Core Foundation Wins Cayman Injunction Against Maple Finance in $150M BTC Yield Dispute
The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has issued an injunction against , blocking the firm from launching a competing BTC yield product, syrupBTC, using Core Foundation’s confidential information or trading CORE tokens without written consent, pending arbitration.
The court found a “serious issue to be tried” regarding Maple’s alleged breaches of its commercial agreement with Core.
Legal Clash Over lstBTC Partnership
In ahead 2025, Core Foundation and Maple Finance to develop lstBTC, a liquid-staked BTC token designed to allow investors to earn yield while keeping assets securely custodied at licensed providers such as BitGo.
At the time, Maple Finance managed under $500 million in assets. Core invested heavily in technical development, marketing, promotion, and subsidies to support the product.
The partnership was publicly announced at Consensus Hong Kong in February 2025, drawing strong market attention.
Core alleges that by mid-2025, Maple began misusing its confidential information and resources to develop a competing product, syrupBTC, in violation of a 24-month exclusivity clause.
Core’s also note that Maple had received over $150 million of BTC from lenders through an ahead OTC version of the BTC Yield product, which was intended to be held in a fully segregated, bankruptcy-remote structure to protect users.
A Core Foundation in an article said:
“We honored every put expiry for months, paying out millions, until Maple’s alleged material breaches. At that point, we obtained an injunction and issued notices of termination of the underlying agreements. We had understood that the BTC was held with reputable custodians. This is another example of concerning behavior and business practices by Maple, which led Core Foundation to act in the best interest of its community.”
Justice Jalil Asif KC, in his September 26, 2025 judgment (published October 30), ruled that damages alone would not be sufficient because of the risk Maple could deal in CORE tokens and gain a head begin by launching syrupBTC.
The injunction bars Maple from using Core’s confidential information, promoting syrupBTC or similar products, or trading CORE tokens without written consent.
Maple Finance responded, defending its actions:
“The dispute is strictly limited to the pilot program conducted in partnership with Core Foundation for BTC Yield. There is no impact to our broader business operations. Core Foundation’s actions are directly against lender interests. Maple denies any allegations of wrongdoing and will be pursuing all available remedies aggressively to ensure Core Foundation is held responsible for the consequences of their actions.”
Implications for Lenders and the DeFi Ecosystem
Core Foundation raised concerns about Maple’s recent statements on declaring impairments against lender BTC holdings, which could undermine protections intended by the segregated custody structure.
Core emphasized that lstBTC’s low-risk design included put options to hedge CORE price volatility and that the company honored these commitments for months.
Following the latest announcement, Maple’s total value locked (TVL) fell , recording losses of $107 million. Notably, token holders’ net profit turned positive for the first time since inception, reaching over $95,000 at the time of reporting.
