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Maple Finance co-founder and executive chairman Joe Flanagan and chief operating officer Ryan O’Shea are both leaving the onchain asset manager after disagreements about the firm’s direction, Cointelegraph reported. The SYRUP token fell more than 7% on Thursday as the exits were confirmed.
Flanagan, who spent seven years at the firm, said his differences with fellow co-founder and CEO Sidney Powell had widened over time. According to Cointelegraph, he pointed to strategy, leadership and life as areas where the two had drifted apart and said Maple would be better served with a single co-founder leading it. He added that he would support the transition through the end of 2026.
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Key facts
- Flanagan announced his departure on Wednesday after seven years at Maple; O’Shea posted on X on Thursday that he would step down after nearly five years.
- O’Shea’s exit takes effect Nov. 27, and he said he would have no ongoing role at the company after that date.
- SYRUP traded at $0.12 at 10:36 p.m. UTC Thursday, down 7.5% over 24 hours and 12% over the week, per CoinGecko, with a market capitalization of about $145 million.
- The token is down 62% year to date, even as Maple reported $4.4 million in third-quarter revenue, up 5% year on year, and assets under management of $4.7 billion, up 18%.
- Protocol revenue rose 8% year on year in October, while total value locked fell around 11% between the end of September and Nov. 11, according to Token Terminal.
An agreed transition, but no named successor
Maple issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that Flanagan was stepping down as chairman and leaving the company. It described the move as an agreed and orderly transition and said his responsibilities would pass to Powell and the existing leadership team. The company did not name a replacement chairman or spell out how the departing executives’ duties would be handled. Maple and Powell did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
O’Shea framed his decision in similar terms. He wrote on X that he had reached a different conclusion about where Maple should head and had decided to step aside. Neither executive’s public statements suggested the split was acrimonious; Flanagan said he was choosing to leave rather than continue backing a direction he could not support.
Revenue is rising while the token falls
The leadership change lands against a mixed operating picture. Maple’s lending business has kept expanding. In October, Powell said the firm aimed to reach more customers through fintech partnerships and to lend against a wider set of collateral, including payments owed on fintech-originated loans and securities backed by assets such as mortgages.
Financially, the company reported third-quarter revenue of $4.4 million, up 5% from a year earlier, and assets under management of $4.7 billion, an 18% year-on-year increase. Protocol revenue climbed 8% year on year in October, according to Token Terminal. Total value locked, however, slipped about 11% between the end of September and Nov. 11.
Maple has also been directing some revenue into token buybacks. Its October update showed the company repurchased about 1.37 million SYRUP in September, double the August figure. The token’s slide has nonetheless continued: SYRUP is down 62% year to date.
Why it matters
Flanagan’s exit removes a founding voice from a firm at a point when it is trying to broaden its lending beyond crypto-backed collateral into fintech receivables and asset-backed securities. Such a shift would put Maple closer to traditional credit markets, where buyers tend to weigh governance continuity carefully. For SYRUP holders, the drop shows the market pricing in uncertainty about leadership even as revenue and assets under management grew. The absence of a named replacement chairman leaves questions about who sets strategy once Flanagan is fully gone.
What to watch
Flanagan remains involved in the handover until the end of 2026, and O’Shea’s last day is Nov. 27. Investors will be watching whether Maple names a new chairman, how Powell reshapes the leadership team, and whether the fintech-lending expansion Powell outlined in October advances. SYRUP’s price action and further buyback disclosures from the company’s monthly updates are the other markers to track.
This article does not constitute financial advice, and token markets are volatile; readers should verify information independently before acting on it.
Reported by Cointelegraph.
Source: Cointelegraph