On Monday, Vauld chief executive Darshan Bathija announced that the platform had suspended all withdrawals, trading and deposits for its 800,000 members. Since June 12, he said, more than $197.7 million had been withdrawn amid a broader industry meltdown, including the zeroing of TerraUSD’s stablecoin, the withdrawal freeze by crypto bank Celsius, and the crypto-focused hedge fund Three Arrows Capital falling into liquidation.
In the statement, Bathija said that the decision would allow the company to explore potential restructuring options. Last month, Vauld said that it would lay off about 30 percent of its staff.
“Nexo aims to provide immediate assistance and alleviate withdrawal limitations put in place on Vauld’s platform,” the company said in its Tuesday release. “The aim is not only to protect Vauld’s existing customer base to the fullest extent possible but also to give them access to an improved range of services.”
Vauld was not the first distressed crypto platform that found itself under Nexo’s ambitious consolidation plan. Last month, Nexo wrote in a letter to Celsius that it planned to acquire parts or all of the latter’s qualifying assets, Coindesk reported. In a blog post, Nexo also announced its intention to engage in a “large-scale consolidation” of the crypto space to aid investors and businesses through the market turmoil.
Nexo’s native token, NEXO, plunged to 50 cents in early July from its one-month high of $1.29.
