Evmos Foundation takes back $7.6 million in tokens from departed co-founder

59 million tokens from former Evmos EVMOS +3.62% co-founder Akash Koshla have been returned to the Evmos Foundation.

This return followed Evmos’ alleged statement in May 2023 that Khosla had attempted to sell large amounts of Evmos’ native token on the market — raising concerns about his departure at the time. His return of his allocated tokens is expected to realign token distribution with Evmos’ current team and contributors.

The return, including both vested and unvested tokens, amounts to 59.4 million ($7.6 million) in total. Near 32 million of these tokens belonged to Khosla and the rest unallocated team tokens.

According to Khosla, his decision to return the tokens ensures the best interests of the project and the community. “This is the best outcome for the project and community, ensuring that EVMOS tokens are in the hands of those actively contributing to the project’s growth and development,” he said.

The foundation told The Block there was an agreement with Khosla for an undisclosed amount for the return.

Khosla left Evmos last year due to operational disagreements. The project’s development is led by the director of the Evmos Foundation, Federico Kunze Küllmer.

Evmos is a Cosmos-backed blockchain compatible with Ethereum apps. In November 2022, the team raised $27 million in a token round led by Polychain Capital.

The Evmos token

This return comes as the Evmos community works to improve the project’s tokenomics — particularly the high inflation that contributed to the token’s price decline since its 2022 launch. The move gains additional significance in light of Khosla’s return of 59 million tokens.

Since its inception in 2022, the Evmos token has seen a substantial drop in value. It experienced a 98% decline, plummeting from its initial trading price of $6.8 in April 2022 to a current price of around $0.13, according to The Block’s price page. This decline was further exacerbated by allegations of Khosla’s attempt to dump the tokens on the market, which coincided with a nearly 50% drop in its price last May.

Evmos recently took decisive steps to stabilize the token’s value. A notable move is the community’s approval of a proposal to burn 136 million tokens from the ‘user incentives balance’ in the upcoming network upgrade.