Vauld
Summary
Vauld was a Singapore-headquartered crypto lending and exchange platform founded in 2018 by Darshan Bathija and Sanju Kurian, backed by Coinbase Ventures, Valar Ventures (Peter Thiel), and Pantera Capital. On July 4, 2022, Vauld suspended all withdrawals, deposits, and trading after disclosing a $70 million asset deficit, freezing approximately $330 million in customer funds belonging to roughly 150,000 retail creditors. Following the collapse of an attempted acquisition by Nexo, Vauld's Singapore parent entity DeFi Payments Pte Ltd successfully completed a court-sanctioned Scheme of Arrangement in August 2023 projecting recoveries of up to 93% on unsecured creditor claims.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigations- + 8 more
Timeline(19 events)
2018-01-01
Darshan Bathija and Sanju Kurian found 'The Bank of HODLers' in Singapore, later renamed Vauld.
Inc42 / StartupTalky2021-07-01
Vauld raises $25 million Series A led by Valar Ventures, with participation from Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures.
Bitcoin Insider / Inc422022-04-01
India introduces a 30% tax on crypto gains, materially reducing Vauld's domestic trading volumes and fee income.
Inc42 feature2022-05-09
TerraUSD (UST) algorithmic stablecoin collapses, triggering a market-wide liquidity crisis and losses across Vauld's portfolio.
ZD Visor case study2022-06-12
Customer withdrawal acceleration begins; Vauld will see approximately $198 million withdrawn before suspension.
TechCrunch2022-06-16
CEO Darshan Bathija publicly assures customers Vauld has no exposure to Celsius or Three Arrows Capital; the claim is later contradicted by court affidavits.
Inc42 feature2022-07-04
Vauld suspends all withdrawals, deposits, and trading with immediate effect.
TechCrunch / CNBC / CoinDesk2022-07-05
Nexo signs a term sheet with Vauld granting a 60-day exclusive due diligence period for a potential acquisition.
BeInCrypto / The Block2022-07-08
DeFi Payments Pte Ltd (Vauld's Singapore parent) files for a moratorium under Section 64 of Singapore's Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018.
BeInCrypto2022-07-11
Vauld issues a letter to creditors disclosing a $70 million asset deficit: $330 million in assets against $400 million in liabilities.
The Block2022-08-01
India's Enforcement Directorate freezes approximately Rs. 370 crore (~$46 million) in assets linked to Vauld's Indian operating entity in connection with a money laundering investigation.
NewsLocker / Varindia / Siasat2022-11-01
Vauld discloses approximately $10 million in assets frozen on the collapsed FTX exchange.
The Block2022-11-01
The Block reports Amber Group (identified as 'Counterparty 1') owes approximately $130 million to Vauld's CEO Bathija, who had placed Vauld funds in his personal name.
The Block2022-12-01
Vauld rejects Nexo's final acquisition proposal, citing lack of due diligence transparency, Nexo's US exit, and absence of an early-exit RDA mechanism for creditors.
Finance Magnates / CoinGeek2023-01-01
Nexo formally terminates the Vauld acquisition deal, ending approximately six months of negotiations.
The Block2023-01-17
Singapore High Court grants Vauld an extended creditor protection period following the Nexo deal collapse.
Bloomberg2023-08-10
Singapore High Court sanctions Vauld's Scheme of Arrangement under Section 210 of the Companies Act, receiving more than 90% creditor support.
Kroll2023-08-16
Vauld's Scheme of Arrangement becomes effective. First distributions of 36% of unsecured claims scheduled for October 2023.
Vauld Help CenterDecision Log
- hash: FipJ9Q4dLJdFbzfhZ6peC7kwAX9CzizKwMx9aJ2FF4f7
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-sonnet-4-5
generated: 5/30/2026, 12:57:33 PM
last updated: 5/30/2026, 12:57:38 PM
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