Maple Finance, an institutional capital marketplace powered by blockchain technology, has announced the appointment of Katherine Kirkpatrick and Quinn Thompson as the company’s General Counsel and Head of Growth, respectively today. As the Australian-based startup continues experiencing rapid growth, it has made additional hirings to strengthen its commitment to making undercollateralized lending as accessible and secure to institutional investors as possible.
Kirkpatrick will be expected to manage all legal aspects of Maple Finance’s operations as the company seeks to continue its growth by acquisition of institutional investors who look to benefit from flexible and efficient loans in DeFi.
Thompson’s appointment coincides with the company’s $5 billion target volume objective by the end of 2022. Therefore, Maple Finance has hired Thompson to help spearhead the firm’s strategic initiatives and entry into untapped markets. Thompson will execute functions like sales and product development, as well as helping to launch new business lines and features like lending, crypto miners and also enable the firm to build its integration with TradFi and Wall Street institutions.
Prior to joining Maple Finance, Kirkpatrick worked at King & Spalding where she served as a partner in the company’s Government Matters practice and was Co-Chair of both the Financial Services and Fintech , Blockchain and Crypto groups. Additionally, Kirkpatrick worked in private firms both in and outside the cryptocurrency landscape in regulatory matters, corporate compliance and government and internal investigations.
Meanwhile, before joining Maple, Quinn worked at Abra where he served as the Head of Credit and Lending, overseeing the firm’s digital asset loan book and other yield strategies.
Sid Powell, Maple’s CEO and Co-Founder, also talked about the appointments adding: “As the number of TradFi institutions participating in DeFi continues to grow, it has become ever more important to have experienced counsel as part of Maple’s growth to help navigate regulatory obligations. The legal solutions Katherine develops will support the entry of new multi-billion-dollar asset managers to Maple's ecosystem.”
The Crypto Industry Is Booming
Established in April 2021, Maple Finance has already facilitated over $500 million in loans across four pools. The company represented other Blockchain and crypto firms that are rapidly expanding and scrambling for talented hires to develop their growth.
The current statistics show that the global crypto market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32% between now and 2024, while the overall size of the industry is expected to reach $39.7 billion by 2025. This projected growth positions the crypto industry as a lucrative sector to enter. As it continues with a strong start to 2022, Maple Finance looks to expand its operations across the globe. The firm has already launched its platform on tier-one exchanges like Houbi and Coinbase, and it is working to unlock large institutional demand on the Solana network with its acquisition of Avari. Furthermore, the platform is pushing to become the top undercollateralized lending protocol in DeFi.
