TrueUSD’s market capitalization is reported as $497 million on CoinGecko, $495 million on CoinMarketCap, and $502 million on the TrueUSD web site. Nonetheless, these numbers embody up to $406 million TUSD tokens that Justin Solar-advised HTX has transferred to addresses which may be redemption addresses.

Redemptions of TrueUSD contain shoppers sending funds again to specifically designated redemption addresses that look a little bit unusual. TrueUSD defined:

“This address is very simple and contains many ‘0’s. This is intentional. You can redeem from any wallet (including exchange wallets) to this address, and all redemptions received by this address will be associated with your TrueUSD account.”

Simply over 100 days in the past, HTX despatched 80 million TUSD tokens to 0x7000000Cd0fc88461a74C9df0809B58E7F60ad34. This deal with seems to be one of many quite simple addresses that will depend as a kind of redemption addresses. 

There are additionally a number of different HTX transactions that seem as if they could be redemptions, however the addresses in query are completely different. These embody transactions of $90 million and $7.5 million TUSD that had been despatched to 0xd423022fFc3aA8915924DD484044987BC0A4c261, which seems considerably completely different than different burn addresses.

Nonetheless, earlier analysis by Blockchain Evaluation ChainArgos has highlighted different addresses that don’t appear to suit TUSD’s description of burn addresses. Moreover, this deal with that acquired roughly $97.5 million from HTX has not despatched it additional alongside and isn’t included within the HTX proof of reserves. 

Each the clear redemption deal with and the much less apparent redemption deal with embody the identical model of “self” transaction after receiving the preliminary switch. 

This identical model of switch adopted by self-send might be seen in 0x2bb12A057e69775Ae8b68019BC1Bf21FCC95CA7d, which simply over 100 days in the past acquired roughly $78 million TUSD tokens from HTX. This deal with can be not included in HTX’s proof of reserves. 

Nonetheless, if these are redemptions, they haven’t been absolutely processed. We will see this by taking a look at different identified redemption addresses like 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000525, the place we are able to see usually when funds are despatched to a redemption deal with they’re then burnt by sending the funds to null.

This sample is repeated on TRON, the place HTX despatched $80 million TUSD tokens to TJXauPDFPnYsfJWM88QwPxfD7nQG1F59tk simply over 100 days in the past. This deal with can be not included within the HTX proof of reserves.

Moreover, on the identical time, HTX despatched $70 million TUSD to TAyq685VnD55CAS2YuAFcibsCqdqzF1ocN. This deal with can be not included within the HTX proof of reserves. 

Are these redemptions?

This leaves us struggling to find out why property have been left in these addresses for therefore lengthy, with out redemption or inclusion on the HTX proof of reserves.

One clue might come within the attestations offered for TrueUSD. Moore Hong Kong’s report notes that “there is litigation between the Company and the Hong Kong Depository Institution in relation to the redemption of the fund, which may suggest potential liquidity and credit risks of the TrueUSD reserves.” 

The Hong Kong depository establishment is First Digital Belief, which was additionally highlighted within the current Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) settlement with TrueUSD.

Learn extra: TrueUSD financial institution FlowBank compelled into chapter 11

This settlement alleged that TrueCoin and TrustToken, companies that operated components of TrueUSD, had been conscious of significant points with the property, realizing that “more than 99% of the assets backing TUSD were invested in” a dangerous fund that invested in “trade finance, structured trade, export finance, import finance, supply chain financing, and project financing of entities.”

Parts of the authorized jockeying between Techteryx and TrueCoin in Singapore have been obtained by Protos, and these paperwork present further context, together with noting that redemptions in one of many funds that First Digital invested in have but to be absolutely accomplished (as of December 27). That is regardless of the redemption being initiated in 2022. 

Taken as an entire, the SEC settlement and the continuing authorized jockeying, each in Singapore and in Hong Kong, recommend that TrueUSD wouldn’t have the ability to redeem all excellent tokens.

HTX has additionally not too long ago redeemed roughly 7,300 WBTC tokens that weren’t disclosed on the proof of reserves experiences.

DeFi

Regardless of these points, TrueUSD continues to be included in numerous protocols, together with:

• Curve, although its position is restricted. 
• SunSwap, the place you may simply swap it for different stablecoins. 
• USDD, the place it’s included within the “Peg Stability Module,” although at the moment there are 0 TUSD tokens locked within the PSM.
• JustLend, the place there’s roughly $800,000 in liquidity and it may be borrowed at a price of three.99%. 
• Venus, the place there’s solely $40,000 in liquidity, and the place TUSD might be borrowed for 13.38%. 

It additionally nonetheless at the moment trades on a number of exchanges, together with HTX, Poloniex, Binance, Upbit, ByBit, and Kraken.

Solar himself has denied he owns this venture, regardless of the multitudinous connections he has to the agency. 

Protos has reached out to HTX and TrueUSD to ask whether or not these transactions had been TrueUSD redemptions and for clarification on the present amount and high quality of the reserves for TUSD.

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