Vauld Customers Slam CEO For ‘Dicey’ Email

On Monday, Vauld cofounder and CEO Darshan Bhatija shared a few updates on their discussions with financial and legal advisors. In an email to Vauld customers, he explained how the management plans to explore possible options to resolve the crisis. The cofounder also shared about the chances of closing an acquisition deal with Nexo, as announced last week.

The Way Forward For Vauld Recovery

As informed earlier in their corporate announcement, the company filed for a 30 day moratorium as it tries to figure a way out to Vauld recovery. In the email, the CEO suggested that Vauld might seek an extension of moratorium, meaning it could take longer to reach a solution. This does not mean we are shutting down but we need time to formalize our restructuring strategy to resume operations, he said.

Bhatija said market losses on BTC, ETH, and MATIC trades and exposure to Terra’s UST resulted in a gap in the company’s finances. He said this created a mismatch of assets and liabilities, besides a mismatch of tenure with some loans. The CEO revealed there is a liability burden of $70 million. On a group level, Vauld has assets worth about $330 million and liabilities worth $400 million, he said.

‘CEO’s Email Dicey’

Meanwhile, Vauld customers are not impressed with the update. While some users are still optimistic thanks to Bhatija’s constant communication, others feel there should be clarity on user funds. Prashant Pandey, a Vauld customer, found the CEO’s emails to be ‘always dicey’.

“There is never a clear answer as to whether they are giving our money back that too a full refund. I don’t understand the statements like ‘maximum benefit to the creditors’. Why don’t the exchanges play safe till they make profits and give some benefits to the users as well.”

Other customers say Vauld should first focus on protecting principal amounts. “Improve financials. Interest payments can be postponed or suspended temporarily,” opined Manan Desai. A set of customers are also seeking the Vauld swapping feature be allowed for now, without allowing withdrawals.