Maple denies stealing Core’s lstBTC – ‘Will be pursuing all available remedies’

Key Takeaways

What triggered the feud? 

Core believes that Maple has breached a 24-month exclusivity period agreement by unveiling a rival yield product. 

How are lenders affected? 

The yield product, lstBTC, was initially funded by $150M BTC from lenders, yet it was not clear whether they would be reimbursed. 

Institutional-focused DeFi lending firm Maple Finance has made headlines today for allegedly breaching a contract and stealing its partner, Core Foundation’s Bitcoin [BTC] yield product. 

On X (formerly Twitter), Maple Finance distanced itself from the claims and blamed the Core Foundation for “directly going against lender interests.” 

The firm added, 

“Maple denies any allegations of wrongdoing on its part and will be pursuing all available remedies aggressively to ensure Core Foundation is held responsible for the consequences of their actions.” 

Source: X

Core Foundation claims

Core Foundation has been a partner in the Maple Finance ecosystem, developing a BTC yield product, LstBTC.

The ERC-20 token enables holders to maintain liquidity across various DeFi platforms while earning a yield. The product was co-developed in early 2025 and officially rolled out in April. 

Per the Core team, they had a 24-month exclusivity agreement with Maple. However, Maple Finance has reportedly prepared a similar product, syrupBTC, a move Core Foundation claimed breached the agreement and misused their confidential data. 

Notably, the Core Foundation stated that it had successfully obtained a restraining order against Maple Finance for the alleged breach. 

The team further slammed the DeFi lending protocol for failing to reimburse lenders the initial $150 million BTC, adding that, 

“It is unclear why Maple maintains that they are unable to return the Bitcoin to their lenders at this time. This is another example of concerning behavior and business practices by Maple.”

Bitcoin DeFi, or BTCFi has picked up traction lately, primarily dominated by Babylon [BABY] and Lombard.

However, other Bitcoin Layer 2 players, such as Core, have also emerged. As of the time of writing, Babylon holds a 66% market share. 

Source: Bitcoin Yield

However, the yield has dropped in line with the broader market rout, from 3.19% to 3.0% over the past week. 

That being said, SYRUP, the native token of Maple Finance, dropped 3% to $0.35 following the update. The Core ecosystem also experienced a 2% drop in its TVL (total value locked) to $50 million over the past 24 hours.

It remains to be seen how the case will be resolved and whether initial BTC lenders will be made whole again.