In order to diversify their lending approach, the lending platform’s team has decided to extend loans directly to select borrowers, in addition to relying on pool delegates for capitalization.
Maple Finance, a Web3 lending platform, has disclosed the introduction of a direct lending initiative, as per a fact sheet published by the platform’s development team on the 28th of June. This new program aims to supplant the lending offerings previously furnished by now-defunct lenders, such as Celsius and BlockFi.
As per the company’s statement, the first lending pool is anticipated to be made available sometime during the month of July.
Maple Finance serves as a marketplace for institutional capital on the blockchain, catering to Web3 enterprises seeking loans to fund their product launches or expansions. Previously, Maple depended on credit experts known as “pool delegates” to supply the necessary capital for these loans. For instance, Celsius leveraged Maple’s services to establish a lending pool for Wrapped Ether (WETH) in February 2022.
During the bear market period of mid-to-late 2022, several prominent Web3 lenders experienced a financial collapse. In July, Celsius shut down its operations, followed by BlockFi’s demise in November, and Genesis filing for bankruptcy in January.
According to the Maple team, the inception of this new program is deemed imperative due to the departure of significant Web3 lenders from the industry. They believe that conventional lenders like banks lack the essential focus and expertise required to evaluate the innovative nature of Web3 technology enterprises.
The team has announced the forthcoming launch of its inaugural direct lending pool in July, with a specific emphasis on lending to entities involved in infrastructure, asset management, and liquidity provision. Capital allocators have been welcomed to participate and generate yield through this program, as it is considered suitable for the investment preferences of Crypto Funds, DAOs, VCs, HNWI, Yield Aggregators, and Family Offices seeking returns on their investments.
Maple intends to enhance its existing range of services, suggesting that the newly launched Maple Direct will not serve as a substitute for the current platform that comprises of multiple lenders who are competing with each other.
In November, lenders affiliated with Maple Finance faced significant setbacks due to the bankruptcies of FTX and Alameda Research. These unfortunate events had a chain reaction, causing borrower Aurus Global to default on one of its payments. Additionally, Maple decided to sever its relationship with borrower Orthogonal Trading due to perceived misrepresentations. However, the platform swiftly recovered from these challenges by introducing an upgraded version of its software, known as version 2.0, in December.
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