A Single Individual Holds the Keys to $200 Million in Crypto, Sparking a Governance Dispute

For years, the treasury of a prominent cryptocurrency project was managed through an unconventional setup, with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets controlled by personal wallets lacking multi-signature protections and formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, this individual is Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder and core protocol architect. Da estimates that Zhang alone controls around 85% of the project's assets, valued between $200 million and $250 million, using a single signature. The native tokens held by Zhang exceed the project's current market capitalization of $197 million. The two co-founders have been publicly disputing since December, resulting in rival governance proposals and an unsuccessful mediation attempt in Hong Kong. Da has proposed a restructuring plan, which involves relocating the project's foundation from Singapore to the Cayman Islands, establishing an independent five-member board, and redistributing tokens to holders. In contrast, Zhang's counter-proposal suggests maintaining the current governance structure and conducting a formal investigation into historical asset management. Da has dismissed these allegations, stating that there is no evidence of corruption or misuse of funds. The project's treasury holds approximately $460 million in assets, double its market value, while the token has dropped 98% from its peak in 2018. The situation has resulted in a stalemate, with each co-founder holding significant leverage over the other. Da has framed his proposal as a form of mutual disarmament, where both parties would relinquish control over the assets. However, the success of this plan depends on Zhang's cooperation, and it remains uncertain whether he will agree to transfer the single-signature token holdings to a multi-signature lock address.