Delio, a South Korean digital-asset lending service, suspended customer deposits and withdrawals, citing market volatility and customer confusion caused by similar measures a day earlier by the investment platform Haru Invest.
(Bloomberg) — Delio, a South Korean digital-asset lending service, suspended customer deposits and withdrawals, citing market volatility and customer confusion caused by similar measures a day earlier by the investment platform Haru Invest.
The halt was “in order to safeguard customers’ assets the company is holding” Delio said in a notice on its website in Korean. The platform didn’t disclose any relationship with Haru in the posting.
James Jung, Delio’s chief executive officer, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Delio’s website shows it has 41,740 Bitcoin worth roughly $1.1 billion and 118,033 Ether, valued at about $206 million, under management. A company update on June 14 also says all Delio employees will work from home as of June 15.
Haru Invest, which promised returns as high as 50% in some cases, paused deposits and withdrawals until further notice while citing “a certain issue” with one of its partners, according to a blog post Tuesday by the Singapore-headquartered company. It didn’t disclose the partner. Haru said it had about $1 billion in assets under management. The firm, which was founded in South Korea, hasn’t returned requests for comment.
Haru Invest said in a Tweet posting on Wednesday that it’s taking legal action against B&S Holdings, a consignment operator formerly known as Aventus, for allegedly providing management reports containing false information.
Delio offers a few crypto saving products promising returns of more than 10%. Customers can usually gain higher returns by locking in deposits, which are typically digital assets that are often lent out to borrowers such as hedge funds.
“Delio will do our best to protect the assets of our customers while quickly grasping the facts and aftermath related to this situation. We will continue to inform you through announcements regarding the facts to be identified later, protection of customers’ assets, and measures for this,” the company said.
–With assistance from Se Young Lee and Olga Kharif.
(Updates first paragraph to note that Delio cited confusion caused by Haru as a reason for halting withdrawals. Adds Haru allegations against B&S Holdings.)
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