Maple Finance cuts ties with Orthogonal Trading over alleged misrepresentation of finances

Maple’s decision comes after Orthogonal Trading admitted on Dec 3 that it was unable to meet loan repayments following the collapse of FTX and its partner Alameda.

Blockchain-based institutional capital marketplace Maple Finance announced on Dec 5 that it plans to cut all ties with Orthogonal Trading due to alleged misrepresentation of finances following the collapse of FTX. 

According to Maple Finance, it decided to cut all ties with the trading firm because it misrepresented its finances over the last four weeks and only recently admitted on Dec. 3 that it could not meet loan repayments. This means the company had been “operating while effectively insolvent,” making it impossible for it to continue operating without outside intervention.

Maple Finance shared that it refuses to work with “bad actors” who misrepresent their finances. The company shared:

 “Misrepresentation like this is in violation of Maple’s agreements and all appropriate legal avenues to recover funds will be pursued including arbitration or litigation as necessary.”

While Maple Finance has issued a “Notice of Termination to Orthogonal Credit as a Pool Delegate,” severing all ties with the firm, it maintains that its smart contract would still be used to protect assets in the Orthogonal Credit pool. Maple said it does not foresee any impact on lenders in the Orthogonal Credit pool because “all loans remain active with no current signs of distress.” 

Maple shared that the Orthogonal Credit team, unlike its trading arm, acted with “integrity and professionalism” and is currently looking for strategic solutions “as an independent entity.” 

Related: Crypto lender Genesis allegedly owes $900M to Gemini’s clients: Report

The fallout from the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research appears to bestill spreading within the cryptocurrency community. 

 On Nov. 9, Orthogonal Credit disclosed that it closed Alameda Research’s dedicated borrower pool on Maple Finance in the second quarter of 2022 after identifying “key weaknesses” in its due diligence. 

The company announced on Twitter that it had identified several critical weaknesses while conducting due diligence earlier this year — specifically, declining asset quality and unclear capital policy, among other factors. The assessment led the firm to halt Alameda’s loans on Maple Finance in May after issuing $288 million in loans into a pool dedicated to Alameda during November 2021 and May 2022.