Maple Finance is transitioning to an RWA lending protocol and will establish Maple Direct to provide loans to Web3 enterprises.

After experiencing high default rates last year, lending protocol Maple Finance has started transitioning to real-world asset (RWA) lending agreements. They announced that in July, they will launch a direct lending division called Maple Direct, which will underwrite and issue loans to Web3 companies. The aim is to fill the void left by the collapse of centralized lending institutions like BlockFi and Genesis.

Introduction to Maple Finance

Maple Finance is a lending protocol with institutional participants. Since its launch in May 2021, over $2 billion in loans have been issued through the protocol, which operates on Ethereum and Solana.

Maple has various lending pools, each with credit professionals serving as "pool delegates" responsible for assessing credit limits, setting loan terms with borrowers, and actively managing the loan book.

Prior to focusing on unsecured loans to native crypto companies, Maple faced bad debts of $52 million due to closures of crypto trading firms last year, with losses for some Maple LPs reaching up to 80%.

Just the Credora Maple USDC Pool alone lists bad debts of 14.5 million USDC from Alameda and 8.9 million USDC from Amber.

Transition to RWA Loans

Perhaps due to previous losses, Maple Protocol is increasingly focusing on RWA-based loans. In a bid for product diversification, pool delegates at Maple are seeking to issue loans backed by real-world assets rather than crypto collateral.

For example, Maple's Cash Management Pool, managed by crypto hedge fund Room40 Capital, has established a separate SPV as the sole borrower of the pool. The Cash Management Pool accepts USDC deposits from non-U.S. accredited investors and institutions. The funds are used to purchase and hold short-term U.S. Treasury bills and repo agreements fully collateralized by U.S. Treasuries, currently yielding an average rate of 4.58% over 30 days.

In addition, Maple created a Tax Receivable-backed Liquidity Pool in January.

Maple Direct Offers Web3 Enterprise Loans

Maple announced the launch of its direct lending division, Maple Direct, starting in July, to underwrite and issue loans to Web3 enterprises, aiming to fill the void left by the collapse of centralized lending institutions like BlockFi and Genesis.

Maple Direct bypasses banks and intermediaries, providing debt capital to borrowers through transparent blockchain infrastructure. It offers professionally managed lending opportunities for funds, DAOs, high-net-worth individuals, and other capital allocators, reducing credit and counterparty risks through compliant and professional management.

The first loan product introduced by Maple Direct in July will involve over-collateralization and collateralization with BTC, ETH, and staked ETH, executed on the blockchain through smart contracts, with terms and loan book visibility on Maple's public lending dashboard.