A number of supposed Open Exchange (OPNX) investors have been lambasted by the crypto debt exchange platform's CEO after some publicly distanced themselves from the project after being named as backers.
On April 22, OPNX CEO Leslie Lamb tweeted that the companies' behavior was "disgusting" and "disappointing," saying they "want all the benefits with little to no risk."
"I'm here to remind everyone that entrepreneurship doesn't work that way, if it's not already clear," Lamb added.
OPNX is a bankruptcy firm created by Kyle Davies and Su Zhu, the founders of the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).
The drama began on April 21 when OPNX tweeted a video of Lamb thanking a number of "major investors" for their support.
The list of investors named by OPNX included AppWorks, Susquehanna (SIG), DRW, MIAX Group, China Merchant Bank International and Token Bay Capital Nascent and Tuwaiq Limited.
Nearly half of listed funders now say they never chose to fund OPNX and have denied any association with the company.
The first company to publicly decline support was decentralized finance (DeFi) trading firm Nascent, which claimed that although it purchased Coinflex (FLEX) tokens, first issued by the previous company, she has not participated in a funding round for OPNX.
Taiwanese venture capital firm Appworks took to Twitter on April 22 to provide further clarification on its investment stance saying its funding had been "forced converted" from its initial holdings in CoinFLEX and that 'they don't support what [Davies and Zu] made during the last days of 3AC.
Additionally, capital market firm DRW Trading chose not to mince words when it distanced itself from the exchange, bluntly tweeting that it is “not an investor in OPNX.”
Since the public spat first unfolded on Twitter, FLEX, OPNX's primary token, has fallen more than 21%, according to data from TradingView.
Cointelegraph contacted Susquehanna (SIG), MIAX Group and China Merchant for clarification on their investments in OPNX, but did not immediately receive a response.
Related: OPNX jokes about dismal early volume after reporting 90,000% increase
According to OPNX's pitch deck, which first aired in January, the platform will allow investors to buy and sell claims on bankrupt crypto companies such as 3AC and FTX.
Unlike other companies in the receivables market, OPNX claims to allow clients to use receivables as collateral for transactions. Additionally, the company said it could help "fill the power vacuum left by FTX" and expand into other more regulated markets like stocks and shares.
In June 2022, 3AC received a notice of default from crypto exchange Voyager Digital after failing to pay a loan of 15,250 Bitcoin (BTC) and 350 million USD Coin (USDC).
Then, on July 1, 3AC filed for bankruptcy and faced criticism from the wider crypto industry, with many of its creditors accusing its founders of fleeing lawsuits.
A number of crypto companies have publicly declared that they will refuse to associate with anyone who supports OPNX. Either way, CoinFLEX, the main company behind the OPNX project, has defended itself, saying it will help make clients of crypto firms fail “again”.
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