Summary: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crypto claims trading exchange OPNX must navigate more controversy after its lackluster launch in early April this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) lambasted the crypto venture started by Su Zhu and Kyle Davies for marketing an unregistered digital asset business to Dubai residents and customers, Bloomberg reported<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OPNX is a crypto exchange that allows users to trade claims from defunct entities like FTX and Three Arrows Capital, the very same bankrupt hedge fund previously led by Zhu and Davies. The platform hosts executives from other troubled crypto businesses like CoinFLEX\u2019s Mark Lamb and Sudhu Arumugam. Leslie Lamb currently spearheads the venture as CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On February 27, Dubai\u2019s VARA issued a \u201ccease and desist\u201d order to OPNX. A second cautionary notice was published shortly after on March 10 to both the founder and the crypto platform itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The platform later launched<\/a> in April, recording unimpressive trading volumes at launch, and continued to leverage social media for marketing campaigns. VARA claims this move was also targeted at onboarding Dubai users.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following its first two notices to OPNX and its founders before the platform launched, VARA published a written reprimand to all four co-founders for attempting to run an unregistered crypto business in the Emirates.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The notice echoed regulatory concerns cited in February, and March, and an \u201cInvestor and Marketplace Alert\u201d published about OPNX shortly before the exchange launched in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OPNX CEO Leslie Lamb, another subject of VARA\u2019s regulatory torch, rebutted the claims and said the company had not violated any of the Emirati\u2019s policies.\u00a0OPNX and VARA are working together to investigate the matter, CEO Lamb suggested in a WhatsApp text cited in Tuesday\u2019s report.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3AC co-founder Su Zhu also claimed that he and Kyle were not involved in daily administrative duties at OPNX despite ideating the original concept for the crypto claims exchange. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CEO Lamb also said that \u201cat no point in time have UAE customers been able to open an account on OPNX\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n VARA\u2019s regulatory move against OPNX comes as Dubai works to develop its jurisdiction as a global hub for crypto innovation <\/a>and digital asset businesses.\u00a0Several crypto businesses like Binance and Kraken<\/a> have received regulatory nods from UAE watchdogs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from publishing a licensing regime through its crypto watchdog VARA, the Emirate state has also reportedly made joint efforts with other members of the UAE to exit the FATF\u2019s \u201cgray list\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Financial Action Task Force maintains a list of jurisdictions that supposedly need to beef up measures that combat money laundering and illicit wealth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Crypto claims trading exchange OPNX must navigate more controversy after its lackluster launch in April as Dubai’s VARA cautioned Su Zhu and other founders for marketing an unlicensed business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":582011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,2,26],"tags":[108378,108668,108822,108545,108544,108920],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582009"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":582012,"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582009\/revisions\/582012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.ethereumworldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Dubai\u2019s Burgeoning Crypto-Hub Plans <\/h2>\n\n\n\n