Embattled Crypto Lender Vauld Owes Over $400 Million to Creditors: Report

Vauld, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency lending and exchange platform, owes a total of $402 million to its creditors, as reported by The Block.

Of this amount, $363 million, or about 90%, was reportedly deposited by individual retail investors, according to a document filed to Singapore’s High Court on July 8 by Vauld CEO Darshan Bathija and shared with the firm's customers in an email on July 18.

Vauld’s largest individual retail creditor is reportedly owed $34 million.

The firm also owes a total of $125 million to its 20 largest unsecured creditors, as well as $35 million to an unnamed secured creditor.

Another secured creditor is FTXTrading Ltd—the crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried—which is owed $4.1 million.

Per court documents, affidavit, Vauld has $287.7 million in various coins, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP. The firm’s actual total assets are worth around $330 million though, as the affidavit doesn't include bank balances. This means a shortfall of around $70 million, disclosed by the firm in a separate report.

Vauld seeks investor protection

Vauld, which is backed by several notable investors including Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures, halted operations on July 4, citing financial difficulties amid volatile market conditions.

In a blog post last week, the firm also revealed that it filed for protection against creditors and lawsuits in a Singapore court, something that is supposed to give it “the breathing space” required to prepare for the intended restructuring.

A Singaporean moratorium order is “generally similar in concept to Chapter 11 bankruptcy” of the U.S. bankruptcy code, as it allows the company to avoid a complete cease of operations and liquidation of assets while it is trying “reach an agreement or settlement with its creditors, seek fresh sources of funding or restructure its business,” Yuankai Lin, a partner at RPC Premier Law told The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, Vauld continues to have discussions with crypto lending company Nexo, which earlier this month announced its intention to acquire the company pending a 60-day due diligence window.

"Our most important task now is verifying whether a Nexo-led overhaul can see the firm thrive again and whether it can be profitable within our business model and company culture," Antoni Trenchev, Nexo's Managing Partner, told Decrypt at the time.