Hodlnaut, a Singapore-based crypto platform, has halted all withdrawals, token swaps, and deposits – effective immediately.
Holdlnaut is a crypto lending and borrowing platform that was founded in 2019 by Bitcoin maximalists Juntao Zhu and Simon Lee. Hodlnaut supported seven different digital assets: BTC, WBTC, ETH, DAI, PAXG, USDC, and USDT. Lenders earned up to 7.25% interest on crypto.
In a blog post, the company said they had reached the decision “due to recent market conditions.”
In the meantime, Hodlnaut explained that it is looking for the best way to “protect our users’ long term interests” as it seeks to preserve assets.
Hodlnaut also announced it would no longer seek a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS):
“… we have since informed the MAS of our intention to withdraw our license application. Hodlnaut is therefore no longer providing regulated digital payment token (DPT) services, ie our token swap feature. For the avoidance of doubt, Hodlnaut will also cease all borrowing and lending services.”
Hodlnaut had applied for a license under the Payment Services Act 2019 by the MAS. The company sought to become the first regulated entity in Singapore within the cryptocurrency lending and borrowing space.
Hodlnaut has enlisted Damodara Ong, LLC, to work on a recovery plan while announcing it will share more details on August 19, 2022.
As has been widely reported, multiple digital asset platforms have collapsed or sought outside investors to prop up operations as crypto prices tumbled. Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy protection when a single borrower, Three Arrows Capital, defaulted on a $650 million loan. Similar to traditional finance, crypto trading and investing platforms have struggled with a lack of transparency and the inability to measure counterparty risk effectively.