Across Protocol Founders Face Major Scandal: Accused of Misusing $23 Million in DAO Funds

The crypto world is once again shaken by a major controversy. The team behind Across Protocol has been accused of exploiting the DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) governance process to funnel $23 million worth of tokens into Risk Labs, a closely affiliated entity. 🔹 The allegations were raised by pseudonymous developer Ogle, founder of rival project Glue, who claims the vote was manipulated to benefit insiders. According to him, this is a textbook case of a "fake DAO," where decentralization is nothing more than an illusion. 🔹 While the first proposal passed with 97% approval, the second one — involving the allocation of 50 million ACX tokens — only succeeded due to insider wallet votes. Ogle claims that most of the voting power came from wallets linked to founder Hart Lambur and other Risk Labs members. Lambur has strongly denied the allegations, stating that Risk Labs is a non-profit based in the Cayman Islands with no shareholders. He added that the team voted transparently and that all transactions are publicly available on the blockchain. He called the accusations an attempt to discredit the project.

Accusations of Insider Trading Before Binance Listing The controversy intensified with new allegations that Lambur purchased ACX tokens shortly before their surprise listing on Binance in December 2024. LayerZero founder Bryan Pellegrino accused Lambur of insider trading. Lambur firmly rejected this, saying he learned about the Binance listing at the same time as the public — via Twitter. "It was 2 AM for me. Binance will confirm that we didn’t pay any listing fees, and we had no heads-up," he stated. However, Pellegrino pointed to an earlier Across Protocol tweet claiming months of communication with Binance, suggesting the team may have had advanced knowledge of the listing.

Community Demands Greater Transparency The case has sparked outrage in the crypto community. Ogle and others argue that many DAOs lack true decentralization, and that governance is easily manipulated by those with large token holdings. The ACX token dropped by 9.3% over the past 24 hours and is currently trading around $0.1360. The disputed tokens are now worth less than $22 million.

#CryptoScandal , #Web3 , #CryptoNewss , #insidertrading , #CryptoNewss

Stay one step ahead – follow our profile and stay informed about everything important in the world of cryptocurrencies! Notice: ,,The information and views presented in this article are intended solely for educational purposes and should not be taken as investment advice in any situation. The content of these pages should not be regarded as financial, investment, or any other form of advice. We caution that investing in cryptocurrencies can be risky and may lead to financial losses.“