After WazirX, ED Freezes Crypto Platform Vauld’s Assets Worth INR 370 Cr

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (August 11) reportedly froze cryptocurrency platform Vauld’s assets to the tune of INR 370 Cr. 

The ED has so far not made a public announcement on the matter.

“We are investigating this matter, we kindly request your patience and support, we will keep you updated as soon as we have more information on this,” Vauld said in a statement sent to Business Today.

The move comes nearly a month after the beleaguered startup announced suspension of its operations in July. The crypto lending platform went under after customers withdrew hundreds and millions of dollars in the aftermath of Terra Luna crash.

In an email sent to stakeholders last month, Vauld CEO Darshan Bathija said that the exchange had raked up liabilities worth $400 Mn against assets of just $330 Mn. He attributed the gap to the piling losses suffered due to exposure to the TerraUSD crash as well as a slump in other major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

Quickly afterwards, the company sought a six-month moratorium, but was granted only a three-month protection from creditors till November 7.

Vauld is also exploring a bid for acquisition by London-based crypto lending platform Nexo.

Of late, the ED has cracked the whip on crypto startups. Last week, it froze bank balance to the tune of INR 64.67 Cr of cryptocurrency major WazirX’s director Sameer Mhatre in a money laundering case.

The ED’s action was followed by a tweet war between crypto exchange Binance and WazirX on the ownership of the latter, which has further raised questions over the legitimacy of the crypto industry.

The crypto industry is witnessing a ‘crypto winter’ currently. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, coupled with rising interest rates and apprehensions of a recession, has sent the market in a tizzy and made investors risk averse. 

In the last eight months, market volatility has wiped off $2 Tn of investor wealth from the crypto space. From Bitcoin to Ethereum, all major cryptocurrencies have plunged this year. 

Not just Vauld, other major players such as Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows and New Jersey-based crypto asset management firms Voyager Digital and Celsius have also filed for bankruptcy.