The decentralized lending protocol Goldfinch, supported by a16z, announced that it will gradually shut down

According to Cryptopolitan, the decentralized lending protocol Goldfinch, supported by a16z, announced it will gradually shut down. Last Friday, an anonymous investor, Edward Morra, publicly accused the protocol of mismanagement, leading to over $50 million in user fund losses, stating that borrower defaults and failed loan restructurings made it nearly impossible for depositors to recover their funds. Just a day after the post was published, the project announced it would enter a gradual shutdown phase.

The protocol's native token GFI fell from a peak of $32.94 in January 2022 to below $0.07, a decline of 99.8%, with its market capitalization dropping from over $390 million to less than $6 million. Goldfinch was founded in 2021 by former Coinbase employees, aiming to connect crypto capital with credit enterprises overlooked by traditional banks, with a16z leading its $25 million financing in January 2022. Problems began to emerge months after the funding: the Kenyan motorcycle financing company Tugende Kenya defaulted, two underlying positions in the $2 billion loan from the U.S. credit fund Stratos nearly went to zero, and the Singapore borrower Lend East could only repay 58% of the principal. As the loan portfolio deteriorated, the protocol turned to institutional credit funds but ultimately could not turn the situation around.