Crypto lender Nexo offers to acquire embattled rival Vauld as crypto market consolidates

The ongoing market turmoil has created an opportunity for market realignment. About an hour ago we reported that crypto-asset broker Voyager Digital has field for bankruptcy a year after raising $100 million in funding.

The announcement makes Voyager the third crypto company to fall on the sword due to exposure to crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which went bust last week after defaulting on loans from a number of firms in the industry — including $650 million from Voyager. The other two were Celsius and BlockFi. We now have the third casulty.

This morning, CNBC is reporting that crypto lender Nexo has offered to buy the embattled rival Vauld as the latter struggles to stay afloat. Nexo said it had signed a term sheet, with Vauld giving it 60 days of exclusive talks to explore an all-equity acquisition of the company. Nexo added it plans to restructure Vauld and pursue expansion in Southeast Asia and India, if successful.

The announcement comes just a day after Valud suspended its customers from withdrawing their funds, citing ongoing financial issues.

Backed by the likes of Coinbase and Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, the Singapore-based Vauld became another casaulty of web3 ecosystem this week after it paused operations and said it was exploring restructuring options due to “financial challenges.”

Meanwhile, Nexo’s co-founder Antoni Trenchev declined to say how much it will pay for Vauld, calling it “premature.”

We’ve covered Nexo on multiple occasions. For people who are not familiar with the startup, Nexo is the world’s frst instant crypto-backed loans. The startup is powered by Credissimo, a leading FinTech Group serving millions of people across Europe for over 10 years. Credissimo has always operated under the highest regulatory requirements and strictest supervision by multiple European banking and financial services regulators.

Nexo helps crypto investors unlock the value of their wealth by providing them with instant loans in USD, EUR and USDT (Tether) against their crypto-holdings. By pledging their assets, rather than selling them, clients obtain immediate liquidity and keep the upside of future value appreciation of their cryptocurrencies and tokens. The concept has quickly gained an enormous following amongst crypto miners, hedge funds, companies that have conducted ICOs and many more. Investors of all sizes and nationalities have found various reasons why Nexo is their first association with crypto-backed loans.