Patricia fails to meet repayment deadline

Last month, embattled cryptocurrency exchange Patricia Technologies promised users that it would start to repay their funds on Nov. 20.

Two days later, its users are yet to access or withdraw their funds.  

The details 

• Following the controversy surrounding Patricia’s appointment of DLM Trust Company as escrow manager in its repayment drive, the embattled exchange insisted that it would proceed with its repayment plan scheduled to begin on Nov. 20. 
• Mariblock interviewed two Patricia customers with assets worth over $1000 stuck in the exchange.
• Both customers reported experiencing difficulties accessing their accounts on the new Patricia Plus app on the scheduled date for the commencement of fund withdrawals. 
• After several unsuccessful login attempts on the app, users eventually gained access to their accounts via Patricia’s web app. 
• A prompt emerged upon gaining access, notifying users that their assets on the old app had been converted to Patricia Token (PUTX). Users could only access their dashboard and see their balances after they had agreed to the conversion. 
• However, PUTX could not be converted into any other digital currency or fiat for withdrawal.  

What was said

• In an email to its users, Patricia announced that repayment had commenced. It will be done in batches, on a first-come, first-served basis, and with priority given to users with smaller balances. 
• It added that it would announce a new date for repaying the next batch of users, contingent on the exchange raising additional funds to repay its debts. 
• All the users Mariblock spoke to confirmed that they could not convert their PUTX to USDT or withdraw fiat. 

Key quote 

• A customer who chose to be referred to as Remmy told Mariblock: 

“No, we have not [been able to withdraw]. Hanu did not pay anyone who converted bitcoin to … PUTX. Nobody has said anything about payment.” 

• He added: 

“[Although] the app is now accessible, Hanu is not paying. We are only seeing our money. He did not even pay a single $1000 yesterday.” 

Quick catch-up 

• Patricia announced earlier this year that it suffered a security breach that cost it $2 million worth of its customers’ bitcoin, naira and United States dollar (USD) assets. 
• As a result, it froze withdrawals on its old app and launched a new app months later, with withdrawals unfrozen momentarily.  
• In August, Patricia announced that it was converting its customers’ existing bitcoin, naira and USD balances to its newly launched Patricia Token (PUTX). It considered the tokens as debt securities redeemable only when the company starts to make a profit. 
• In October, Patricia was in the news for controversially announcing that it had partnered with the Nigerian-based DLM Trust Company. 
• DLM Trust rebuffed this, saying Patricia had merely employed its services as escrow manager in its debt repayment process, and the arrangement was not to be considered a partnership. 
• The company also unilaterally terminated its appointment as Patricia’s escrow manager, citing a breach of terms on Patricia’s side.