- Hodlnaut’s former CEO Zhu Juntao has been charged with deceptive claims of TerraUSD publicity.
- Mr. Zhu falsely claimed that Hodrunaut was circuitously uncovered to UST after the 2022 collapse.
- Mr. Zhu may very well be sentenced to as much as 20 years in jail amid intense scrutiny of failed digital forex financiers.
Hoddlenote’s former CEO, Zhu Juntao, is going through six counts of fraud by false illustration for allegedly deceptive customers about Hoddlenote’s publicity to the TerraUSD (UST) worth crash by means of telegrams, emails, and Twitter between Could and July 2022. Hoddlenote, which had greater than 30,000 customers, froze withdrawals and went bankrupt in August 2022 amid a widespread market crash triggered by UST. Depegging and Luna failure.
Former Hodlnaut CEO charged with false claims for TerraUSD
On Could 26, 2026, Zhu Juntao, 36, the previous CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Hoddlenote, was indicted in court docket on six counts of fraud by false illustration. The fees include three counts underneath part 424A(1)(a) of the Felony Act 1871 and three extra counts underneath that part learn with part 424A(3) of the Felony Act 1871.
Hodlnaut was a Singapore-based cryptocurrency lending platform serving over 30,000 customers worldwide. This permits prospects to deposit digital property in trade for interest-bearing returns. Nonetheless, the corporate got here underneath extreme stress throughout the crypto market downturn in 2022. The corporate suspended buyer withdrawals in June 2022 and in the end collapsed in August 2022 following widespread market contagion brought on by the Terra/Luna crash.
Why Mr. Zhu Juntao is accused of fraud
In response to the Singapore Police Pressure, Zhu allegedly instructed Hoddlenote’s workers to assert that the platform was circuitously uncovered to the UST and suffered no loss from the UST’s crash. These statements had been issued by means of the corporate’s official Telegram group chat and official emails despatched to customers between Could and July 2022.
Moreover, Zhu himself allegedly posted three deceptive statements containing the identical false claims on his private Twitter (now X) account in June 2022. His X put up has since been deleted, however sources say he posted, “Hodlnaut as an organization didn’t undergo losses on UST, however customers who held/bought UST on our platform did,” and “I missed this, however we had no worth publicity to $UST or losses from the debacle.”
What’s subsequent?
The lawsuit highlights ongoing authorized legal responsibility for statements made by crypto executives throughout the 2022 market turmoil. Mr. Zhu can be given a date for a pre-trial convention in June 2026, which can decide the subsequent steps within the case, together with trial dates and different procedural issues.
Alternatively, if the case goes to trial and Zhu Juntao is discovered responsible on any of the six fraud fees, he may very well be sentenced to as much as 20 years in jail, a advantageous, or each on every cost.
Moreover, this means stronger enforcement in opposition to deceptive practices within the cryptocurrency trade, particularly relating to danger disclosure throughout main market occasions. This might encourage extra platforms to be extra clear and will influence ongoing debt assortment efforts in opposition to Hodlnaut customers.
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