DeFi’s “On-Chain Wall Street”: How Maple Finance Is Crafting a New Paradigm for Institutional Credit
Abstract – From Wild-West Lending to Institution-Grade Capital Markets Maple Finance was started by former bond-salesmen and structurers who believed blockchains could do debt markets better than Bloomberg terminals. In three years it has moved from “zero-collateral alpha” to a multi-chain, multi-asset credit platform that has underwritten > US $4 bn of loans, tokenised US $270 m of U.S. Treasuries and still kept defaults below 3 %. This piece walks through the product arcs, the 2022 near-dea...
What is RWA
the brief history of RWA
Detailed explanation of the RWA tokenization track: the next wave of crypto narrative
The concept of RWA is not unfamiliar in the blockchain industry. The earliest RWA project was the BTM Bytom Chain, which "puts assets on the chain". At present, the most successful RWA is the digital dollar USDT and USDC, which maps the US dollar to the chain and tokenizes it. Stablecoins have subtly influenced the entire crypto industry and have now become an important cornerstone. The full name of RWA is real world assets-tokenization, which is the process of converting the ownership value ...
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Privacy Sector Booms: A Deep Dive into Seismic, the Privacy Blockchain Backed by a16z in Two Consecutive Funding Rounds
Support RWA
Privacy Sector Booms: A Deep Dive into Seismic, the Privacy Blockchain Backed by a16z in Two Consecutive Funding Rounds
DeFi’s “On-Chain Wall Street”: How Maple Finance Is Crafting a New Paradigm for Institutional Credit
Abstract – From Wild-West Lending to Institution-Grade Capital Markets Maple Finance was started by former bond-salesmen and structurers who believed blockchains could do debt markets better than Bloomberg terminals. In three years it has moved from “zero-collateral alpha” to a multi-chain, multi-asset credit platform that has underwritten > US $4 bn of loans, tokenised US $270 m of U.S. Treasuries and still kept defaults below 3 %. This piece walks through the product arcs, the 2022 near-dea...
What is RWA
the brief history of RWA
Detailed explanation of the RWA tokenization track: the next wave of crypto narrative
The concept of RWA is not unfamiliar in the blockchain industry. The earliest RWA project was the BTM Bytom Chain, which "puts assets on the chain". At present, the most successful RWA is the digital dollar USDT and USDC, which maps the US dollar to the chain and tokenizes it. Stablecoins have subtly influenced the entire crypto industry and have now become an important cornerstone. The full name of RWA is real world assets-tokenization, which is the process of converting the ownership value ...
Summary
The privacy blockchain project Seismic has recently completed a $10 million funding round led by a16z crypto, marking the firm's second lead investment in the project this year, bringing the total raised to $17 million. Designed specifically for fintech applications, Seismic is built on the EVM, supports Solidity development, and utilizes Trusted Execution Environment technology to provide default privacy protection, offering features like shielded data types and private storage. Its native client, Seismic Reth, is now open-source and integrates multiple privacy pre-compiles to lower the development barrier. The team boasts backgrounds from institutions like Stanford. The first application, Brookwell, is already being built on Seismic, focusing on privacy-preserving financial transactions.
(Author: Nicky, Foresight News)
As privacy-focused coins like ZEC experience recent price surges, the privacy sector is once again capturing market attention. a16z crypto recently emphasized on social media, "As crypto reaches more mainstream users, privacy is more urgent than ever."
Against this backdrop, the privacy blockchain project Seismic announced a new $10 million funding round. This represents a16z crypto's second lead investment in the project this year alone. Seismic has now completed two funding rounds totaling $17 million. In March 2025, it announced a $7 million seed round led by a16z crypto with participation from Polychain and 1kx. On November 12th, it secured another $10 million again led by a16z crypto, with new investors including Amber Group. The funds are primarily allocated for technical R&D and ecosystem expansion.
Project Positioning & Technical Features
Seismic is a privacy-preserving blockchain designed specifically for fintech scenarios. The project is EVM-based, allowing developers to code in the familiar Solidity language, requiring only additional syntax to control privacy settings. This design lowers the learning curve for developers while providing essential privacy capabilities.
The project's core technical features are evident in three key areas:
* Default Privacy: Seismic achieves default privacy settings through protocol-layer encryption and secure hardware support.
* TEE Core: Instead of zero-knowledge proofs, the project utilizes Trusted Execution Environment technology. All nodes must operate within a TEE to ensure data security.
* Shielded Data: The system introduces new shielded data types, including integers, booleans, and addresses, enabling developers to easily handle private data.
Furthermore, Seismic Reth, its native execution client, strengthens these privacy capabilities: it supports private storage, encrypted transactions, and integrates six new pre-compiled contracts (e.g., for AES-GCM encryption, ECDH key exchange), allowing developers to quickly access privacy functions. This client was open-sourced in October 2024 to lower the barrier for developer adoption.
Team Background
Seismic was founded by Lyron Co Ting Keh. Founder Lyron holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Stanford University. He previously founded an ed-tech company, developed a Ruby on Rails training platform, and contributed to tooling for privacy projects like Zcash and Aztec.
Core engineer Peter He previously led the development of a framework for application-specific blockchains on Ethereum, specializing in distributed systems and privacy technology, and now oversees Seismic's technical implementation. Business Development Lead Terence focuses on driving fintech partnerships, working to extend Seismic's privacy capabilities to more financial scenarios. While not all team members are publicly listed, available backgrounds show experience from Wintermute, Google X, Apple R&D, and other institutions.
Ecosystem Development
In September of this year, Brookwell, the first application built on Seismic, was officially unveiled. This fintech product, developed by entrepreneurs Ravi and Rohan, aims to allow users to earn DeFi yields while using traditional payment channels.
Brookwell chose to build on Seismic primarily for its privacy features. The application handles deeply personal financial transactions—such as rent payments and payroll—data that is too sensitive to be publicly visible on a transparent ledger. Leveraging Seismic's privacy technology, Brookwell can connect cryptocurrency with traditional financial systems while protecting user privacy. The project's website is currently open for waitlist applications.
Summary
The privacy blockchain project Seismic has recently completed a $10 million funding round led by a16z crypto, marking the firm's second lead investment in the project this year, bringing the total raised to $17 million. Designed specifically for fintech applications, Seismic is built on the EVM, supports Solidity development, and utilizes Trusted Execution Environment technology to provide default privacy protection, offering features like shielded data types and private storage. Its native client, Seismic Reth, is now open-source and integrates multiple privacy pre-compiles to lower the development barrier. The team boasts backgrounds from institutions like Stanford. The first application, Brookwell, is already being built on Seismic, focusing on privacy-preserving financial transactions.
(Author: Nicky, Foresight News)
As privacy-focused coins like ZEC experience recent price surges, the privacy sector is once again capturing market attention. a16z crypto recently emphasized on social media, "As crypto reaches more mainstream users, privacy is more urgent than ever."
Against this backdrop, the privacy blockchain project Seismic announced a new $10 million funding round. This represents a16z crypto's second lead investment in the project this year alone. Seismic has now completed two funding rounds totaling $17 million. In March 2025, it announced a $7 million seed round led by a16z crypto with participation from Polychain and 1kx. On November 12th, it secured another $10 million again led by a16z crypto, with new investors including Amber Group. The funds are primarily allocated for technical R&D and ecosystem expansion.
Project Positioning & Technical Features
Seismic is a privacy-preserving blockchain designed specifically for fintech scenarios. The project is EVM-based, allowing developers to code in the familiar Solidity language, requiring only additional syntax to control privacy settings. This design lowers the learning curve for developers while providing essential privacy capabilities.
The project's core technical features are evident in three key areas:
* Default Privacy: Seismic achieves default privacy settings through protocol-layer encryption and secure hardware support.
* TEE Core: Instead of zero-knowledge proofs, the project utilizes Trusted Execution Environment technology. All nodes must operate within a TEE to ensure data security.
* Shielded Data: The system introduces new shielded data types, including integers, booleans, and addresses, enabling developers to easily handle private data.
Furthermore, Seismic Reth, its native execution client, strengthens these privacy capabilities: it supports private storage, encrypted transactions, and integrates six new pre-compiled contracts (e.g., for AES-GCM encryption, ECDH key exchange), allowing developers to quickly access privacy functions. This client was open-sourced in October 2024 to lower the barrier for developer adoption.
Team Background
Seismic was founded by Lyron Co Ting Keh. Founder Lyron holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Stanford University. He previously founded an ed-tech company, developed a Ruby on Rails training platform, and contributed to tooling for privacy projects like Zcash and Aztec.
Core engineer Peter He previously led the development of a framework for application-specific blockchains on Ethereum, specializing in distributed systems and privacy technology, and now oversees Seismic's technical implementation. Business Development Lead Terence focuses on driving fintech partnerships, working to extend Seismic's privacy capabilities to more financial scenarios. While not all team members are publicly listed, available backgrounds show experience from Wintermute, Google X, Apple R&D, and other institutions.
Ecosystem Development
In September of this year, Brookwell, the first application built on Seismic, was officially unveiled. This fintech product, developed by entrepreneurs Ravi and Rohan, aims to allow users to earn DeFi yields while using traditional payment channels.
Brookwell chose to build on Seismic primarily for its privacy features. The application handles deeply personal financial transactions—such as rent payments and payroll—data that is too sensitive to be publicly visible on a transparent ledger. Leveraging Seismic's privacy technology, Brookwell can connect cryptocurrency with traditional financial systems while protecting user privacy. The project's website is currently open for waitlist applications.
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