TL;DR
- The dispute between Fetch.ai and Ocean Protocol has escalated into legal threats and public accusations involving 286 million FET tokens, worth approximately $84 million.
- Fetch.ai accuses the protocol of minting and moving 719 million tokens, converting 661 million into FET, and transferring large sums to centralized exchanges without proper disclosure.
- Binance will block ERC-20 OCEAN deposits starting October 20.
The tension between Fetch.ai and Ocean Protocol intensified following public accusations, legal threats, and Binance’s intervention, affecting around 286 million FET tokens, equivalent to roughly $84 million.
The conflict revolves around the 2024 merger under the Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) Alliance, which combined the AI projects under a shared token framework.
Fetch.ai CEO Humayun Sheikh accused Ocean Protocol of minting 719 million tokens in 2023, of which 661 million were converted into 286 million FET in July 2025. According to Sheikh, large amounts of tokens were later transferred to centralized exchanges and market-making firms without proper disclosure, which he described as “equivalent to a rug pull” if it had occurred outside the merger framework.
Sheikh pledged to fund class-action lawsuits across three or more jurisdictions and called on Binance, GSR, and ExaGroup to investigate the token movements, while encouraging FET holders to gather evidence to support legal claims.
Ocean Denies Allegations as Dispute Deepens
Ocean Protocol responded by denying all accusations, calling them “unfounded claims and harmful rumors,” and affirmed that its treasury remains intact. The company stated that it had proposed lifting confidentiality on findings from an adjudicator related to the dispute, an offer Sheikh reportedly rejected. The mention of an adjudicator suggests the conflict has already reached formal legal arbitration under the terms of the ASI Alliance.
Binance announced it will cease accepting OCEAN deposits via Ethereum (ERC-20) starting October 20, 2025. Deposits made after that date will not be credited and may result in losses. While the exchange did not explicitly link the move to the dispute, limiting ERC-20 deposits indicates Binance is applying internal risk controls and potential investigations, as many of the disputed tokens are on the Ethereum network. Sheikh interpreted the measure as a sign that Binance is responding to his public calls to investigate Ocean Protocol’s token transfers.
