Fetch.ai CEO Offers $250K Bounty Over OCEAN Allegations
Fetch.ai CEO Humayun Sheikh has supplied a $250,000 bounty for info on OceanDAO’s multisignature pockets signers. The announcement reignited tensions with Ocean Protocol over alleged misuse of alliance-linked funds earlier than their 2024 merger.
The dispute dates again to token conversions made earlier than the Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) Alliance—an initiative uniting Fetch.ai, Ocean Protocol, and SingularityNet—took impact.
Ocean Protocol Accused of Pre-Merger Transfers
Sheikh supplied a $250,000 bounty to anybody offering info linking OceanDAO’s multisig pockets signers to the Ocean Protocol Foundation. A multisig pockets requires a number of customers’ signatures to authorize a single crypto transaction, making it a standard safety mechanism for shared management.
According to on-chain analytics platform Bubblemaps, Ocean Protocol transformed 661 million OCEAN into 286 million FET earlier than the ASI merger occurred. Blockchain information signifies 270 million FET have been later transferred to exchanges, together with 160 million to Binance and 109 million to GSR Markets.
Sheikh alleged the conversions violated the alliance’s spirit of belief. “Funds meant for the group have been diverted,” he wrote on X, urging Binance and GSR to analyze.
Ocean Protocol has denied the allegations, calling them “unfounded,” and introduced it is going to situation a proper response.
Binance had already ended help for OCEAN deposits on October 15, days earlier than Sheikh’s public assertion. The change didn’t cite the dispute as a trigger, however the timing raised hypothesis.
Also, Sheikh has since pledged to finance class-action lawsuits in a number of jurisdictions to carry Ocean Protocol accountable.
Legal Fallout and Market Implications
Analysts say the feud might reshape investor confidence in AI-token alliances. Once valued at over $7 billion, the ASI merger aimed to consolidate decentralized AI growth however now faces reputational pressure.
Sheikh’s bounty transfer could immediate deeper scrutiny of multisignature governance and token custody throughout crypto alliances. Legal proceedings might set precedents for future consortium-based blockchain initiatives, particularly these involving asset conversions.
Ocean Protocol formally withdrew from the ASI alliance on October 9, but it supplied no clarification relating to the disputed token actions. The escalating battle underscores the fragility of belief in joint crypto ventures that lack clear governance mechanisms.
As of October 21, Fetch.ai’s native token FET was buying and selling round $0.25, reflecting a 9% decline over the earlier 24 hours amid heightened market volatility and group uncertainty. FET reached an all-time high of $3.45 in late March 2024, that means the present value represents a decline of roughly 92% from that peak.
Ocean Protocol’s native token OCEAN additionally fell 4% from the day past to round $0.25. Its all-time high was $1.93 in mid-April 2021, that means the present value is roughly 87% under that peak.
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