Vauld Crypto Exchange: What Happened and Why It Matters

When Vauld crypto exchange, a once-popular centralized platform offering interest on crypto deposits and lending services. Also known as Vauld Finance, it promised high yields and easy access to crypto earnings—until it vanished overnight in 2022. Vauld wasn’t just another exchange. It was a symbol of the hype around crypto yield farming, where users trusted platforms to manage their assets like a digital bank. But unlike banks, these platforms had no FDIC insurance, no audited reserves, and no real safety net when things went wrong.

The collapse of Vauld wasn’t an accident—it was the result of reckless lending, poor risk controls, and opaque balance sheets. Users deposited Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins expecting safe returns. Instead, Vauld lent those assets to hedge funds and trading firms, often without proper collateral. When the market turned, those loans defaulted, and Vauld couldn’t return what it owed. The same pattern shows up in other failed platforms like Celsius and BlockFi. What made Vauld different was how quickly it went from marketing campaigns to silence. No warning. No notice. Just a frozen app and a website that stopped updating.

This isn’t just a story about one company. It’s a lesson in how centralized exchange risks, the dangers of trusting third parties with your crypto holdings can lead to total loss. You don’t need to be a trader to get burned. Even if you just held crypto for savings, you’re still exposed if you use a platform that doesn’t give you full control. And when platforms like Vauld collapse, the ripple effects hit everything from crypto exchange failure, the broader loss of trust in centralized platforms to regulatory crackdowns that slow down innovation for everyone.

The posts below dig into what went wrong inside Vauld, how users tried to recover funds, and what you can learn from the wreckage. You’ll find deep dives into similar platform failures, how to spot red flags before depositing, and why self-custody isn’t just a buzzword—it’s your last line of defense. These aren’t theoretical warnings. They’re real stories from people who lost everything because they assumed a shiny app meant safety. Don’t make the same mistake.