Coinbase, Peter Thiel-backed Vauld pauses withdrawals

Singapore crypto platform Vauld became the latest company that decided to answer to the market instability by suspending withdrawals and trading on Monday.

According to the official statement, the firm intends to quest after new investors and will consider restructuring options as analysts agree upon the fact that the bear market is only at its very beginning.

Vauld CEO Darshan Bathija confirmed the problems within the company started after the crash of Terraform Lab’s UST stablecoin, Celsius network halting withdrawals, and Singaporean firm Three Arrows Capital defaulting on their loans.

Bahtija also revealed clients have withdrawn total of a $197.7 million since 12 June 2022, and added that because of that, the firm engaged financial and legal advisors in India and Singapore.

“Our management remains fully committed to working with our financial and legal advisors to the best of our abilities to explore and analyse all possible options, including potential restructuring options, that would best protect the interests of Vauld’s stakeholders,” Bahtija wrote.

He also added there are plans to apply to the Singapore courts for a moratorium “i.e. a suspension of the commencement or continuation of any proceedings against the relevant companies so as to give us breathing space to carry out the proposed restructuring exercise”.

It's interesting though that a few weeks ago, Vauld confidently claimed it doesn’t have any exposure to both Celsius and Three Arrows Capital. “We remain liquid despite market conditions. Over the past few days, all withdrawals were processed as usual and this will continue to be the case in the future,” the company said on June 16.

Be it as it may, it seems that its Singaporean colleague Three Arrow collapse was too much for Vauld to handle even though it raised $25 milion in a funding round a year ago. Among the investors were Coinbase’s crypto hedge fund Pantera Capital and Valar Ventures, a VC firm co-founded by Peter Thiel.