Investing 24-02-2025 11:03 2 Views

Su Zhu-Backed OX.FUN Denies Insolvency Claims Amid JefeDAO Dispute

OX.FUN, a crypto derivatives exchange backed by Three Arrows Capital co-founder Su Zhu, is facing allegations and counterclaims over its financial stability and handling of user funds.

The controversy erupted after JefeDAO, an NFT artist collective, accused the platform of withholding a $1 million USDC deposit and engaging in extortion.

One of our DAO members deposited $1m USDC into @OXFUNHQ last week.

A few hours later, we attempted to withdraw funds and they were locked. They stated that we “violated terms of service” but won’t tell us what we did. pic.twitter.com/R9RyQzaDoc

— jefeDAO (@thejefedao) February 21, 2025

The dispute has drawn intense scrutiny from the crypto community, with concerns mounting over OX.FUN’s asset holdings and governance practices.

The Insolvency Allegations and OX.FUN’s Response

The controversy was ignited when a Twitter user claimed that several former employees of OX.FUN had reported the exchange was insolvent.

BREAKING

Several now-former employees are reporting that @OXFUNHQ is officially insolvent. After a mass exodus of funds, their remaining withdrawal liquidity sat at approximately $180,000 USD as of 23:00 UTC, as they were “triaging” funds. More details to come. pic.twitter.com/DUdIPGmChj

— Jimmy Clams (@stevie_ravioli) February 23, 2025

The tweet alleged that after a mass withdrawal of funds, OX.FUN’s liquidity had dwindled to approximately $180,000 as of 23:00 UTC, forcing the platform into “triage mode.”

OX.FUN swiftly responded, refuting the claims and insisting that “all withdrawals are processing normally.”

The platform accused JefeDAO of launching a social media smear campaign after its funds were frozen due to an alleged attempt to exploit OX.FUN’s trading infrastructure.

All withdrawals are processing normally. This is coordinated FUD.

No users were affected by the actions of JefeDAO aside from JefeDAO. He attempted to exploit the platform, got all of his funds frozen, and now is attempting a social media campaign.

Nico will put out a… https://t.co/jJRyFSFkiL

— OX.FUN (@OXFUNHQ) February 24, 2025

The exchange stated that no user funds were affected apart from those linked to JefeDAO, which were frozen following an Oracle manipulation attack.

In an official statement, OX.FUN elaborated on the attack, claiming that JefeDAO executed aggressive trades on the JAILSTOOL token by placing large limit orders below market price to drive it down artificially.

The platform asserted that JefeDAO’s actions directly violated its terms of service, leading to the freezing of its assets.

Good morning OXFUN.

Over the past months, OXFUN has focused on becoming a premier and trusted exchange for users to trade assets. It is heartbreaking to see a group of bad actors attempt to profit off of illegal market manipulation and then proceed to attempt to tarnish…

— OX.FUN (@OXFUNHQ) February 24, 2025

Furthermore, OX.FUN revealed that JefeDAO had been offered a resolution, but the collective rejected it, opting to escalate the issue on social media instead.

JefeDAO’s Accusations and Community Reactions

JefeDAO, on the other hand, has strongly denied any wrongdoing and framed OX.FUN’s actions as fraudulent.

The artist collective claimed that after depositing $1 million USDC into the exchange, their attempts to withdraw the funds were blocked without clear justification.

We have attempted to contact @iamabsinthe (Blocked)

The live chat support (Violation of TOS excuse)

Telegram (Violation of TOS excuse)

And even the @OXFUNHQ page directly (Blocked)

Please take a look at this and reach out to me imminently thank you. @zhusu pic.twitter.com/K7qBnj2MMX

— jefeDAO (@thejefedao) February 21, 2025

They alleged that OX.FUN refused to specify how they had violated the terms of service and instead cut off communication by blocking JefeDAO members on multiple platforms, including Telegram and X (formerly Twitter).

JefeDAO further accused OX.FUN’s founder, Nicolas Bayle, of attempting to negotiate a return of funds in exchange for five months of free promotional activity.

.@nicodotfun the founder of @OXFUNHQ DMd us saying the only way to get the $1m USDC that they stole back is to give them free promotion for 5 months

I literally know this is 100% fraud just based on the fact that it is highly unusual and suspicious for an exchange to request… pic.twitter.com/dNyIpBjMJA

— jefeDAO (@thejefedao) February 23, 2025

They labeled this demand as extortion and vowed to continue exposing the exchange’s alleged misconduct until the funds were fully returned.

Source: X Post Community Note

A community note attached to the original insolvency claim post on X bolstered JefeDAO’s argument, warning that OX.FUN’s leadership—including Su Zhu and Kyle Davies—was linked to the collapse of the $18 billion hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and urging users to exercise caution.

OX.Fun’s Asset Holdings and Broader Concerns

As the dispute escalated, questions about OX.FUN’s financial health became a focal point.

Coinbase’s head of product, Conor Grogan, raised concerns that OX.FUN’s wallets primarily hold its native OX tokens rather than stable assets.

They will have even less once (if) they process an outstanding $1M USDC request. This would bring their USDC total down to ~$1K pic.twitter.com/ElUqX38Rwh

— Conor (@jconorgrogan) February 24, 2025

He noted that if the platform were to process JefeDAO’s $1 million withdrawal, its USDC reserves would reportedly drop to just $1,000 — a potentially alarming sign of liquidity issues.

These revelations have led to mounting skepticism regarding OX.FUN’s solvency and operational integrity have been questioned, and the community is being urged to remove their funds from the exchange.

Everyone should remove your funds from @OXFUNHQ immediately! @thejefedao , a collective of artists that I've worked with previously, deposited $1M into the OXFUN platform and is unable to withdraw.

Founders have blocked them and neglected to resolve the issue.

Now it's… pic.twitter.com/g0PBR0wTQl

— anon (@anon_rip) February 23, 2025

Looking forward, it remains to be seen whether the exchange can convincingly dispel doubts about its solvency in the future, but the allegations have already undermined its credibility.

The post Su Zhu-Backed OX.FUN Denies Insolvency Claims Amid JefeDAO Dispute appeared first on Cryptonews.

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