If you've been holding native BTC, ETH, DASH, ZEC, or RUNE in self-custody and wondering whether there's a real, non-custodial way to earn yield on those assets without wrapping them or shipping them to a centralised exchange — yes, there is.
We just shipped leodex.io/earn — a liquidity pool dashboard that lets you provide and manage liquidity to native crosschain pools on THORChain and Maya Protocol from one unified interface.
As of right now, this is the only interface serving Maya Protocol and THORCHain LP'ing in a seamless interface for native onchain liquidity.
This post walks through how to use it specifically for Maya Protocol pools, why those pools are interesting right now, and what to expect along the way.
For the full deep-dive — architecture, math, ILP rules, risks, a 15-question FAQ, and ~50 cited sources — read the complete 2026 guide on LeoDex Editorial. This post is the condensed version.
What is Maya Protocol?
Maya Protocol is a Cosmos-SDK Layer-1 blockchain that operates as a noncustodial cross-chain DEX. It's a friendly fork of THORChain that launched in March 2023 via a fair-launch Liquidity Auction with zero VC and zero team CACAO allocation. Funds sit in threshold-signature multisig vaults across 38 active validators — no node ever holds a complete private key.
Every pool pairs an external asset (BTC, ETH, DASH, ZEC, RUNE) with CACAO at 50/50 USD value. CACAO is on one side of every pool, which is what makes any-to-any crosschain swaps possible.
What you can actually earn right now
Live numbers from Maya on May 7, 2026:
- DASH / CACAO — 15.17% APY
- ETH / CACAO — 14.27% APY
- ARB.ETH / CACAO — 10.30% APY
- ARB.WBTC / CACAO — 9.24% APY
- ZEC / CACAO — 5.16% APY (highest 24h volume)
- BTC / CACAO — 3.57% APY
- THOR.RUNE / CACAO — 3.35% APY
- LEO / CACAO - 1.26% APY
Yield is purely organic — slip-based swap fees on every transaction is paid out to LPs.
How to LP on Maya step-by-step on /earn
Step 1 — Open /earn and pick a pool
Open leodex.io/earn. You'll see a sortable, filterable table of every active liquidity pool. Click the Maya Protocol pill below the stats to narrow to Maya pools only.
Pro tip: read the volume-to-TVL ratio (that's your real yield signal). More volume in low TVL = more juiced yield for LPs.
Step 2 — Read the pool's Overview tab
Click Deposit on your chosen pool. The action dialog opens on the Overview tab by default.
The green "Live Action Gates Open" banner means Maya's pool, inbound, and Mimir checks all pass. Our #1 priority is providing users a seamless, intuitive and secure way to LP. We have these checks in place to ensure that LP'ing is a painless process that won't leave you hanging in case a vault is temporarily not open for deposits.
If you see an amber "Live Action Gates Need Review" instead, the dialog tells you exactly which Mimir flag is blocking deposits. Wait for the gate to clear before doing anything.
The four stat cards show you everything you need to know before LP'ing:
- Total Value Locked
- Current APY
- 24H Volume
- Pool Depth
Step 3 — Switch to Add and enter your amount
Type your asset amount in the top input — say, 0.10 BTC. The bottom box (Required Pairing) immediately calculates the CACAO amount needed at the current pool ratio and locks it.
You don't enter the CACAO amount yourself — the protocol does, because the deposit needs to hit the pool in-ratio (otherwise you'd be slipping yourself). Both sides will show approximately equal USD value: in this example ~$8,377 each, for a total dual-asset deposit value of ~$16,754.
Step 4 — Sign the asset leg, then sign the CACAO leg
Click Deposit Liquidity. The flow autonomously walks you through two transactions in sequence:
- Asset leg (in this example, BTC is the deposit asset) on the asset's chain (BTC tx with memo, or ETH.USDC via Maya's router contract using
depositWithExpiry) - CACAO leg — a
MsgDepositon MAYAChain itself to handle the CACAO side of liquidity
Both legs need to land within the same churn window (~5 days) for the protocol to match them into a single dual-LP position. In practice you'll sign both within a few minutes. Once both are observed, your position appears in My Liquidity and starts earning swap fees on the next block.
Step 5 — Manage and withdraw whenever you want
When you're ready to exit, open the same pool's action dialog and switch to the Withdraw tab.
Three modes: Dual (receive both assets pro-rata to your share), Asset Only (Maya internally swaps the CACAO half into asset before payout), or CACAO Only (the inverse — useful if you're rotating between Maya pools). Pick the withdrawal percentage with the slider or the preset buttons.
You can see your live positions any time via the My Liquidity filter — position value, current APY, and the underlying asset/CACAO amounts at current pool ratio:
Bottom line
Maya is an incredible protocol that is extremely efficient. Generating ~$100M+ in monthly swap volume on only roughly $15M in LP TVL, 38 active validators, 18 active pools, ~1,500 LPs.
Remember: low liquidity, high volume = big yield.
It's also the only place in crosschain DeFi where you can provide liquidity to native, unwrapped Bitcoin, Dash, Zcash, and RUNE and earn slip-based swap fees.
For the right user — someone who already holds the asset they're depositing, who wants passive crosschain yield without giving an exchange custody, who'll hold for at least 50 days — this is one of the more interesting things you can do with idle crypto in 2026. For the wrong user, there are better products elsewhere. Be honest with yourself about which you are.
The main interface for Maya LP'ing is at leodex.io/earn.
LeoDex's full guide — architecture, ILP math, risks, FAQ — is at leodex.io/editorial/maya-cacao-pools-may-2026.
Survive > maximise. Hold the asset you actually want exposure to. Pool it natively, not wrapped.