OX token plummets after co-founder Zhu’s arrest

Once a key cog in former 3AC founder Zhu’s public rehabilitation, OX plummets on news of his arrest

September 29, 2023 01:25 pm

MeshCube/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

The price of Open Exchange’s OX token fell as much as 50% on Friday following news of co-founder Su Zhu’s arrest.

Liquidators for Zhu’s fallen Three Arrows Capital (3AC) fund reported on Friday that Zhu was apprehended by Singaporean officials while attempting to leave the country. Zhu will reportedly be imprisoned for four months in an effort to compel him to cooperate with 3AC liquidation efforts.

Shortly following the news, the price of the governance token for Open Exchange (OX), plummeted. At the time of publication, OX sits 43% lower on the daily at $.013, having recovered from lows of $.01035.

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Source: Aevo OX Perps chart

Part of the severity of the decline is attributable to limited liquidity for the asset. A single Uniswap v3 pool accounts for nearly 97% of the $5.88 million daily volume, which eclipses the $1.3 million in liquidity in the pool by a factor of four.

OX currently has a $33.2 million market capitalization.

The OX project was founded as an exchange to facilitate trade in crypto bankruptcy claims for entities like Celsius, FTX and 3AC. It was meant to play a crucial role in the public rehabilitation efforts of co-founders Kyle Davis and Zhu.

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Zhu and Davis often implied that the collapse of 3AC was moreso due to misplaced market bets rather than fraud or criminal actions. Open Exchange was part of their broader initiative to reestablish themselves in the crypto industry.

According to a statement from Teneo, Davis is also committed to four months in prison, but his whereabouts are currently unknown.

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