VICTORIA, SC – After Three Arrows Capital (3AC) collapsed last year, founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies decided to start Open Exchange or OPNX, to rebrand themselves; but as the 3AC founders launch OPNX, a great irony exudes from the new venture: users can trade tokenized bankruptcy claims from crypto exchanges that collapsed last year, such as 3AC. Yet, despite the irony, investors are lining up to buy into the new exchange. 

3AC founders launch OPNX 

OPNX is a ‘transparent’ exchange that tokenizes bankruptcy claims of victims from various exchanges that crashed in 2022. Noting that it will take years for investors to get their money back, Zhu and Davies and CoinFLEX CEO Mark Lamb have decided to step in and help. 

By allowing traders to buy and sell tokenized bankruptcy claims on OPNX, the company provides “a public marketplace for claims onboarding and trading on order books.”

OPNX CEO Leslie Lamb took to Twitter to announce the launch, stating the company aims to “help the [crypto investor] community.” The self-described ‘on-chain sleuth’ ZachXBT replied by highlighting an important incongruence.

Originally pitched as “GTX” which raised $25 million to launch, it was launched in February 2023 in Seychelles after Zhu and Davies saw a power vacuum in the wake of the FTX collapse. Services went live on April 4, and OPNX uses the $FLEX token to power trades. 

A great irony

In June 2022, 3AC crashed after it lost $10 billion worth of assets. Having overleveraged customer funds and not being able to meet margin calls, the company collapsed. Authorities in the United States issued a subpoena for Davies, but both founders’ whereabouts are currently unknown. Nonetheless, they remain active on social media and in the business world. 

The company’s About Us page displays the most palpable irony with phrases such as, “[we relied] too much on trust last year,” “Open Exchange is a home for those harmed by crypto crises,” and “We believe we are the right team to build it.” 

So far, we have Zhu and Davies wanted for questioning in the loss of billions of dollars of customer assets; both are on the run, whereabouts unknown, one of whom has been subpoenaed. Both have raised $25 million to start a new crypto exchange to recover losses for investors who bought into failed exchanges like Zhu and Davies’ first venture.

Investors rush in

Over the past two weeks, $FLEX has almost doubled in price, from $1.70 on Mar 21 to $3.05 on Mar 27, before resettling at $1.99 on Apr 2. On Apr 4, the day OPNX launched, $FLEX spiked to $2.74. It remains at its 30-day average of $1.70 at press time. 

Such extreme ups and downs of $FLEX within a week show investors are more concerned with flipping a quick profit off a nascent company than a long-term investment, but no matter the price of $FLEX, Zhu, Davies, and their cohorts will continue to make money on the backend through gas fees and other services. 

If investors continue to buy into criminal enterprises, those founders will continue to create scams and con investors who rush in. What the market demands are what the market is given.