Blockchain-based institutional capital marketplace Maple Finance has launched a pool of US Treasury debt for non-US-accredited investors and entities.
According to an April 19 post, Maple Finance has launched a new cash management pool that provides institutional Web3 investors with direct access to US Treasury bills. This product is not intended for use by US persons or entities. The pool will be made available to lenders minus fees from one-month US Treasury bills and reverse repurchase agreements, with crypto hedge fund Room40 Capital acting as the sole borrower through a special purpose vehicle (SPV). Maple Developer wrote: "While there are some 'risk-free rate' product the s on-chain, they do not provide the peace of mind needed to attract hard-earned treasury funds. Counterparty risk is either too high, assets are too illquid, ETFs are too complex, or 1- 2% interest rate is too low for the level of smart contract risk.”
Maple claims that all pool assets are held by an independent SPV, "custodial with a regulated prime broker, with lenders having full recourse to all assets." The company also says that onboarding "takes 10 to 15 minutes to process. Completion" and interest accrues immediately from the date of deposit with no lock-up period.
“Lenders have real-time visibility into a borrower's portfolio of assets held with a regulated broker, and interest statements can be downloaded at any time.” Maple Finance, currently available on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, has disbursed approximately $1.9 billion in loans since its inception. US Treasury bills are classified as securities. Accordingly, derivatives containing such instruments as underlying assets may not be sold to US investors without registration or an exemption from the SEC.
