Vauld, a Singapore-based crypto lender, froze withdrawals, trading, and deposits on its platform Monday, citing market volatility and "financial issues" as chief reasons for the freeze.
In a blog post, CEO Darshan Bathija said that Vauld had seen in excess of $197.8 million in withdrawals in the span of just three weeks, mainly due to the "crypto-winter," which began in May with the collapse of USD Terra, the high-profile liquidity crisis at Celsius, another crypto lender, and the meltdown at Three Arrows Capital, a crypto hedge fund.
According to the post, the company is working with outside counsel to explore its options, up to and including a potential restructuring, while simultaneously applying for a moratorium from Singapore's court system as it works to resolve its issues.
"We are confident that, with the advice of our financial and legal advisers, we will be able to reach a solution that will best protect the interests of Vauld's customers and stakeholders," said Bathija.
"We are currently in discussions with potential investors into the Vauld group of companies," he added.
In an interview Tuesday, Nexo CEO Antoni Trenchev said that his firm had entered into an exclusive 60-day deal to consider a potential buyout of the beleaguered crypto lender. His assertion was later backed up by Bathija, who tweeted that both teams were working on completing the deal "as we speak."
Founded in 2018, Vauld, like other crypto lenders, managed to generate hefty returns primarily by depending on "yield farming." Through yield farming, investors collateralize one token and use platforms like Vauld to take out a loan in another. In the best case, the investor keeps their initial holding, which might appreciate, while also earning yield should the price of their borrowed token go up.
Last year, the company pulled in 25 million in Series A funding from the likes of Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) Ventures and Peter Thiel-backed Valar Ventures. The funding allowed Vauld to grow its assets under management tenfold and scale its customer base exponentially.
However, in just two months, digital assets across the board have lost 1 trillion in value, according to CoinMarketCap. As a result, opportunities for yield farming have dried up, and more customers are withdrawing their deposits, resulting in a liquidity crisis among crypto lenders like Vauld.
"It was built out correctly, unfortunately turns out they made some bad investment decisions," said Trenchev of Vauld, while also failing to specify what those decisions were.
Regardless, hours after Vauld's announcement, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it would consider placing new rules on cryptocurrency trading, including "placing limits on retail participation, and rules on the use of leverage when transacting in cryptocurrencies."