The blockchain project Self Chain has decided to remove its founder and CEO Ravindra Kumar after a fraudulent scheme that resulted in $50 million in losses was uncovered.
In an official statement, the project mentioned that the leadership changes were prompted by events that conflicted with the core values and development principles of Self Chain. The company stated that it is “initiating a decisive leadership change,” aiming to continue its operations in line with principles of openness and integrity.
According to an investigation by Altcoin Alpha, since November 2024, Telegram groups had been offering opportunities to purchase tokens from projects like Aptos, Sei, Swell, Coti, Kava, and others over the counter (OTC) under attractive terms. In particular, investors were able to purchase locked tokens at significant discounts, up to 50%, even though the assets were locked for a period of four to five months.
On June 19, the head of the Indian OTC platform Aza Ventures, Mohammed Wasim, admitted that his company had unintentionally facilitated dozens of fraudulent transactions, which harmed many investors. He explained that the fake sales were part of a Ponzi scheme organized by a longtime acquaintance who was also a token intermediary. The entrepreneur did not reveal the identity of the suspect, citing ongoing negotiations to return funds to the affected buyers.
In the cryptocurrency community, user comments hinted at the possible involvement of the Indian founder in this scheme. A post by Kumar on social media X was seen as indirect confirmation of his involvement in the fraud:
“I have been accused of a serious offense, which is a complete lie. We are working with the legal team on a statement to resolve this issue.”
Research showed that dozens of investors were affected by the fraudulent scheme, with some investments exceeding $1 million. According to Self Chain’s statement, Ravindra Kumar’s role in the project has officially ended, and he will no longer hold any position or be associated with the company in the future.
The statement emphasized that the Self Chain project will continue building a community-governed layer-one blockchain and aims to develop its ecosystem with a shift towards a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) model.
However, users noted that the project’s activity on GitHub raised questions, as the number of commits did not exceed ten. One commenter added:
“This is still much better than 75% of the projects you find on Binance. Check it yourself.”
After the scandal, the price of the Self Chain (SLF) token sharply dropped from about $0.13 on June 18 to around $0.085, a nearly 90% drop from its all-time high recorded in August 2024. The current market capitalization is $14.3 million.
Experts attribute the price drops of popular Binance-listed tokens, such as Polyhedra Network (ZKJ) and 48 Club Token (KOGE), to a massive dump orchestrated by major investors and token holders. These events further confirmed the risks of market manipulation by large players in the cryptocurrency industry.
