A Cayman Islands judge has barred Maple Finance from releasing its Bitcoin yield product pending the resolution of a dispute with Core Foundation. | Credit: Katrin Bolovtsova via Pexels.
Key Takeaways
A partnership between Core Foundation and Maple Finance has collapsed into a legal dispute.
The two organizations co-developed lstBTC, but Core claims Maple misused project resources to create a rival product.
Core DAO has also raised the alarm about Maple’s alleged move to write down the value of Bitcoin deposited in the lstBTC pilot.
A partnership between Bitcoin (BTC) sidechain developer Core DAO and Maple Finance has collapsed into a high-stakes legal confrontation.
After Core Foundation filed a lawsuit against Maple, the two organizations are now locked in a dispute over exclusivity, intellectual property, and the fate of more than $150 million in user-deposited Bitcoin.
In early 2025, Core Foundation and Maple Finance partnered to build lstBTC, a Bitcoin-backed liquid staking token on the Core blockchain.
However, the relationship has soured significantly since the project was announced in February.
In an X post on Wednesday, Core DAO revealed that a Cayman Islands court had granted an injunction preventing Maple from releasing syrupBitcoin—an alternative BTC yield product, which the lawsuit claims violates the two parties’ lstBTC agreement.
The complaint alleges that Maple abused the terms of the partnership and violated a 24-month exclusivity clause by utilizing Core Foundation’s resources to develop syrupBTC, according to Core DAO’s statement on Wednesday.
In granting the injunction, Justice Jalil Asif ruled that Maple’s alleged infractions present “a serious issue to be tried,” the statement added.
According to Core, the dispute escalated when Maple said it would need to declare impairments on over $150 million worth of Bitcoin deposited in the lstBTC pilot.
This, the DAO claims, runs against assurances Maple provided the Foundation that all Bitcoin would be held in ring-fenced, bankruptcy-protected custody structures.
“Core Foundation went to great lengths during the initial contracting process with Maple to ensure that Bitcoin lenders would not face adverse consequences due to the actions of Maple,” it stated.
Core DAO frames Maple’s write-down as an inexplicable and alarming red flag.
A simple question underpins the dispute: Why declare an impairment if the Bitcoin is readily available to return to lenders?
In response to the lawsuit, Maple denied any allegations of wrongdoing and claimed Core Foundation’s actions “are directly against lender interests.”
Core Foundation and Maple Finance did not immediately respond to CCN’s request for comment.
The post Core vs Maple Finance — Disagreement Over Bitcoin Yield Product Leads to Lawsuit appeared first on ccn.com.