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Following investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force, the former Chief Executive Officer of the now-defunct cryptocurrency platform, Hodlnaut, Zhu Juntao (“Zhu”), aged 36, was charged in court today (26 May 2026) for fraud by false representation.

Hodlnaut was an online platform that allowed its users to deposit their digital tokens with the platform to earn interest. The platform had purportedly over 30,000 users worldwide before it became defunct in August 2022 following financial difficulties.

Following a sudden price crash of TerraUSD (“UST”) in early May 2022, Zhu allegedly instigated Hodlnaut’s employees to make misleading statements on the company’s official Telegram group chat and in official emails sent directly to some of its users between May and July 2022. These statements allegedly asserted that Hodlnaut did not have direct exposure to UST and / or did not suffer losses arising from the crash of UST.

In addition, Zhu published three posts on his personal Twitter (now known as X) account in June 2022 that contained similar allegedly misleading statements. 

For his alleged actions, Zhu faces three charges under Section 424A(1)(a) read with Section 424A(3) of the Penal Code 1871 and three charges under Section 424A(1)(a) read with Section 424A(3) and Section 109 of the Penal Code 1871.

If convicted, Zhu faces imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty years, a fine, or both, for each charge.

The Police would like to remind members of the public to be aware of the risks associated with cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies are volatile and speculative in nature, and do not carry any underlying or fundamental value. Dealing in cryptocurrencies is highly risky and not suitable for the general public, who also face the risk of service providers collapsing due to fraud. For more information on the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, members of the public can visit the MoneySense website at https://www.moneysense.gov.sg/risks-of-trading-payment-token-derivatives.