S Korean Crypto Lender Delio Suspends Withdrawals – What Do We Know?
The South Korean crypto lending platform Delio says it is “temporarily” suspending deposits and withdrawals, as financial regulators say they are “investigating” the situation.
The platform is a crypto lending service and wallet, which holds an official virtual asset service provider (VASP) operating license.
In a statement, the firm said that it would halt deposits and withdrawals on the platform as of UTC 09:30 on June 14.
Delio blamed the move on “the aftermath” of domestic firm Haru Invest’s own decision to suspend crypto deposits and withdrawals this week.
Delio said Haru’s move had “dramatically increased market volatility and increased confusion among investors.”
The newspaper Herald Kyungjae quoted Jeong Sang-ho, Delio’s CEO, as “admitting” that “some” of its customer assets had been invested on Haru’s platform.
He said:
“I cannot disclose the exact amount, but it is true that some of our customers’ funds were deposited with Haru Invest.”
Jeong added:
“We have suspended withdrawals to calm down a rapid increase in withdrawals [of funds from the Delio platform] in the aftermath of the Haru Invest announcement. It is true that some of our [customers’] assets were managed [by] Haru Invest. We will try to proactively communicate more details to our investors.”
Jeong said his firm “intends to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”
Some have accused Haru of attempting to execute a “rug pull” after its offices were found deserted, but the firm’s executives have denied the allegations.
The executives claimed that their offices had been closed after a decision to switch to remote work models.
Haru offered customers annual interest rates of up to 12% for Bitcoin (BTC) deposits.
The nation’s biggest crypto exchange Upbit has responded
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