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Bitwise and Maple Partnership: New Era for Institutional DeFi?

Hyomi Song
Hyomi Song
Hyomi Song
Author:
Hyomi Song
Hyomi is a freelance writer who is passionate about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. She is dedicated to driving innovation and fostering widespread adoption within the industry as her writing captures how we interact with digital assets.
March 6th, 2025

In collaboration with Maple Finance, well-known cryptocurrency investment firm Bitwise Asset Management has made a pioneering entry into institutional DeFi. This partnership is a great step in connecting traditional finance, and the creative space of decentralized lending. It reflects the increased institutional investor demand for DeFi as a means for financial growth and diversification.

Bitwise has partnered with Maple Finance to bring compliant on-chain credit to institutional investors. This is centered on Bitcoin-backed lending products, offering structured and transparent solutions that are in line with institutional requirements.

It passed through a careful 12 month assessment process to ensure regulatory compliance and risk management. Sid Powell, CEO of Maple Finance, explained the importance of this broad process in establishing a compliant and secure framework for institutional clients.

Institutional Capital Embraces DeFi

Institutional investors are increasingly viewing DeFi as a way to find alternatives to traditional finance. Currently, the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi platforms has risen to $99.47 billion. This demonstrates the increasing trust in blockchain-based lending and investment solutions, reflecting a diversification away from Bitcoin and other traditional crypto assets.

A good example is Maple Finance with their open, regulated lending products targeting institutions. Other examples include projects like BlackRock’s BUIDL fund and tokenized securities.

DeFi’s Institutional Evolution

The partnership between Maple Finance and Bitwise is a new chapter in DeFi history. This partnership, with its compliant, Bitcoin-backed lending products, demonstrates how DeFi is striving to address longstanding challenges through transparency and risk management.

Maple’s “Lend + Long” product, which combines high-yield lending with Bitcoin options strategies, enables structured finance products for institutional investors. This also emphasizes the general adoption of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) in DeFi, which has already grown into a multibillion-dollar market.

With increasingly more institutions leveraging blockchain for asset tokenization and omnichain liquidity solutions, DeFi is proving to be a serious contender against traditional finance. All this demonstrates how decentralized finance is diversifying investment options and remapping finance’s future.

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Contributors

Hyomi Song
Hyomi is a freelance writer who is passionate about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. She is dedicated to driving innovation and fostering widespread adoption within the industry as her writing captures how we interact with digital assets.