Hodlnaut

What Hodlnaut does

Hodlnaut was a Singapore-based cryptocurrency lending and borrowing platform founded in April 2019 by Juntao Zhu and Simon Lee. It operated through two wholly-owned entities — Hodlnaut Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and Hodlnaut Trading Limited in Hong Kong — serving primarily individual retail crypto investors in Southeast and East Asia, with a secondary VIP tier for holders of 25+ BTC equivalent. The company positioned itself as a simple way to earn passive yield on idle digital assets, with a self-serve onboarding model and a $1 minimum deposit.

The platform's core offering was the Hodlnaut Interest Account, which supported deposits in BTC, ETH, WBTC, USDC, USDT, DAI, and PAXG and paid up to 7.25% APY on stablecoins with daily interest calculation and weekly payouts every Monday. Underlying infrastructure ran on AWS with Fireblocks MPC-CMP private key security and SGX hardware isolation for custody, supplemented by optional Nexus Mutual custody cover. Adjacent products included an in-platform Token Swap, Fixed Term Deposits (28–180 days), free Internal Transfers, a Preferred Interest Payout feature allowing interest to be received in a different asset than deposited, and a VIP Fixed-term Loan product for high-net-worth users. Distribution was product-led growth via web, iOS, and Android, supported by content marketing, social media, a 30 USDC referral program, and earned media coverage in outlets such as Yahoo Finance, CoinTelegraph, and Business Insider.

Hodlnaut monetized primarily through the interest spread between retail deposit yields and rates charged to vetted institutional borrowers (mostly regulated Singapore entities) who used the funds for hedging, market-making, and liquidity purposes. At its peak, the company reported $250M in held assets and 10,000+ active users with a 4.8/5 Trustpilot rating across 681 reviews. Following exposure to the May 2022 Terra/Luna collapse, Hodlnaut halted withdrawals, token swaps, and deposits in August 2022 and entered liquidation proceedings administered by EY Corporate Advisors. The former CEO was subsequently charged in Singapore with fraud by false representation in connection with the company's UST exposure disclosures.

Name

Hodlnaut

Legal name

Hodlnaut Pte. Ltd.

Website

https://hodlnaut.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hodlnaut was a Singapore-based cryptocurrency lending platform that let individual and institutional investors earn up to 7.25% APY on deposited digital assets. Founded in 2019, it operated until entering liquidation in August 2022 following the Terra/Luna collapse.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Crypto Lending

NAICS

Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

Centralized Crypto Lending Platforms (CeFi) (FSADAFAA)

Keywords

• Crypto lending
• Crypto interest accounts
• Digital asset custody
• Institutional crypto loans
• Token swap platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Interest Spread on Crypto Lending: Hodlnaut aggregates user crypto deposits and lends them to vetted institutional borrowers (mostly regulated entities in Singapore) at higher interest rates. The company retains a portion of the interest earned and passes the remainder to users. Interest rates are determined by supply and demand analysis of available crypto assets and updated monthly based on market conditions.
2. Institutional Loan Services: Provides fixed-term loans to institutional borrowers who use funds for hedging against Bitcoin prices, market-making on their platforms/exchanges, or liquidity purposes. Loans are collateralized with solid credit scores required.
3. Token Swap: Platform enables token swaps between supported assets; promotional materials indicate zero fees for swaps during certain periods, though a promotional 0.5% bonus was offered on PAXG swaps.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Hodlnaut operates a custodial cryptocurrency interest account platform that aggregates user crypto deposits (BTC, ETH, USDC, USDT, DAI, WBTC, PAXG) and lends them to vetted, mostly Singapore-regulated institutional borrowers at higher interest rates. It retains a spread and pays users up to 7.25% APY on stablecoins and tiered rates on BTC/ETH, with daily interest calculation and weekly payouts every Monday. Supplementary offerings include an in-platform token swap, fixed-term locked deposits of 28–180 days, and VIP fixed-term loans for clients holding 25 BTC equivalent.

Product overview

Hodlnaut is a Singapore-based crypto lending platform offering a unified financial services product suite centered on its Interest Account platform. The core offering consists of the Hodlnaut Interest Account for earning up to 7.25% APY on seven supported crypto assets (BTC, ETH, USDC, USDT, DAI, WBTC, PAXG). This is supplemented by the Token Swap feature for in-platform asset exchange, Fixed Term Deposits for higher-yield locked savings, and VIP Fixed-term Loans for premium users requiring 25+ BTC equivalent. Additional services include a Referral Program, free Internal Transfers between users, Preferred Interest Payout options, and optional Nexus Mutual Custody Cover insurance. The platform operates via web application and mobile apps (iOS/Android), with services accessible to individual and institutional investors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hodlnaut Interest Account
• Token Swap
• Fixed Term Deposit
• VIP Fixed-term Loan

Quantifiable outcome

• Users can earn up to 7.25% APY on stablecoin deposits with tiered interest rates
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• FireblockscoreTechnology or IntegrationFireblocks provides enterprise-grade digital asset infrastructure for Hodlnaut's custody and transaction management. The partnership enables secure storage and transfer of digital assets using MPC-CMP (Multi-Party Computation - Certified Mathematical Proof) technology combined with SGX hardware isolation. This integration supports Hodlnaut's $250M+ AUM with 20% month-on-month growth and enables quick institutional settlements at scale.
• Nexus MutualcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNexus Mutual provides optional custody cover insurance for Hodlnaut users. Hodlnaut committed approximately $1M of equity to become a Nexus Mutual member, making insurance affordable for users. Coverage is priced at 2.6% p.a. and pays out if Hodlnaut is hacked (losing >10% of funds) or if withdrawals are halted for more than 90 days. Users can purchase cover in ETH or DAI through the Nexus Mutual platform.
• iTrustsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartneriTrust serves as an insurance intermediary partner helping facilitate Nexus Mutual custody cover purchases for Hodlnaut users. iTrust provides FAQs and support for cover purchase and claims processes. Hodlnaut planned to integrate Nexus Mutual cover purchasing directly on its platform through iTrust.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)supportingTechnology or IntegrationHodlnaut runs its platform on secure AWS cloud infrastructure with all traffic encrypted using SSL encryption. AWS provides the underlying compute and storage infrastructure supporting the platform's web and mobile applications.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Binance: Global CEX offering crypto earn products, lending, and token swaps; competes with Hodlnaut for the same retail yield customer base, with substantially greater scale and geographic reach.
• Crypto.com: Large CEX with an integrated crypto earn/interest product, lending, token swap, and mobile app; broader portfolio than Hodlnaut but overlaps directly on retail interest accounts and in-platform token swaps.

Direct peers

• YouHodler: CeFi crypto lending and yield platform offering interest accounts, crypto-backed loans, and in-platform swaps; directly comparable to Hodlnaut's product surface and target retail yield customer.
• Celsius Network: CeFi crypto lending/interest account platform that also collapsed and entered bankruptcy in 2022 after halting withdrawals; offers a near-identical product set to Hodlnaut (custodial interest accounts, multi-asset yield, institutional lending book).
• BlockFi: CeFi crypto interest and lending platform serving retail and institutional clients; closely comparable to Hodlnaut on interest accounts, fixed-term products, and institutional lending, and also faced severe distress in 2022.
• Nexo: CeFi crypto lending platform offering interest-bearing accounts, crypto-backed loans, and token swaps; competes head-to-head with Hodlnaut for retail yield-seeking crypto holders globally.
• Ledn: CeFi platform focused on Bitcoin-backed lending and yield products; comparable to Hodlnaut's BTC interest tier and fixed-term structure, with a similar retail-led, self-serve distribution model.
• CoinLoan: CeFi crypto lending and borrowing platform with interest accounts and collateralized loans, targeting retail and SME crypto holders; comparable business model and product set to Hodlnaut.

Emerging players

• Aave: Decentralized lending protocol offering variable-yield deposits and crypto-backed loans; competes for the same retail yield-seeking crypto audience as Hodlnaut but via a non-custodial, on-chain model.
• Compound: Decentralized money market protocol for lending and borrowing crypto assets with algorithmically set interest rates; provides an alternative to CeFi yield accounts like Hodlnaut for self-custodied users.

Market position

Strengths2 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hodlnautdotcom

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hodlnaut