Zhu Juntao, the former CEO of Singapore-based crypto lending platform Hodlnaut, faced fraud charges following the company’s bankruptcy. These accusations were made approximately four years after the company was affected by the collapse of the TerraUSD ecosystem.
Impeachment and Due Process
In the statement made by the Singapore Police Department, Zhu Juntao was charged with six separate fraud crimes. Prosecutors alleged that Zhu directed Hodlnaut employees to make misleading statements in Telegram channels and customer emails in 2022. In these statements, it was claimed that the platform was not directly affected by the TerraUSD crisis and did not suffer any damage.
At that time, it was stated that Zhu also shared similar statements with the public on his social media account. If Zhu is found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison or a fine on each charge under Singapore law.
Prosecutors allege Zhu directed employees in 2022 to publish false statements on Hodlnaut’s Telegram channels and in customer emails claiming the company had no direct exposure to TerraUSD’s collapse.
Zhu appeared in court and denied all allegations, and the preliminary hearing date was postponed to June 2026.
Hodlnaut and TerraUSD Crisis
Hodlnaut was one of the crypto lending companies heavily affected by the collapse of Terraform Labs’ algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD in May 2022. This disaster in the Terra ecosystem caused approximately $40 billion to be erased from the market and shook up other major players in the market such as Three Arrows Capital, Celsius and Voyager.
According to the investigation and court records, before the bankruptcy, Hodlnaut directed approximately $317 million of user funds to Terra’s Anchor Protocol. Anchor was offering annual returns of up to 19.5 percent on UST; but after the Terra crisis, IHR was almost reduced to zero.
Mini dictionary: Anchor Protocol was a decentralized finance platform within the Terra ecosystem that allowed users to earn high interest rates by depositing UST. The 19.5 percent return rate offered by the platform attracted great attention before the crash.
Court-appointed administrators reported that Hodlnaut lost a total of $189.7 million in the Terra collapse. It was also found that the company’s internal records were weak and that the management team did not fully cooperate with the investigations.
| Company | TerraUSD Crisis Loss (Million Dollars) | Process Result |
|---|---|---|
| hodlnaut | 189.7 | bankruptcy, liquidation |
| Three Arrows Capital | Not disclosed | Bankruptcy |
| Celsius | Not disclosed | concordat |
| Voyager | Not disclosed | Bankruptcy |
Company Closing and User Impacts
Founded in 2019, Hodlnaut has reached more than 30 thousand users worldwide thanks to the interest-bearing crypto accounts it offers. However, in August 2022, it halted withdrawals due to mounting financial pressures.
Following this, the company was placed in a judicially supervised restructuring process by the decision of the Singapore High Court. However, when the attempts failed, Hodlnaut was officially liquidated.
