<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Crypto lending platform Hodlnaut is under police investigation in Singapore for alleged fraud and cheating three months after freezing client withdrawals and filing for protection from creditors. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hodlnaut and its leaders are suspected of making "false representations relating to the company’s exposure to a certain digital token," </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">according to a police <a href="https://www.police.gov.sg/media-room/news/20221123_inv_into_hodlnaut_pte_ltd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> on Wednesday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The beleaguered company has seen a series of liquidity crises and legal complications. Earlier in November, it </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/185218/embattled-crypto-lender-hodlnaut-held-13-million-on-ftx-before-withdrawal-freeze" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">turned out</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the Singapore-based crypto lender held assets worth $13.1 million on the collapsed FTX exchange.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hodlnaut </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/163719/hodlnaut-crypto-lender-creditor-protection-singapore" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">filed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for protection against creditors in the Singapore High Court in August after having to </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/162035/crypto-lending-platform-hodlnaut-halts-withdrawals-and-is-working-on-a-recovery-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">halt</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> withdrawals following a liquidity crisis. Hodlnaut </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/164756/hodlnaut-financial-shortfall-193-million-crypto" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reported</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> $193 million financial shortfall in court following the crash of the TerraUSD stablecoin, which </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/linked/145871/ust-stablecoin-falls-to-record-low-amid-continued-market-tumult" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">broke</span></a> from its peg to the U.S. dollar<span style="font-weight: 400;"> in May.</span></p> <p>Holdnaut was one of a several crypto firms forced to halt customer withdrawals following TerraUSD's collapse and the implosion of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital earlier this year. Vauld, which is also based in Singapore, is stuck in a similar situation, as is South Asian crypto exchange Zipmex.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The investigation comes as Singapore’s financial regulator looks to tighten consumer protection rules. The Monetary Authority of Singapore </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/179929/singapore-regulator-proposes-banning-crypto-trading-with-borrowed-capital" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">proposed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to "adopt </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">a risk-focused approach” to regulating crypto activity last month.</span></p><br /><span class="copyright"><p>© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.</p> </span>