Celsius Dips Into DeFi, Delegating $30M in ETH on Maple Finance

Celsius is getting its feet wet in decentralized finance lending and will leverage Maple Finance’s infrastructure rails to do it

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share
  • Celsius has tapped capital marketplace Maple Finance’s rails for the management and issuance of DeFi loans
  • Loans will be assessed based on a borrowers credit score, profitability and the strength of their balance sheet

Cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius is dipping its toes into DeFi by becoming the first centralized finance institution to deploy its services on capital marketplace Maple Finance.

By utilizing Maple’s DeFi (decentralized finance) infrastructure, Celsius will issue and manage under-collateralized loans as a delegate from a pool of $30 million in wrapped ether (WETH), according to a press release on Thursday. Wrapped tokens represent cryptos from other blockchains and are worth the same as the original. Pool delegates within Maple oversee lending pools and assess borrowers in exchange for a fee.

“The partnership came together naturally after we chatted in Q4, 2021,” Daniel Kim, Maple’s head of capital markets, told Blockworks. He added that the companies’ missions and areas of expertise were closely aligned.

“It only took a few conversations to realize Celsius as a pool delegator was an idea worth exploring.”

Daniel Kim; Source: LinkedIn

Maple Finance provides tooling and smart contract kits to businesses, such as Celsius, as well as access to turnkey solutions for loan origination, loan management and real-time performance reporting.

“This…shows the next growth in crypto where [centralized finance] and DeFi platforms are working together,” Kim added. “It helps us achieve our goal to establish Maple as the dominant institutional capital network in crypto.”

Loans will be assessed on the basis of the borrower’s profitability, balance sheet strength and credit history. Celsius said it plans to scale the number of borrowers and loans issued in the coming year as it continues to fund “fast-growing” crypto institutions. Celsius joins BlockTower, Orthogonal Trading and Maven 11 as pool delegates.

The DeFi protocol claims its pool delegate model is “unique” because it enables businesses and credit funds to grab a hold of its rails to operate as lenders within the nascent DeFi sector.

“Maple’s lending infrastructure means we can move quickly and securely into this space,” said Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.

“Celsius will draw on its deep experience in underwriting and look forward to welcoming new borrowers this year and beyond.”

More than $760 million in crypto loans have originated on the protocol following its launch in May 2021, with over $650 million in total value locked, according to data by provider DeFi Llama. Maple said it aims to hit a $5 billion loan volume target by year’s end by matching customer demand and exploring new markets.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.jpg

Research

Figure, founded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, has emerged as a leader in onchain RWAs, with ~$17.5B publicly tokenized. The platform’s ecosystem volume is growing ~40% YoY as it expands beyond HELOCs into student loans, DSCR loans, unsecured loans, bankruptcy claims, and more. Operationally, Figure cuts average loan production cost by ~93% and compresses median funding time from ~42 days to ~10, creating a durable speed-and-cost advantage.

article-image

The Ethereum co-founder suggested LINEA holders would be eligible for other airdrops in cryptic tweet

article-image

The layer-2’s biggest release yet brings benefits — but a post-upgrade outage caused a chain reorg

article-image

Crypto is shifting into risk-on mode — pump.fun dominates meme activity, while Lido leans on treasury maneuvers

article-image

If the president breaks the Fed, he’ll own the budget problems

article-image

Combining Franklin Templeton’s tokenization expertise with Binance’s trading infrastructure could speed crypto adoption, companies say

article-image

The firm’s upcoming filing comes as competition heats up over the USDH stablecoin