Neutrl pauses NUSD redemptions over undisclosed reserve issue

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Neutrl has suspended minting and redemptions for its NUSD synthetic dollar after unspecified circumstances affected protocol reserves, leaving the cause and scale of any potential impairment unclear.

On Thursday, Neutrl said it had also paused other protocol functions on legal advice while it assesses the impact. The protocol did not identify the affected asset or counterparty, say whether reserves suffered a realized loss or provide a timeline for resuming operations.

Structured-yield protocol Strata later said it paused minting, redemptions and related functions for contracts in its Neutrl market, which supports several NUSD-linked products. Strata said its other markets remained operational.

With about $53.6 million in NUSD in circulation, the suspension prevents approved counterparties from exchanging the token for its backing assets while Neutrl determines whether its reserves have been impaired. Neutrl said it would provide timing and next steps when available.

Cointelegraph contacted Neutrl for comment but had not received a response by publication.

NUSD supply falls 18% over 30 days

According to RWA.xyz, NUSD had a market capitalization of about $53.6 million on Friday, down 18.4% over 30 days, while monthly transfer volume fell 72.4% to $71.4 million. However, the data does not establish that the earlier contraction was related to the reserve issue.

The synthetic dollar is designed to track the US dollar using yield-bearing crypto assets and market-neutral strategies rather than deposits held in a bank. RWA.xyz showed NUSD trading at about $0.9984, with 615 holders and 347 active addresses over the preceding 30 days.

On May 25, verification platform Accountable said its Neutrl dashboard provided continuous cryptographic proof that NUSD reserves matched the protocol’s liabilities.

A February assessment by risk-advisory team BA Labs nevertheless classified a proposed Neutrl integration as higher risk because of counterparty, operational and liquidity exposure. It said direct redemptions were limited to KYC or KYB-approved counterparties and that requests exceeding the liquid buffer could enter a queue targeted for completion within 48 hours, without a guarantee.

BA Labs estimated NUSD supply at $226 million and reserves at $233.7 million at the time, implying a 103.6% collateralization ratio. It said more than 87% of reserves were held through Fireblocks, while smaller amounts sat on centralized exchanges.