According to a notice posted on Wednesday, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has fined OPNX, a cryptocurrency bankruptcy claims exchange, and its creators about $2.8 million.
OPNX was already chastised by VARA back in May and was founded by Kyle Davies and Su Zhu, the founders of the disbanded hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC). The project, which enables investors to trade bankruptcy claims for firms like FTX and CoinFLEX, was started in the wake of 3AC’s demise, and Davies and Zhu faced criticism for it.
Despite trading companies that trading businesses said were big investors in the initiative by OPNX denying involvement, the exchange performed deals worth less than $2 in its first 24 hours of operation.
According to VARA regulations that were published earlier this year, OPNX was fined 10,000,000 United Arab Emirates dirhams ($2.7 million) for a Market Offence. The fine, which was imposed on May 2, “remains unpaid at the time of publication of this notice,” the regulatory body stated.
Leslie Lamb, the CEO of OPNX, and the other founders Davies, Zhu, and Mark Lamb each received separate fines totaling around $54,000 for not adhering to the regulator’s rules for marketing and advertising, but the parties reportedly paid them in full.
VARA stated that it will pursue additional measures, such as additional penalties, to resolve the outstanding fines.