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Less than a year after opening, the Open Exchange (OPNX) crypto platform announced yesterday, 1 February 2024, that it is set to close down this month.
Another flop
OPNX, launched by the co-founders of the now bankrupt hedge fund, Three Arrows Capital (3AC), has stated in a an email to users that it will be shutting down operations in February. So far there has been no explanation for the decision.
As per the email, users are being asked to settle all positions by 7 February, 8am UTC, as well as withdraw all funds, and export their historical data by 14 February, after which the positions will either be automatically settled or unable to make withdrawals.
The email writes: “We are deeply thankful to each member of the OPNX community for their dedication and trust. As we conclude this chapter, we cherish the experiences shared and look ahead with gratitude.”
What is OPNX?
OPNX is an interesting but controversial concept. It is one part a crypto exchange and another a bankruptcy claims platform where users could trade creditor claims of bankrupt crypto companies.
There’s a sense of bitter irony in this, given that it was launched by Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the co-founders of the now-bankrupt hedge fund 3AC.
Failing exchange CoinFLEX (FLEX) was given a new life when Zhu and Davies stepped in as creditors, relaunching the platform as OPNX, which would also feature its own crypto, OX. After raising $25m from investors, it officially launched on 4 April 2023.
The OPNX CEO said at the time: “We are here building OPNX because we want to help the industry,” xyz stated, adding: “Right now, there are over 20 million claimants worldwide for FTX, Celsius, and other platforms that are stuck waiting years just to access their funds and we think they deserve better.”
Open Exchange (OX) Token price
The announcement has caused the OX token to collapse, shedding over 25% of its value since the news broke, dropping around 50% from $0.012 to a low of $0.006 before climbing back to a price of $0.009.
FLEX (FLEX) Token price
The FLEX token also took a beating, dropping 6.25% from $1.85 to $1.73, shedding just over $10m of its market cap.
Regulatory troubles
In June 2022, cracks in the Singapore-based hedge fund began to show at the beginning of what would be a difficult period for the entire crypto industry.
The Terra USD (UST) and Luna debacle took place just a month before the firm had a streak of bad finances, resulting in missed margin calls, default notices for failing to make payments on a loan of over $665m, and a court order to liquidate the company.
In July 2022, 3AC declared bankruptcy. This came after a string of licensing and regulatory troubles, most notably with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who investigated and reprimanded the firm for misleading the agency or investors, respectively.
It is a widely held belief that 3AC may have been the biggest contributor to the crypto crash of 2022, with the likes of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) of the now-defunct FTX quoted as saying: “I suspect they might be 90 percent of the total original contagion.”
Court liquidation papers noted that the pair had not been cooperating properly in the liquidation process. In June 2023, liquidators were trying to recover $1.3bn from 3AC.
Zhu Su just finished serving a sentence in a Singaporean jail cell for three months as a result of not attempting to cooperate with liquidators, and this may be the main, and final nail in the coffin for the controversial duo.
