Dubai Regulator Slaps $2.7 Million Fine On OPNX, OX Token Tanks 8% 14
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Dubai Regulator Slaps $2.7 Million Fine On OPNX, OX Token Tanks 8%

By Aditya Anandon
  • OPNX has been hit with a $2.7 million fine from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. 
  • VARA has also slapped a fine of $54,000 on each of Open Exchange’s founders, including Su Zhu and Kyle Davies. 
  • The exchange was fined for a market offense under regulations introduced earlier this year. 
  • Open Exchange and its founders have failed to pay the fine, attracting further action and penalties from VARA. 

Open Exchange has been hit with a $2.7 million fine by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). The fine was issued in early May but remains unpaid, which prompted a public notice of fines against OPNX from VARA. The digital assets regulator also fined Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the disgraced founders of Three Arrows Capital (3AC) who launched Open Exchange earlier this year. 

OPNX May Face Litigation Over Outstanding Fines

As per an enforcement notice circulated by VARA earlier today, OPNX was hit with an AED 10,000,000 fine on May 2, 2023, for a market offense of the Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations that were unveiled by the regulator earlier this year. The regulator stated that the fine remained unpaid at the time of publication of the notice. 

Additionally, VARA slapped fines of AED 200,000 ($54,450) against each of OPNX’s founders, namely Su Zhu, Kyle Davies, Mark Lamb, and the crypto platform’s Chief Executive Leslie Lamb. The founders were fined for violation of an administrative order related to the regulation of crypto advertising and marketing in the emirate. The fines have been paid in full. 

VARA stated that it was mulling over further fines and penalties against OPNX due to failure to pay the fines imposed over three months ago. The digital asset regulator added that it would take any action necessary to recover the fine, including referring the matter to law enforcement agencies or even resorting to litigation 

Open Exchange Token (OX), the native token of the derivatives and bankruptcy claims trading platform, lost more than 8% of its value following the news of the fines and potential enforcement action. At the time of writing, OX was trading at $0.065.