OPNX’s dispute with investors leads to a heated argument on Twitter

• OPNX responded to their supposed investors’ decision to deny association with the crypto exchange.
• More than half of the exchange’s investors have claimed that they never backed or funded it.

Su Zhu and Kyle Davies’ Open Exchange has become the subject of a controversy after engaging in a heated exchange of words with a group of venture capitals and trading firms, that the crypto platform claims were a part of its funding round. The supposed investors have denied participating in OPNX’s funding round or having any association with the platform at all. 

OPNX disappointed by investors’ ugly conduct

OPNX tweeted a list of investors on 21 April, claiming that they backed the crypto platform and were a part of its funding round. 

1/ As we approach the launch of claims for our first estate, Celsius, we'd like to express gratitude to everyone who believed in our mission of helping 20M+ claimants.

A special thank you goes to our major investors, including AppWorks, Susquehanna (SIG), DRW, MIAX Group, China pic.twitter.com/G406Y7Ponz

— OPNX ? (@OPNX_Official) April 21, 2023

The list included Susquehanna (SIG), Nascent, AppWorks, DRW, MIAX Group, Merchant Bank International, Token Bay Capital, and Tuwaiq Limited.

In the following hours, more than half of the supposed investors stated that they never funded the crypto platform and denied any association with it. 

Investors clap back!

Nascent was the first one to respond to Open Exchange’s tweet. The company clarified that it did not participate in an OPNX fundraising round.

The venture capital Ford did, however, invest in FLEX tokens back in 2021. FLEX is the native token of CoinFlex, a crypto firm that launched OPNX in collaboration with Three Arrows Capital founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies.

DRW Trading was the next one to deny affiliation with Open Exchange. “DRW is not an investor in OPNX nor are any of its affiliates investors in OPNX,” the trading firm stated in a tweet. 

Taiwan-based AppWorks took to Twitter on 22 April to clear the air around OPNX. According to the VC firm, they are backers of CoinFlex and not the new exchange founded by Zhu and Davies. Their equity in CoinFlex was “forcibly converted” to OPNX.

We are backers of CoinFlex and were supportive of Mark to rebuild for stakeholders. Our equity is being forcibly converted to OPNX and we have not committed capital to the new entity. We never met Su Zhu or Kyle Davies and do not support what they did during the last days of 3AC

— AppWorks (@AppWorks) April 22, 2023

AppWorks further clarified that it has not committed any capital to OPNX. Susquehanna (SIG) also denied funding the exchange. The firm stated that it had no intentions of pledging capital in the future either. MIAX reportedly made a similar statement. 

The denial of multiple investors to acknowledge association led to a strongly worded statement from OPNX, where it accused the investors of engaging in “ugly” tactics by seeking “financial gain while simultaneously denying association due to fear of social media backlash.”

In another statement, OPNX CEO Leslie Lamb called out DRW, MIAX and SIG for their “disgusting and disappointing” conduct.