. This model is common across DeFi protocols as a way to guard against what's known as mercenary governance, where participants vote without long-term commitment.

MAV Tokenomics

According to the data we checked, MAV's total supply and maximum supply are both 2.00 billion tokens. As of October 26, 2026, circulating supply stood at about 1.17 billion tokens, or roughly 58.5% of max supply, meaning about 41.5% of supply has yet to enter circulation.

The sources we reviewed don't disclose a detailed allocation breakdown (such as shares for the team, investors, community, or treasury) or a schedule for how the remaining supply will be released. For more granular tokenomics detail, readers should check Maverick Protocol's official documentation or a credible third-party token unlock tracker directly.

Team, Funding and Brief History

Maverick Protocol raised a total of $18 million across three funding rounds. Investors listed include Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, Circle Ventures, and Gemini. Specific founder names are not mentioned in the sources we checked.

On the product timeline, Maverick AMM launched on Ethereum Mainnet in March 2023, followed by zkSync Era in April 2023 and BNB Chain in June 2023. According to DefiLlama data cited in the project's official description, Maverick had supported more than $2.5 billion in cumulative trading volume and ranked among the top five DEXs by volume across the chains it operated on. The project also claims to have surpassed Uniswap and Curve to become the top platform by wstETH trading volume.

A previously announced roadmap included launching voting escrow and governance contracts in the third quarter of 2023, followed by boosted pool voting and AMM expansion to more chains in the fourth quarter of 2023 (subject to DAO votes), and MAV LayerZero support on more chains in the first half of 2024 (also subject to DAO votes). The full execution of these plans isn't detailed further in the sources we checked.

Market and On-Chain Data

On Binance Futures, the MAVUSDT contract traded around $0.009312 as of October 26, 2026, down 2.82% over the past 24 hours, with 24-hour trading volume of about $0.4 million. Over the past 30 days the futures price dropped 27.7%, but over 90 days it actually gained 16.7%, a pattern pointing to sharp swings within short windows.

The latest funding rate stood at 0.0034% per period. Funding rate is a periodic payment exchanged between long and short positions in a perpetual futures market; a small positive reading like this means long traders are paying a small amount to shorts, suggesting mildly bullish sentiment without being extreme.

Open interest (OI), the total value of outstanding futures contracts not yet closed, was $1.2 million, down 25.1% over 30 days. Shrinking OI usually means traders are reducing their leveraged exposure to MAVUSDT, whether by taking profit, cutting losses, or simply avoiding a low-volume asset.

The long account ratio on Binance Futures was 75%, meaning three out of four accounts holding open positions were long. That ratio reflects retail account sentiment but doesn't necessarily determine future price direction, especially in a market as thin as MAVUSDT.

On the spot side, CoinGecko recorded MAV's price at $0.009322 with 24-hour volume of $555,771, far below the liquidity levels of larger tokens. Compared to its all-time high of $0.80471 set on March 2, 2024, MAV's current price is down roughly 98.8%.

What It Means for Traders

Some of the figures above are better used as daily monitoring points rather than entry signals.

• Funding rate of 0.0034% per period. This small positive reading means longs are paying a bit to shorts, so futures sentiment leans mildly bullish without being extreme. A sharp jump in funding rate would flag growing long leverage and higher risk of sudden liquidations.
• Open interest at $1.2 million, down 25.1% in 30 days. Shrinking OI means fewer open contracts in MAVUSDT, a sign that leveraged trading interest is fading. In a market this thin, even a mid-sized order can move price noticeably.
• Long ratio at 75%. Most accounts holding positions in MAVUSDT are long. If price drops sharply, this heavy long skew could trigger a cascade of liquidations that accelerates the decline.
• Diverging 30-day and 90-day trends. Price fell 27.7% over 30 days in futures but rose 16.7% over 90 days, suggesting MAV tends to swing sharply within short windows rather than follow a steady one-way trend.
• Thin daily volume. Spot 24-hour volume is only $555,771 and futures volume is around $0.4 million, both far below major crypto assets. Anyone watching MAVUSDT needs to account for spread and slippage, especially for orders larger than the average daily volume.

Competitors

Specific market share or volume figures for these competitors aren't included because they weren't present in the source data we checked.

MAV Risks

• Thin market liquidity. MAV's 24-hour spot volume on CoinGecko is only $555,771, and MAVUSDT futures volume on Binance is around $0.4 million, both small relative to a market cap already ranked 1151.
• A deep decline from its all-time high. MAV's price is down roughly 98.8% from its March 2024 peak of $0.80471, reflecting long-running sell pressure that hasn't shown signs of reversing in the data reviewed.
• Supply not yet fully circulating. About 41.5% of the 2 billion max supply has yet to enter the market, and the sources checked don't detail a release schedule, leaving potential future supply pressure that can't be precisely mapped.
• Governance concentration via the veMAV model. Since voting power depends on how long MAV is locked, large holders willing to lock long-term could end up dominating governance direction over smaller holders.
• Leverage risk in futures markets. With open interest at just $1.2 million and already down 25.1% over 30 days, MAVUSDT price moves can be sharper than assets with deeper liquidity, including faster liquidation risk for highly leveraged traders.
• Reliance on multi-chain adoption. Maverick operates across four different networks (Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Base, zkSync), so protocol performance is tied to the activity and security of each of those networks.
• General regulatory risk. Like other crypto assets, the legal status and oversight of governance tokens such as MAV can shift as regulation evolves across jurisdictions.

How to Buy and Trade MAV in Indonesia

Based on the data we checked, MAV is available as a futures contract on Binance under the symbol MAVUSDT. In Indonesia, trading crypto assets including MAV should be done through exchanges registered and supervised by OJK, rather than unlicensed platforms.

Trading on futures markets like MAVUSDT involves leverage, meaning potential gains and losses can be far larger than the initial capital put in. With MAVUSDT's open interest at just $1.2 million and daily volume around $0.4 million according to the latest data, price spreads and slippage risk can run higher than for crypto assets with deeper liquidity. Traders considering a MAVUSDT position need to carefully weigh position size, leverage level, and risk management before entering the market.