With the slowdown in the global economy, we've been witnessing a period of crypto winter. During this bear market trend of cryptocurrency, Vauld, the latest platform of crypto exchange, faces extreme financial challenges.
According to the reports, Vauld, a Singapore-based crypto exchange firm, is likely to be acquired by Nexo (NEXO). Nexo is a significant crypto lender based in London. Both the parties signed an indicative term sheet. At this moment, Nexo is granted an exclusive 60-day period as an exploratory term for due diligence.
Lately, Vauld has been facing extreme financial challenges. The firm recorded customer withdrawals of over $197.7 million since June 12. On July 4th, 2022, the crypto platform announced the suspension of all withdrawals, trading, and deposits. After this, on June 5th, the CEO of Vauld, Darshan Bathija, announced that they had signed an indicative term sheet with Nexo, which may buy up to 100% of Vauld.
Bathija stated that this move is an effect on the company working without a halt to ensure that it can protect the financials of its users. He also said, "the completion of this transaction is pending due diligence – which both teams are working on as we speak."
Nexo stated that it would reorganize the future operations of Vauld to establish a greater presence in Asia. The co-founder of Nexo, Antoni Trenchev said that they were keen on acquiring Vauld due to its "huge transaction in India and Southeast Asia," which also serves as important markets to Nexo.
The co-founder stated that if Vauld has some assets staked, or if it has made some long-term investments, Nexo would offer the crypto platform instant liquidity by purchasing those assets. If however, the firm has lost its assets, Nexo is planning on replenishing them, if it is pragmatic.
Headquartered in Singapore, Vauld is the crypto lending firm founded in 2018 by Bathija and Sanju Kurian. Coinbase, Pantera Capital, Valar Ventures, CMT Digital, Gumi Cryptos, Compound Labs founder Robert Leshner, and Cadenza Capital back this crypto platform.
It supported more than 30 cryptocurrencies and maintained partnerships with custody partners like Binance and BitGo. Due to these adverse market conditions, Vauld announced that it had to lay off more than 30% of its workforce in late June.