A governance dispute has rocked the DeFi community, with bridge protocol Across under fire for allegedly funneling $23 million worth of ACX tokens to its parent company, Risk Labs, through back-to-back DAO votes. The claims were brought forward by Ogle, a pseudonymous crypto analyst known for exposing protocol governance irregularities.
Ogle alleges that wallet addresses linked to the Across core team coordinated two recent governance proposals that resulted in $15 million and $7.5 million in ACX token transfers to Risk Labs. He argues that these votes reflect a lack of true decentralization, calling the DAO a "façade" largely operated by insiders. The moves were described as opaque and self-serving, raising red flags within the DeFi community.
Across CEO Hart Lambur has categorically denied the accusations, calling them “completely false.” According to Lambur, the transferred funds were allocated transparently through governance for the purpose of scaling protocol development and upgrades. He defended the voting process as being open and community-led, while criticizing Ogle’s tone and questioning his credibility due to past involvement in controversial discussions, including around the TRUMP memecoin.
The situation escalated further when LayerZero co-founder Brian Pellegrino chimed in, suggesting that Lambur may have bought ACX tokens prior to its listing on Binance. Lambur denied the allegation, stating that the team only became aware of the listing when it was publicly announced, just like everyone else.
While Ogle conceded that some elements of his findings were speculative, he stood by his broader concern: that the incident reveals potential cracks in DAO governance integrity. Following the controversy, the ACX token dropped roughly 10%, reflecting market unease.
This latest episode underscores recurring themes in decentralized finance—insider influence, murky governance, and pseudonymous whistleblowers. As the DeFi space continues to evolve, the Across-Risk Labs saga may serve as a cautionary tale about the blurred lines between decentralization and centralized control cloaked in DAO structures.
June 2025, Cryptoniteuae