Crypto winter: Nexo likely to acquire Vauld, parties sign indicative term sheet

Crypto lender Nexo is likely to acquire Singapore-headquartered crypto exchange firm Vauld, pending due diligence, as both the parties signed an indicative term sheet today.

“The completion of this transaction is pending due diligence - which both teams are working on as we speak. Vauld has strived to deliver long-term value to all customers, and we believe coming under the Nexo umbrella will significantly help achieve this,” co-founder and CEO Darshan Bathija wrote on microblogging platform Twitter on Tuesday.



London-based Nexo said it would “reorganize its future operations to accelerate its deeper presence in Asia.” However, it did not say when the deal would close.

This comes a day after Vauld decided to suspend all deposits and withdrawals amid broader volatility in the cryptocurrency market and as the platform was facing financial challenges. It recorded customer withdrawals of over $197.7 million since June 12.

“The decline of the cryptocurrency market was triggered by the collapse of Terraform Lab’s UST stablecoin, Celsius network pausing withdrawals, and Three Arrows Capital defaulting on their loans,” Bathija had said in a company’s statement on Monday.

The company, backed by PayPal founder Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, suspended all withdrawals, trading, and deposits with immediate effect, essentially locking in retail investor capital.

Most of its customers are in the United States, followed by India, he had told ET in an earlier interaction. In June, Vauld had laid off 30% of its workforce as signs of a freezing Crypto winter became imminent.

The company had raised $27 million as of July last year from venture capital firms, including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, CMT Digital, Gumi Cryptos, Robert Leshner, and Cadenza Capital.

Founded in 2018 by Bathija and Sanju Kurian, Vauld provides a suite of products to crypto investors, including fixed deposits and asset-backed lending and borrowing platforms.

ET reported on June 21 that the collapse of Terra’s blockchain native token Luna - which reportedly erased $40 billion from the crypto market - has had a cascading effect.

While a decade-old crypto hedge fund and an active backer of Web3 startups, Three Arrows Capital, has filed for bankruptcy, another crypto lender Celsius network is reportedly exploring options including deals and restructuring its liabilities, and has laid off 150 employees.