OPNX fizzles at open, with a paltry $13.64 in volume during the first 24 hours

by Christiana Loureiro and Adam Morgan McCarthy

Companies • April 5, 2023, 12:53PM EDT

Quick Take

OPNX did not start off with a bang.
The exchange’s token, FLEX, is down 27%, trading at $1.95.

OPNX, the new exchange for crypto-related bankruptcy claims run by 3AC founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davie, got off to trading with a dud, seeing just $13.64 in volume across both spot and perpetual derivatives trading in its first 24 hours.

The exchange appeared to brush off the matter after initial reports of volume that was just over $1, while some users on Twitter asked if the company was missing any 0s.

"After the FTX fallout, we've thought about this deeply and re-evaluated what building up liquidity should look like," the firm's chief executive officer Leslie Lamb said in a follow-up tweet. "This means not relying on internal MMs & not giving preference to external MMs. This is why we launched with minimal liquidity."

The firm will "build up liquidity" via a transparent market making program "so everyone can see what's inside the box," she said. Claims onboarding and trading are not yet live, Lamb added.

The exchange is the brainchild of the sullied hedge fund investors behind now-bankrupt Three Arrows Capital, which was among the most notable victims of crypto's 2022 credit crisis. The former classmates teamed up with Coinflex CEO Mark Lamb to launch the venture via a rebranding of the erstwhile derivatives venue. CEO Leslie Lamb is his wife.

Failed exchanges

The exchange intends to support trading in bankruptcy claims tied to failed exchanges, like Sam Bankman-Fried's now-bankrupt FTX.

Coinflex rebranded to Open Exchange last month with FLEX as the exchange token. FLEX was trading at $1.97 by 12:10 p.m. EST, down 27% over the past almost 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

OPNX launched on Tuesday along with a giveaway of its native token FLEX as a "token of our appreciation."

About Authors

Christiana is a long-time journalist who has written about markets in the Americas, politicians who stashed cash in their underwear and high-end heels, to name just a few. She previously spent six years at Bloomberg, and her work has appeared in the WSJ, LA Times, Insider, Vogue Business and more. Christiana has a bachelor's degree in English from Pace University and a master's degree in journalism from New York University. She completed a master's degree in media psychology for fun.

Adam Morgan is a reporter covering cryptocurrency, financial markets, and economics – anything from price movements, earnings reports, and inflation to the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate decisions and everything in between. Adam is based in London.