TL;DR
- Across Protocol faces allegations of misappropriating $23 million in ACX tokens through secret votes from wallets tied to its own team.
- Hart Lambur denied the accusations and defended the protocol, though no evidence has yet been presented to disprove the on-chain documented claims.
- The ACX token fell to $0.1376, posting a 38% drop over the past month, worsened by the distrust triggered by the scandal.
Across Protocol has become embroiled in serious controversy following the release of accusations involving its team in the improper appropriation of $23 million in ACX tokens.
What Happened?
The complaint, made by Ogle, co-founder of Glue Network, claims that the protocol’s leadership manipulated governance votes to divert funds from the DAO treasury to their private company, Risk Labs.
According to the report, in October 2023, a proposal was approved to transfer 100 million ACX tokens under the promise of allocating them to protocol development without selling them for two years.
However, shortly after, Risk Labs allegedly began negotiating token option agreements with external investors. One year later, the team promoted a second vote to withdraw another 50 million ACX tokens, this time under the concept of “retroactive funding.” In both instances, the complaint asserts that decisive votes came from wallets controlled by team members — a situation that, without their intervention, would have prevented the proposal from reaching the quorum needed for approval.
The response came quickly. Hart Lambur, co-founder of Across Protocol, rejected the accusations and described the circulating claims as false. He also announced he would publicly defend the team and the protocol, although no evidence has yet been provided to refute the operation described.
ACX Registers a 38% Loss Over the Past Month
The ACX token dropped to $0.1376 after falling 6.5% in the last 24 hours, 11% over the past week, and accumulating a 38% loss in the last month. While the decline comes within a volatile market context, the additional pressure from the scandal threatens to deepen the drop.
Beyond this specific case, the ability of insiders to manipulate votes and make decisions for their own benefit undermines the credibility of these models. It exposed how part of the industry still hasn’t addressed conflicts of interest that have been regulated for centuries in other sectors
