This week, the cryptocurrency community was rocked after Kadena’s sudden shutdown announcement sent KDA price crash by more than 60% in a few hours. The huge price drop caused a huge sale as investors scrambled to make sense of the abrupt closure of the once-promising blockchain project. Shortly afterwards, a shocking revelation from analysts showed that the problems went much deeper market conditionsindicating serious internal misconduct and mismanagement.
Kadena scandal exposed after KDA price crash
A day after the KDA price crash on Tuesday, crypto analyst Lovrin said revealed on social media closure noticessecuring tens of millions of dollars in profits. The reports indicate that crypto exchanges have apparently facilitated these transactions, painting a picture of coordinated internal manipulation.
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To further fuel the scandal, a viral X-post from crypto market commentator @Katexbt exposed additional allegations against Kadena’s leadership. The post claimed that Kadena founders Stuart Popejoy and Will Martino were allegedly sued by family members over a personal loan used to fund Kadena, raising questions about its financial transparency from the start.
Katexbt claimed that the blockchain was effectively non-functional, claiming a transit of 480,000 transactions per second, but was missing real users or wallets. Partnerships and institutional involvement that were publicly promoted were reportedly exaggerated or fabricated, raising further doubts about the legitimacy of the Kadena project.
The team would also have a KOL officeprioritizing selling real money tokens over paying the marketing company for its services. Additional allegations point to complex ties between Kadena’s leadership and affiliated companies, including the Kaddex domain, which is said to be registered under Popejoy’s Kadena Eco family golf club in Italy.
Katexbt claimed that the blockchain project faced a lawsuit at one point, but it made little difference as the team hid behind a maze of LLCs. Even more shocking, the crypto commentator claimed that the Kadena team had worked with Francesco Melpignano, the former CEO of Kadena Eco, to extract large amounts of KDA, which were then sold at peak prices, generating an estimated $20 million to $80 million in profits. Following this, community members are said to have ousted Melpignano, although Katexbt claims the former CEO is still on the payroll of a shell company.
About the Kadena shutdown
On Tuesday Kadena issued a public statement confirming the cessation of all business activities. The team emphasized that despite the organization’s wind-down, the Kadena blockchain would continue to operate independently decentralized model.
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The announcement described the closure as a response to market volatility and adverse conditionsexpressing our gratitude to the staff, partners and community. The Kadena team clarified that the blockchain itself was not owned or controlled by the company, and emphasized that independent miners and the trustees would govern it in the future. They also noted that approximately 566 million KDA remain to be distributed as mining rewards through 2139, while 83.7 million tokens are expected to come out of lock-up by November 2029.
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com