Core Foundation has obtained a court injunction in the Cayman Islands against Maple Finance, after alleging that the latter breached confidentiality, exclusivity, and non-compete obligations tied to their collaboration on lstBTC, a liquid-staked Bitcoin product.
The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands ruled that there is a “serious issue to be tried,” restricting Maple from launching its competing product syrupBTC and from transacting in CORE tokens until arbitration is complete.
Core Foundation claims Maple used its confidential information and intellectual property to accelerate the development of syrupBTC, a move the foundation says undermined a commercial agreement meant to give Core exclusive rights in the partnership.
The injunction alleges Maple’s actions may cause harm beyond monetary compensation, citing risks to lenders and the wider Core ecosystem.
Speaking with Yellow.com, Rich Rines, an Initial Contributor at Core DAO, said the foundation felt required to speak publicly to ensure lenders were protected.
“The legal protections that were introduced by Core Foundation as part of Maple’s Core-powered BTC Yield offering are designed to protect lenders’ rights and assets,” Rines said.
He added that the foundation has published the injunction, a summary of alleged breaches, and details of settlement discussions that Maple “rejected and withdrew from,” arguing that Maple “has no legal right to impair or penalize lenders’ Bitcoin under the structure that Core Foundation mandated.”
Rines said the foundation ultimately “had no option but to exercise our rights to terminate the commercial agreements with Maple,” calling Maple’s response “disappointing” and lacking “detail, directness, and legal standing.”
The dispute deepened after Maple announced an impairment affecting millions of dollars owed to Bitcoin lenders in its BTC Yield product.
Core Foundation questioned Maple’s assertion that it is unable to return lenders’ Bitcoin or that it can legally declare an impairment, describing the situation as a further example of “concerning behavior and business practices.”
Maple Finance had marketed its offering as carrying “no counterparty risk,” helping it accumulate more than $150 million in client Bitcoin within three months.
Core Foundation argues those claims depended on Maple meeting its obligations under the partnership, obligations the injunction says are now under dispute. With the exclusivity agreement now terminated, Core Foundation said it remains focused on developing new Bitcoin-related financial products and expanding the Core ecosystem.
The foundation stated it would continue to enforce its contractual rights “to the fullest extent of the law” on behalf of its global community.
Yellow.com has reached out to Maple Finance co-founder Sidney Powell for a comment but is yet to elicit a response.