Hodlnaut Judicial Managers Say Lender Lost $189.7M in Terra Collapse

The company's records were not properly maintained and some company executives are not cooperating, the managers said in a report.

AccessTimeIconOct 28, 2022 at 1:09 p.m. UTC
Updated Oct 28, 2022 at 3:31 p.m. UTC
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Oliver Knight is a CoinDesk reporter based between London and Lisbon. He does not own any crypto.

Sheldon Reback is a CoinDesk news editor based in London. He owns a small amount of ether.

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The Singapore-court-appointed managers of Hodlnaut, a crypto lender that froze withdrawals in August, said they are facing significant difficulties in determining an accurate financial position of the company.

"Among other reasons, the company’s accounting and financial records have not been properly maintained," the interim judicial managers (IJM) said in their first report to the court and the company's creditors. In addition, some company directors and other employees are preventing access to "various key books and records."

Hodlnaut directors came under fire for downplaying the extent of the firm's exposure to TerraUSD (UST) during the $60 billion collapse of the Terra ecosystem. The firm converted a "significant amount" of crypto into UST, much of which was staked on the now defunct Anchor Protocol to generate a yield. Directors of Hodlnaut HK, a subsidiary of Hodlnaut, said that the loss sustained equates to $189.7 million.

Terra’s implosion led to widespread contagion and a subsequent downturn across the crypto market, with several firms, including prominent hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, filing for bankruptcy alongside crypto lenders Celsius Network and Voyager Digital.

A review of transaction data by the judicial managers shows that Hodlnaut employees withdrew a total of $550,000 between the beginning of July and the time the firm froze withdrawals for customers.

According to figures in the report, Hodlaut total estimated asset's equate to $74 million with liabilities of $267.6 million, a shortfall of $193.6 million. Almost three-quarters of Hodlnaut's assets are in decentralized finance (DeFi) positions across Compound, Convex and Aave.

The IJMs plan to consolidate all assets from centralized exchanges to a custodial wallet. They will also conduct further reviews of Hodlnaut directors to see if any additional claims can be pursued by creditors.

The next report will be published on Dec. 15.

UPDATE (Oct. 28, 13:48 UTC): Adds Hodlnaut's UST exposure, employee withdrawals and financial situation.

UPDATE (Oct. 28, 15:00 UTC): Changes headline, adds context throughout.

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Oliver Knight is a CoinDesk reporter based between London and Lisbon. He does not own any crypto.

CoinDesk - Unknown

Sheldon Reback is a CoinDesk news editor based in London. He owns a small amount of ether.


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CoinDesk - Unknown

Oliver Knight is a CoinDesk reporter based between London and Lisbon. He does not own any crypto.

CoinDesk - Unknown

Sheldon Reback is a CoinDesk news editor based in London. He owns a small amount of ether.