Maple Finance launches $300M lending pool for Bitcoin mining firms

The institutional lending platform has facilitated $1.8 billion worth of digital currency loans since May 2021.

On Tuesday, institutional crypto lending protocol Maple Finance and its delegate Icebreaker Finance announced that they would provide up to $300 million worth of secured debt financing to public and private bitcoin mining firms. Qualified entities meeting treasury management and power strategies management standards located throughout North America, as well as those in Australia, can apply for funding.

On the other hand, the venture seeks to deliver risk-adjusted returns in the low teen percentages (up to 13% per annum) to investors and capital allocators. The pool is only open to accredited investors who meet substantial income and/or net worth qualifications within a jurisdiction. In the U.S., among many criteria, this means having an annual pre-tax income of over $200,000 ($300,000 with a spouse) or having a liquid net worth of more than $1 million.

As told by Maple Finance, underlying loans in the new lending pool would last for 12 to 18 months with interest rates of up to 20%. The loan would be secured by physical and intellectual assets of the borrower, possibly including that of Bitcoin mining rigs. Regarding the development, Sidney Powell, CEO and co-founder of Maple Finance, stated:

“Recent market headwinds have caused lenders to pull back, while traditional financing vehicles have been slower to engage this sector. Miners play an essential role in growing the crypto ecosystem and local economies, and we are proud to extend a new financing vehicle to direct capital where it is needed the most.”

Maple currently holds 50% of the institutional crypto lending market as measured by total loans outstanding. At the time of publication, liquidity pools on Maple have issued close to $1.8 billion worth of loans since its inception in May 2021.

Today, @IcebreakerDeFi joins Maple and opens a $300M capacity pool to provide secured debt financing to blue-chip Bitcoin mining and digital asset infrastructure companies. pic.twitter.com/ZWyLV2P9hr

— Maple (@maplefinance) September 20, 2022