Crypto lender Delio to resume withdrawals after counterparty contagion

According to a recent report by local news outlet Decenter, South Korean crypto lending platform Delio will resume withdrawals, albeit with no fixed schedule, after pausing them on June 14. In a meeting with investors on June 17, CEO Jung Sang-ho explained, “[Delio] will secure as much capital as possible to compensate” and that “users’ withdrawals would come in phases.” No details regarding the specific repayment period, method and amount of damage were disclosed, however. 

Delio is one of South Korea’s largest crypto lending firms and claims to hold an estimated $1 billion in Bitcoin (BTC), $200 million in Ether (ETH) and approximately $8.1 billion in altcoins. The firm entrusted a sizable portion of clients’ funds to fellow South Korean crypto yield platform Haru Invest.

On June 13, Haru suspended deposits and withdrawals after claiming “certain information provided by a consignment operator was suspected to be false” during an “internal inspection process.” Haru Invest claims to have a user base of over 80,000 individuals and has facilitated 9.8 million crypto earn payouts. During last week’s Delio investor meeting, Sang-ho alleged that Haru is currently facing bankruptcy:

“It is difficult to guarantee the rate of return that was initially promoted in the deposit product, but it is explained that there will be a plan to recover the loss.”

On June 14, Haru filed a criminal complaint against its service operator, B&S Holdings, and said it plans to proceed with civil litigation as well. The company stated:

“Once again, we apologize for causing concerns and inconveniences to our investors and customers. We will continue to work on the issue in a faithful manner.”

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