- Crypto exchange Hodlnaut has frozen customer withdrawals, token swaps and deposits
- The exchange has not offered an explanation for its suspension except to cite “recent market conditions”
- It has pulled its Monetary Authority of Singapore licence
Cryptocurrency exchange Hodlnaut has withdrawn its Singapore cryptocurrency licence after it halted all operations and freezing user funds. Hodlnaut, which has nothing to do with the cartoon cat being sued by Craig Wright, was thought to be in trouble in recent weeks and so it has proved, with the exchange blaming “recent market conditions” for halting withdrawals and trapping users’ funds on the platform.
Hodlnaut Fails to Explain Reason for Closure
Hodlnaut launched in 2019 after obtaining a licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and operated without issue until the crypto contagion took hold. Although it was able to keep going throughout the crisis that engulfed the space a few weeks ago as the likes of Celsius and Voyager went down, it seems that the money has finally run out.
Hodlnaut posted a tweet yesterday in which it said it was “halting withdrawals, token swaps and deposits immediately due to recent market conditions”. The tweet led to a press release that, while offering further detail on what customers could and could not do, did not explain in any way the depth of the problems facing the exchange, or indeed exactly what had caused it to halt operations.
Platform Holds $250 Million in User Funds
The platform is thought to hold around $250 million in customer assets, and those customers will be understandably worried that their experience is going to mirror those of already bankrupt exchanges.
No doubt this lack of transparency from Hodlnaut will not go down well, and questions will be asked as to how much exposure the exchange had to the likes of Three Arrows Capital, which is thought to have borrowed funds from Hodlnaut without fully collateralising them.
