Singapore Crypto Firm Hodlnaut’s Creditors Seek its Liquidation

Suvashree Ghosh, Bloomberg News

Residential buildings in Singapore, on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. Singapore's recovery held up in 2022, with a relatively strong year-end performance shoring up the economy ahead of an expected global slowdown this year. Photographer: Lionel Ng/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Key creditors of embattled crypto lender Hodlnaut Pte rejected a proposed restructuring plan and prefer to liquidate the company.

They said their interests are best served by winding the firm up, according to a Jan. 11 filing by Hodlnaut’s court-appointed interim judicial managers seen by Bloomberg News.

Such a step should be taken as soon as possible “to maximize the company’s remaining assets available for distribution,” Algorand Foundation, one of the creditors, wrote in the filing.

Singapore-based Hodlnaut, which also has operations in Hong Kong, halted withdrawals in August and was granted protection from creditors.

The firm downplayed its exposure to crypto fugitive Do Kwon’s collapsed Terra digital-token ecosystem but in reality suffered a near-$190 million loss. A number of crypto lenders worldwide imploded in last year’s digital-asset rout.

The group of creditors objected to a provision in the restructuring plan that would allow the directors who presided over Hodlnaut’s stumble to continue managing the business. Singapore’s police force said in November that it’s investigating Hodlnaut and its directors for potential cheating and fraud.

The question mark over the suggested restructuring adds to the uncertainty about the company’s future. Meanwhile, a hearing on Friday rejected an application to remove the interim judicial managers.

Neither Hodlnaut nor Algorand Foundation immediately responded to a request for comment about the Jan. 11 filing.