It’s hit again. This time it is the turn of a company called Hodlnaut to close its doors. At least, customers are currently unable to access their money.
The lender is one of the many victims of the recent market developments. The company announced a withdrawal stop today.
Frozen
It is still unclear whether this is also a possible bankruptcy. What is clear is that this company is also offering attractive interest rates on bitcoin and x number of other tokens. However, this promise cannot be fulfilled at the moment.
Frances Coppola, a well-known crypto-critic, is jumping into this situation. The British economist calls Holdnaut a shadow bank. She also emphasises that the funds were lent to the company. That is a different situation from funds that take assets under management in order to invest.
Here we go. Hodlnaut is a shadow bank, not an asset manager, exchange or trading platform. Customers lend their assets to Hodlnaut to do with as it pleases. There is transfer of ownership and no right of return. Depositors are creditors. Good luck getting your assets back, folks. pic.twitter.com/Koi30X8r0q
— Frances 'Cassandra' Coppola (@Frances_Coppola) August 8, 2022
Hodlnaut comes in a line with names like Celsius and Babel Finance. Celsius is a similar lender, while the story of Babel Finance is also harrowing. The company gambled away 8,000 bitcoin from their customers on the open market.
Hodlnaut is also reportedly withdrawing its application to the Singapore regulator. A licence is out of the question for the time being. And with a bit of bad luck, most of the creditors will be out of pocket.
