Crisis-Stricken Vauld To Appoint New CEO, Board To Aid Creditor Bailout

Embattled crypto-lending firm Vauld is set to overhaul its current board, appointing a new CEO, a creditor representative, and a scheme manager, Vauld’s founder and current CEO, Darshan Bathija, said on X (Twitter). He said that the Singaporean courts have approved Vauld’s proposed restructuring plan.

“Vauld (Defi Payments Pte Ltd) got its scheme of arrangement passed in Singapore courts. As part of the scheme, the current board will be replaced with a new CEO, a creditor representative, and a scheme manager,” he said.

Founded in 2018 by Bhatija and Sanju Soni Kurian, Vauld is a Singapore-based crypto lending platform. Backed by investors such as Valar Ventures, Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, CMT Digital, Gumi Cryptos, Robert Leshner, and Cadenza Capital. The firm holds assets valued at approximately $330 Mn, offset by liabilities amounting to $400 Mn.

Last July, Vauld announced plans to suspend operations. In an email dated July 11, Vauld’s Bathija told investors that the company had applied to a Singapore court for a moratorium. This was to prepare for a business restructuring, as the company wanted to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders.

While the company started discussions with London-based crypto lending platform Nexo, it called off a potential acquisition by rival Nexo. In December, Vauld wrote to its creditors in an email that the deal with Nexo had not come to fruition.

The company has come under regulatory scrutiny as well. Last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) froze assets worth INR 370 Cr belonging to a Bengaluru-based company lying with Flipvolt Technologies, the Indian entity of Vauld.

The assets were parked in Flipvolt as bank and payment gateway balances and crypto assets.

The ongoing turmoil in the crypto market, and regulatory ambiguity have hit the crypto startups in India. Due to market uncertainties, three crypto startups – Pillow, Flint Money, and WeTrade had to shut their operations in the past few months.

Recently, Coinbase Ventures-backed crypto exchange CoinDCX has let go of 12% of its workforce or 71 employees out of its total workforce of 590 employees. In a blogpost, cofounders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal cited ongoing macroeconomic conditions and the TDS on crypto transactions for the layoffs.