Hodlnaut Crypto Lender Under Scan in Singapore, Investigated for Fraud
Singapore has launched an investigation into the Hodlnaut crypto market to investigate its operations. Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) is now investigating whether Hodlnaut was involved in cheating and fraud. According to law enforcement authorities, between August and November, several reports claimed that Hodlnaut and its directors made ‘false representations’ about the lender’s exposure to a certain digital token. The CAD is Singapore’s criminal investigation department.
The token in question remains undisclosed. it it is reported that refers to the USTC crypto token founded by Terra which dropped significantly earlier this year in May.
After the collapse of Terra, Holdnaut had lost around $190 million (roughly Rs. 1,550 crore) which left its accounts high and dry.
In August, Hodlnaut had to stop cash withdrawals on its site to save its business from closing.
Holdnaut, as of now, has not responded to the development.
The collapse of the Terra ecosystem – both the algorithmic stablecoin UST and the LUNA token – caused a massive crypto sell-off leading to a crypto winter.
Terra’s collapse also prompted the collapse of high-profile crypto lenders Celsius and Voyager, as well as hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, and brought more scrutiny on crypto investing and stablecoins from regulators.
Shaktikanta Das, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), had issued warnings against censorship of the crypto sector immediately after the collapse of Terra.
“This [crypto] it is something that is beneath it [value] it’s nothing. There are big questions about how to control it. Our position remains very clear, we will seriously undermine the financial, financial and economic stability of India,” the governor said at the time.
In the market rout that followed the collapse of Terra and FTX crypto exchanges this month, more than $200 billion (approx. Rs. 16,30,000 crore) was removed from the market, leaving the global crypto balance currently at $828 billion (approx. Rs. 67,48,800 crore).
Several crypto companies including Lemon Cash, Genesis and Vauld have had to lay off their staff in order to sustain their businesses.
