Maple Finance has been legally blocked from launching its syrupBTC product after an injunction was granted by The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. The order follows a complaint from the Core Foundation, the organization behind the Core blockchain, which alleges that Maple breached confidentiality and exclusivity agreements tied to their joint Bitcoin yield partnership.

In a November 19 announcement, the Core Foundation stated that the court found “a serious issue to be tried” concerning Maple’s alleged violations of their commercial agreement. The two organizations had partnered in early 2025 to develop lstBTC, a liquid staked Bitcoin token for institutional investors.

Breach of Exclusivity Alleged

According to the Core Foundation, Maple Finance began misusing confidential information and internal resources in mid-2025. During this time, Maple was allegedly developing syrupBTC—a direct competitor to the lstBTC product—despite being bound by a 24-month exclusivity clause from their original agreement.

The foundation also noted it is challenging Maple’s right to declare an “impairment” on millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin held for lenders in a related yield product. For its part, Maple Finance has denied all allegations.

Court Rules Damages Would Be Inadequate

After Core Foundation initiated arbitration, the court ruled in its favor for an injunction. The judgment noted that simple monetary damages would not be a sufficient remedy for two key reasons: the risk of Maple dealing in or divesting its CORE token holdings, and the unfair head-start Maple would gain by launching a competing product while the case is ongoing.