Bitwise Ventures into DeFi with Maple Finance Partnership
1min read Crypto asset manager and ETF provider bitwise has made its first allocation into decentralized finance (DeFi) through a partnership with on-chain credit specialist Maple Finance. This move marks a significant milestone in the adoption of on-chain credit by institutional allocators. The size of Bitwise’s allocation was not disclosed, but it is leveraging a Maple bitcoin-backed lending product, which is available to accredited investors in the U.S.
As digital versions of real-world assets become a normal component of traditional finance, firms are increasingly looking beyond tokenized Treasury Bills. This shift is particularly notable as interest rates have been dropping while DeFi yields are seeing a resurgence. Bitwise, a firm that believes in the future of asset management moving on-chain, sees this as an opportunity to find products that do not exist in traditional finance. The yield from lending against bitcoin, for instance, is a product that is not available elsewhere in traditional finance.
Maple Finance packages this product in a way that is consumable by institutional asset managers, making it an attractive option for firms like Bitwise. The partnership required extensive due diligence and background work, involving discussions and collaboration between the teams of both companies over a period of about 12 months. This process included working with Bitwise’s operations team, legal and compliance team, risk team, as well as tax advisors.
In addition to its high-profile crypto ETFs, Bitwise manages over $12 billion in client assets across separately managed accounts, private funds, hedge fund strategies, and staking. This partnership with Maple Finance is a strategic move that aligns with Bitwise’s vision of leveraging on-chain products to provide transparent and innovative financial solutions to its clients.
