The Melbourne-based crypto lending company Maple Finance has yielded $5 million in a funding round led by Tioga Capital. An August 22 report revealed that other key players in the digital sector, including Blocktower Capital, Veris Ventures, GSR, and The Spartan Group, participated in the fundraising.
The $5 million investment will be rerouted towards widening the Maple market present to the Asian-Pacific (ASIC). The crypto lenders aims at entering Singapore and Hong Kong due to the suitability of the market.
Maple Finance Expanding to Asia
An announcement conveyed by Blocktower Capital head of venture Thomas Klocanas noted that Maple was well positioned to expand to the digital sector. The executive admitted that Maple has supported third-parties credit service providers to offer loan services. Klocanas confessed that the crypto lender has been supporting the growth of lending businesses and continues to add more value to institutions.
In a wide-ranging interview with the chief executive of Maple Finance, Sidney Powell, he restated that the investment will support the lending company to enter the vibrant Singapore and Hong Kong markets. The executive mentioned that the ASIC region has recently experienced an increase in business activities due to its market attractiveness.
Powell acknowledged the efforts made by the regulators in the ASIC to bring regulatory sanity to crypto assets. Therefore to tap to the endless opportunities in ASIC Maple group seeks to broaden its geographic presence.
Reflecting on the 2022 bearish crypto market, the executive stated that the fallout of best-performing lenders such as Genesis, Celsius, and BlockFi has left gaps in the market. The CEO announced that the exit of key players created more unutilized opportunities that Maple should pursue.
The crypto lender plans to provide Asia users with innovative products including an over-collateralized lending product. The official stated that the exit of the bankrupt crypto lenders in the industry had created opportunities for investors with a healthy appetite to risk their assets. Klocanas admitted that Maple Finance is ready to take risks and explore the viable opportunities.
Suitability of ASIC Crypto Market
In his report, the CEO argued that the Maple team had taken proactive steps to address risks. For instance, Maple does not reinvest borrowed but stores the collaterals on a licensed custodian to reduce the risks. However, in future the crypto lender plans to invent a new risk management approach.
Moreover, Maple aims to develop the “clearest” products that perfectly meet the Asian market needs. The crypto lender confirmed that the intended product and service does not exist in Asia. The Maple team crypto lender remains positive that the proposed product will be in high demand.
In the latter the Maple team plans to open a shop in Asia before the next bull run. Besides the expansion efforts, the crypto lender introduced a new pool that allows US investors to access tokenized treasury bills.
Months after the launch of the Treasury facilities, Maple received $22 million in deposits. Additionally Maple established a lending platform early in June to transform the Web3 sector. The remarkable contributions made by Maple aims at cementing the firm at a considerable position to blossom in the crypto sector.
Maple also restarted the operation of the Solana network after being inactive for around eight months. The Maple team plans to expand its stablecoin cash management services before the end of 2023.
At present the total value locked (TVL) for Maple assets amounts to decreased to $88 million, from $938M in May 2022 according to DefiLama report.