The future of fan-funding website Sellaband is very much in doubt following news the company behind the service has been declared bankrupt in its home country, the Netherlands. Though, despite rumours that this meant the service was dead in the water, a statement yesterday insisted the website would resume operations soon because a buyer had been found for the company.

Digital music site Hypebot were the first to spot that the Sellaband company had been declared insolvent, them having become suspicious after the Sellaband website had been down for "maintenance" for several days. The company's top man Johan Vosmeijer subsequently issued the following statement: "On Friday 19 Feb, SellaBand AG requested provisional suspension of payments (moratorium). This was granted by the Court in Amsterdam on the same day. Yesterday, Monday 22 Feb, this moratorium was changed into bankruptcy, with [the] appointment of Mr Paul Schaink, an Amsterdam lawyer, as trustee".

Assuring users of the site that the service should, at some point, resume operations, the statement continued: "The trustee wishes to inform the 'Sellaband community' that, apart from a few technicalities, the completion of a transaction with a potential buyer of the business, is to be expected soon, in order to make a fresh start, safeguarding both the rights of Believers and Artists. More news will follow shortly".

Of course, most companies that go into administration talk about possible buyers mounting rescue bids, and while sometimes that comes true (and there's no reason to suspect it won't here), often said companies ultimately disappear. If that were to happen to Sellaband there is much speculation as to what would happen to any monies the service has taken off fans but which has yet to be distributed to the bands it was pledged to.

In theory fan-funding services will be bound by rules and systems to protect such investments if and when the company running the operation goes under, but if Sellaband were to disappear it would be the first real test of whether or not said rules and systems work. If they didn't, Sellaband's rivals would have to mount a PR effort to assure users their set up is different.

As previously reported, while the fan-funding model is gaining some traction, one of the most high profile fan-funding ventures to date - Public Enemy's bid to fund a new album via Sellaband - faltered after a good start leaving the hip hop outfit a long way off their target amount, with some fan investors actually pulling out.