Salt

Here is some commentary about the process of claiming back your investment into the SALT Lending ICO.

Backstory

SALT Lending – a crypto lending platform, had a long battle with the SEC regarding an ICO it ran back in 2017 (raising US$47 million by selling SALT tokens) without having permission… And now, three years later, they are finally refunding that money back to the investors.

Eligibility

“all persons and entities that purchased SALT Tokens from the Company before and including December 31, 2019 (the “SALT Token ICO” or “ICO”)”
SALT Lending

Claim process

Below is our experience of the claims process. There is also a claims process FAQ page which may be helpful.

Go to saltoffer.com
Fill out the 8 step form (steps below)

Personal information step

Straight forward.

Salt token purchase information step

Information pertaining to your purchase(s) of SALT Token(s) can be found by logging onto the SALT website platform at https://borrower.saltlending.com/login

The transaction dates, amounts and addresses are clearly displayed on the site which is useful. If your tokens are not held on the official platform, I feel for you, especially if that information easily accessible. You’ll have to go through your devices and platforms and grab the addresses and TXids. It’s also worth taking screenshots of them too as you’ll need to upload them at a later step.

Salt token holding information step

Because of the ID verification error, there is no deposit address to enter into the held input box…. or no option to say they are held on the platform. It’s almost like they are forcing you to verify again on the platform before you can continue with the form. Not cool.

SALT is held in the official account but it doesn’t have an option to select that…

After doing the identify verification which included a biometric face analysis. The system status is “verification pending” which means you cannot proceed with the claim form until this is completed, and it doesn’t say how long it will take. Fail.

Stuck waiting until ID verification completes…

But the ID was verified within 5-10 minutes I got an email from them. And was able to enter the deposit address as the holding address of the tokens.

ID documentation step

Even though I just verified myself on the official platform, they still are asking for ID verification documents.

The information regarding the token transfers is very vague. I guess they want a screenshot of the blockchain wallet used? How can you prove ownership of a blockchain wallet unless you show your private keys? The only way you can prove they are the same tokens is by tracking the blockchain transfers – which are already public! Surely they can track this using their systems?

“For claims involving SALT Tokens in a Claimant’s possession, and that were never sold, information sufficient to show that the SALT Tokens currently held are the same SALT Tokens purchased during the ICO.”

As all the tokens i purchased were directly from SALT and they are held there, I just took screenshots of the transaction history on the platform.

Payment information step

It doesn’t ask for payment details, just the method you want to receive.

Then once you submit the form, an email was received within minutes with the full form as a PDF attached.

“Your E-Claim Form has been successfully submitted.
You will be contacted by Prime Clerk LLC, the Company’s Claims Agent at the e-mail address on record with the Company. Please note that this confirmation of submission does not constitute a representation as to the validity of your claim.”
SALT Lending

Now the waiting game… Stay tuned for the outcome.

Crypto loans provider SALT Lending has finally launched its ICO claim forms so users can apply for their investment refunds. However, when you go to view the forms, they error out (as shown below).

Update July 14: It seems the UTM query string in the link was breaking the form and it is now working here.

The short backstory is that SALT had a long battle with the SEC about an ICO it ran in 2017 (raising US$47 million) without having a successful registration from the SEC.

On July 12, 2021, SALT announced on its Twitter and blog post that the claim forms were available:

We’ve heard your feedback and we’re committed to doing better– Claim Form Now Available for Eligible Purchasers of the SALT Token: https://t.co/H5uI0BzHOc pic.twitter.com/ki5M96zLgS
— SALT (@SALTLending) July 11, 2021

Claims Form Errors

On clicking the link to view the forms, saltoffer.com, users were shown error pages.

SALT Offer ICO claim form error

And the error from the saltoffer.com website shows “unauthorised access”.

SALT ICO claim form error 2

Users who are trying to use the claim form must be frustrated; hopefully SALT will address this and fix the forms soon. We’ll keep you updated.

Who is Entitled to Make a Claim?

As detailed on the claims process FAQ page:

All persons and entities that obtained Salt Tokens from the company on or before December 31, 2019 are entitled to make a claim pursuant to the claims process. A valid claim, among other things, would require the claimant to return the Salt Tokens obtained directly from the company, or substantiate that these were sold on an exchange at a loss, including their value at the time of sale.
SALT Lending FAQ

The interest rate SALT uses is quite interesting too:

We expect to calculate interest by using the yield of the 1-year U.S. Treasury note, which for June 15, 2021 was 0.08%.
SALT Lending FAQ

It’s also stated that you have three to six months to submit your claim, and you’ll be paid in US dollars to your designated bank account.

Logging into the platform errors

Upon logging into the SALT Lending platform, I saw two errors. One showing an error fetching jurisdiction information, and one showing my ID verification failed.

The ID error surely cannot be correct, as I verified with them at least twice before, and all that information now seems to be completely missing.