Vauld Review, Notes, and Referral Benefits (defunct)
URGENT UPDATE!!!
On 4 July 2022, Vauld made a corporate statement to suspend all withdrawals, trading and deposits on the Vauld platform with immediate effect.
Extract:
- The Vauld management wishes to inform that we are facing financial challenges despite our best efforts. This is due to a combination of circumstances such as the volatile market conditions, the financial difficulties of our key business partners inevitably affecting us, and the current market climate which has led to a significant amount of customer withdrawals in excess of a $197.7 m since 12 June 2022 when the decline of the cryptocurrency market was triggered by the collapse of Terraform Lab’s UST stablecoin, Celsius network pausing withdrawals, and Three Arrows Capital defaulting on their loans.
…
- In the meantime, we have made the difficult decision to suspend all withdrawals, trading and deposits on the Vauld platform with immediate effect. We believe that this will help to facilitate our exploration of the suitability of potential restructuring options, together with our financial and legal advisors. We seek the understanding of customers of the Vauld platform that we will not be in a position to process any new or further requests or instructions in this regard. Specific arrangements will be made for customer deposits as may be necessary for certain customers to meet margin calls in connection with collateralised loans.
Removing the referral link from this page till there is more clarity on the situation.
Further updates to the situation can be found here.
Table of Contents
Company
Build Wealth Automatically With Crypto
Vauld is a Singapore-based crypto platform founded by Darshan Bathija and Sanju Kurian. It was launched in 2018 Q4, and enables customers to buy, lend, borrow and trade crypto assets from one unified platform.
Business model
Have not found any concrete information but it should be based on DeFi and lending. Some information snippets found on various Vauld blog articles:
- What Is DeFi: A Guide To Decentralized Finance
“Here at Vauld, we ensure the safety of customers’ assets by moving funds from the investor’s wallet to a centralized lending pool that’s insured for $100 million in BitGo.”
“For the best DeFi platform, choose Vauld for all of your crypto needs. Whether you’re saving, borrowing, trading, or simply exploring the many possibilities of DeFi, we offer competitive rates and a seamless, unbeatable customer experience.”
- Security at Vauld
“We are a lending platform, so all of your funds have been moved from your wallet to a centralized lending pool, from which we give loans to borrowers.”
Earning rates
Interest earning rates listed here.
Examples [May 2022]:
- BTC: 6.7% APY
- ETH: 6.7% APY
- USDC: 12.68% APY
- USDT: 12.68% APY
Investors
The company has raised more than $27 million since its inception:
- raised $25 million in Series A funding [29 Jul 2021]
- led by Valar Ventures - a firm co-founded by PayPal founder Peter Thiel
- Pantera Capital (Singapore based crypto VC), Coinbase Ventures, CMT Digital, Gumi Cryptos, Robert Leshner and Cadenza Capital also invested in the round.
- raised $2 million [Dec 2020]
- Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, LuneX Ventures and others
- $500,000 [Jun 2020]
- LuneX Ventures and other angel investors
Notable developments
- listed 275+ tokens in total [Jan 2022]
Presence in Singapore
Vauld operates under Defi Holding Pte. Ltd. (UEN: 202125959D), and is headquartered in Singapore but has the majority of its team in India.
Addressed published on Vauld website [May 2022]: 80 Raffles Place, #32-01 UOB Plaza, Singapore 048624
Regulation by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
Unknown. I cannot find Vauld or Defi Holding Pte. Ltd. under the list of entities currently exempted from holding a licence under the transitional arrangements in the Payment Services (PS) Act.
Social media
- LinkedIn:
- 97 employees listed [May 2022]
- employees are located mainly in India
- Telegram
Ecosystem
Automatic Investment Plan (AIP)
Clients can mitigate market volatility by setting up an Automated Investment Plan to buy the dip or take advantage of dollar cost averaging by investing daily, weekly or monthly.
✔️ Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Low trading fees on Pro Trading
Vauld provides access to liquidity of over $50M with only 0.1% maker fees and taker fees.
Transaction fees are 0.1% on all crypto pairs and the minimum trade order value is $10.
No fees charged for withdrawals
Vauld does not charge withdrawal fees. Only the required network fees would be deducted. Details on rates found here.
Security and insurance on assets
Vauld partners with BitGo, global leaders in terms of security and compliance when it comes to wallets and crypto assets.
The centralized lending pool is stored with BitGo and the funds managed through a multi signature system. Furthermore, the lending pool is insured for $100 million dollars against potential threats.
Social login
Conveniently login with the following accounts [as of June 2022] :
- Apple
- Coinbase
Usage Notes and Tips
Account opening speed
I signed up with Vauld on a Sunday afternoon at 1:30 PM and submitted my KYC verification. By 4:30 PM the same day, the KYC verification was completed and my account was fully functional.
Interest calculation and payouts
- customers earn interest on Vauld daily.
- interest payouts are in-kind, meaning a deposit of Bitcoin earns interest in Bitcoin.
- interest is credited weekly (every Monday), unless the assets are locked in a Fixed Deposit (FD) in which case the interest is credited once the FD matures.
- assets locked in a limit order or being used as collateral for loan do not earn interest.
KYC limitations
The KYC requires access to a camera so you need to trigger the process from a laptop with a webcam, or a mobile phone.