According to a recent discovery, Dubai’s regulatory authorities have fined the co-founders of Three Arrows Capital, a once-respected cryptocurrency hedge firm, a whopping $2.7 million. Their participation in the new digital asset transformation, OPNX, has had a good effect.
The Biggest Gain Since Inception for VARA
According to a recent Wednesday announcement, Dubai’s Digital Belongings Regulatory Authority (VARA) has fined the cryptocurrency exchange OPNX and its creators close to $2.8 million.
OPNX, founded by Kyle Davies and Su Zhu, the brains behind the failed hedge firm Three Arrows Capital (3AC), had previously dealt with VARA’s reprimand in May. After 3AC’s demise, Davies and Zhu faced criticism for establishing OPNX, a platform that enables dealers to trade bankruptcy claims of companies like FTX and CoinFLEX.
The Digital Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) announced that it had imposed a fine of 10 million dirhams ($2.7 million) on the company in May, a matter that has not yet been resolved. According to the authorities, Su Zhu, Kyle Davies, OPNX co-founder Mark Lamb, and CEO Leslie Lamb all agreed to pay fines totaling 200,000 dirhams ($54,451) for breaking the legislation on advertising, marketing, and promotion.
“Based on the company’s inability to clear the great positive, VARA decided on the following actions to be taken against OPNX in light of the excellent positive, the agency stated. This could include further fines, sanctions, or any other necessary measures to ensure accountability and effectively address the misbehaviour.”
In the first 24 hours of operation, the change executed trades with values under $2. Trading companies that were allegedly significant traders for the OPNX mission denied any affiliation in the meantime.
Dubai’s So Far Crypto Initiatives
Dubai has increased regulatory oversight of cryptocurrencies this year and introduced a new framework that requires businesses that serve retail traders to obtain a license from VARA. This transfer is in line with the United Arab Emirates’ strategy to stay clear of the “greylisting” of regions that the Monetary Motion Process Pressure considers insufficient for identifying unauthorized financial transactions.
Zhu and Davies played a key role in launching OPNX this past year by promoting it as a marketplace for purchasing and selling Bitcoin claims. Following the collapse of Three Arrows last summer, the company’s co-founders have made Dubai one of their key operational centers in their legal battles with liquidators to recover money for the fund’s investors.
The fine issued on OPNX is the best positive that VARA has publicly acknowledged since the program’s commencement in the previous 12 months. VARA announced in February that the company was actively seeking users for its platform and obtaining personal information.
By the beginning of May, the regulator had publicly reprimanded Zhu, Davies, Mark Lamb, Leslie Lamb, and another individual for running OPNX without the necessary authorization. Leslie Lamb was informed in May that the company had not made any marketing efforts in the UAE or in the direction of Dubai. She mentioned how OPNX was assisting VARA’s investigation and received confirmation that they had not broken any laws.
