- OKX has seized $2M worth of Tether USDT following market manipulation of CELT tokens.
- The crypto exchange said the blockchain game project using CELT had illegally promoted their token using the OKX name.
- OKX will reimburse customers more than $3 million and a special airdrop.
Crypto exchange OKX has reportedly frozen $2M worth of Tether USDT across five exchange accounts. The accounts are said to be involved in a recent pump-and-dump scheme over GameFi token CELT.
The investigation began after customers raised concerns about the sharp fluctuation of the GameFi token’s market, which happened on the 27th of February. The price of the CELT token fell around 54% in two hours, according to Coingecko data.
OKX is a Seychelles-based crypto exchange launched in 2014 from its sister company, OK Coin. OKX offers spot, futures, and derivatives trading in addition to trading popular cryptocurrencies. The exchange launched its utility token OKB, in 2018.
OKX To Reimburse Affect Users With $3.5M
According to the crypto exchange, the CELT project announced the launch of its blockchain game, Celestial, on the 26th of February. But the next day, specific influencers affiliated with the project promoted the token’s name under “OK Pro Son” on social media platforms.
The exchange seized roughly 2 million in USDT from five suspicious profit-making accounts. An initial 714,381 USDT was frozen, and an additional 1.3 million USDT was collected from the GameFi project after repeated negotiations.
In addition to the recovered 2 million USDT, the exchange said it would donate 1 million USDT from its funds to reimburse affected users.
Additionally, a special airdrop would be given to users who bought CELT tokens between the 25th and 28th of February. The airdrop rules will be released in two days.
While OKX had invested $10,000 into CELT in September 2021, it clarified that it had no relationship with the GameFi project.
OKX added that none of its internal employees were involved in the incident, but if any is later reported, “once verified, will be dealt with seriously.” The crypto exchange has warned users to beware of any publicity under the OKX banner, as it is a neutral platform. OKX is only affiliated with OKB, its token, and OKT.
“OKX strictly prohibits malicious acts such as market manipulation and has the right to return the illegal gains obtained from market manipulation to the damaged users,” the report emphasized.
Celestial apologized for the “negative impact” and, in a tweet, said-
“We didn’t use any relationship with OKX for the promotion. Other KOLs manipulated all the fake promotions. We will fully cooperate with OKX exchange in their investigation and accept their decisions.”
It later clarified that the market manipulation involved its staff colluding with an external marketer, not the project team. It also said it would accept “all of OKX’s punishment measures.”
