Core Foundation Wins Cayman Court Injunction to Halt Maple Finance Product Launch
The Core Foundation has secured an injunction from the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands against Maple Finance, blocking the launch of Maple’s competing syrupBTC product and restricting Maple’s handling of CORE tokens until legal proceedings conclude. The Foundation alleges that Maple breached confidentiality and exclusivity agreements established in ahead 2025 during their joint development of lstBTC, a liquid-staked BTC answer built on the Core blockchain. The injunction marks a significant escalation in the dispute, with the court determining that there are serious issues to be examined and that allowing Maple to proceed could cause irreparable harm.
According to Core Foundation, the partnership required substantial contributions on its part, including technical development, ecosystem incentives and go-to-market support. The Foundation claims Maple used proprietary insights gained through the collaboration to pursue a competing product, violating a 24-month exclusivity clause. The court order prevents Maple from launching or promoting syrupBTC and restricts dealings in CORE tokens while arbitration and litigation are ongoing.
Implications for both firms and the broader crypto ecosystem
The injunction places Maple Finance under immediate operational strain. By halting syrupBTC’s rollout, Maple must restructure timelines, investor expectations and market positioning. The dispute may deepen scrutiny over Maple’s recent operations, including delays in lender repayments and questions surrounding impairments in its BTC yield products. For Core Foundation, the injunction represents an attempt to protect both its intellectual property and the strategic value of its ecosystem.
This legal clash underscores the increasing sophistication of commercial agreements in decentralised finance. As protocols expand from open-source experimentation to structured product offerings and revenue-sharing partnerships, disputes over exclusivity, intellectual property and competitive overlap are likely to become more common. The case highlights the need for clearer contractual protections when projects co-develop infrastructure or share confidential design insights.
Potential ripple effects across the market
Beyond the immediate conflict, the injunction has implications for how liquid staking and tokenised BTC products evolve across the sector. Both Core and Maple have positioned their offerings as answers to bring BTC yield into on-chain finance. A stalled product launch at Maple may sluggish competitive expansion, while Core’s defensive move could reinforce its position if the case results in longer-term restrictions or settlement terms.
The jurisdiction of the ruling is notable as well. The Cayman Islands has become a hub for crypto-related corporate structures, and its courts are increasingly hearing cases tied to tokenised assets, protocol governance and offshore entity disputes. A precedent that affirms exclusivity agreements and IP enforcement could influence how partnerships are negotiated across the industry.
In summary, the Core Foundation’s injunction against Maple Finance marks a pivotal moment in the intersection of legal enforcement and decentralised financial product development. While the outcome is still pending, the case illustrates how competitive pressures, shared development models and institutional-scale token ecosystems are reshaping expectations around accountability and contractual integrity in the crypto space.
