Across Protocol Founders Accused of Manipulating DAO Vote
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Across Protocol founders have been accused of manipulating the DAO vote
The alleged manipulation led to the team allocating itself $23 million
The funds went to Risk Labs, an entity controlled by the founders
Across Protocol founders have been accused by the crypto community of manipulating a DAO vote to allocate $23 million to themselves. The funds went to Risk Labs, an entity with a Cayman Islands registration, “has no shareholders, […] and operates “under a fiduciary responsibility.” Hart Lambur, the founder of both Across and Risk Labs, refuted the allegations, saying the funds were rightfully allocated in two governance proposals, adding that Risk Labs is a non-profit, not a for-profit entity.
Across Team Used “Secret Votes”
According to blockchain investigator pseudonymously known as Ogle, the protocol’s team “used secret votes” to dictate the outcome of a proposal seeking to send the funds to Risk Labs. The proposal was tabled by Across’ project lead, Kevin Chan, in October 2023.
TLDR: Across Protocol/Bridge ($ACX) team used secret votes to extract ~$23m from the Across DAO’s treasury for their own private company’s benefit.
Background: I’ve many times posted about DAOs that are DAOs “in name only” – that is, organizations that pretend to be run by “the…
— ogle | glue.net (@cryptogle) June 26, 2025
In the proposal, Chan requested the transfer of $15 million in the form of the protocol’s ACX tokens from the DAO to Risk Labs. Ogle claimed that it “looked like [the proposal] had a lot of DAO voter support – but this was illusory.”
Chan, his family members, and “folks from the Risk Labs team” used secret wallets to support the proposal. Ogle added that Hart also used a secret wallet to vote for the proposal. In 2024, the team requested an additional $7.5 million from the DAO, which, according to Ogle, was supported by the same individuals who passed the first proposal.
DAO Vote Not Manipulated, Says Hart
Hart has, however, denied that his team manipulated the DAO vote, saying Risk Labs is a non-profit entity mandated to “build the Across and UMA decentralized protocols.” He added that the Across community granted ACX tokens to Risk Labs through a transparent voting process.
— Hart Lambur (,) (@hal2001) June 27, 2025
According to Hart, most of the Across team members voted on the proposal using publicly acquired ACX tokens, adding that they voted as they “saw fit.” The Across founder claimed that Ogle’s reputation can’t be trusted due to his involvement with Across rivals, LayerZero and Stargate.
With Ogle claiming to have on-chain evidence and Hart denying any wrongdoing, it’s to be seen whether Ogle will publish all addresses that voted and how they are connected to the Across team.
The post Across Protocol Founders Accused of Manipulating DAO Vote appeared first on FullyCrypto.
Filed under: Bitcoin - @ June 30, 2025 10:20 am