Across Protocol token plunges amid allegations of $23M misappropriation by team

ACX, the native token of Across Protocol, has dropped sharply following serious allegations of insider self-dealing involving $23 million in decentralized autonomous organization funds.

The token is trading at $0.1342, down 10% in the past 24 hours and over 40% in the past month. It’s now 91% below its all-time high of $1.69 set in December 2024.

The allegations were made public on June 27 by Ogle, the pseudonymous founder of Layer 1 project Glue and advisor to World Liberty Financial. In a detailed post on X, Ogle accused the Across Protocol team, particularly project lead Kevin Chan and chief executive officer Hart Lambur, of orchestrating two secretive proposals that directly benefited their own company using undisclosed wallets.

These proposals, made to appear as having community support, transferred 150 million ACX tokens worth about $23 million at current prices to Risk Labs over two separate governance votes. The first vote in October 2023 granted 100 million ACX under the pretense of future development support, with claims that the tokens would not be sold for two years.

But soon after, Risk Labs allegedly began selling token option agreements to external investors  A second vote, for “retroactive funding” of 50 million ACX, passed primarily due to insider-controlled wallets. Without those votes, it would not have reached quorum.

The report argues that such actions run counter to DAO governance principles and create significant future sell pressure, especially harmful to ACX holders unaware of the conflicts of interest behind these decisions. Across Protocol has not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of writing.

Looking at the technical picture, the chart shows clear downward pressure. The token is currently hugging the lower Bollinger Band at $0.1308 and trading below its 20-day simple moving average of $0.1597. At 31.27, the relative streghth index, which is trending downwards, is close to oversold territory.

ACX price analysis. Credit: TradingView

More declines may occur if the price breaks through the $0.13 support zone. Some investors may watching for a bounce move back toward the mid-Bollinger band despite the sell-off. However, in the short term, upward momentum might be limited due to deteriorating sentiment and eroded trust in the team.