Open Exchange (OPNX) claimed to have experienced a huge spike in trading volume and joked about its depressingly low opening day.
According to an April 10 tweet by OPNX, its trading volume totaled $13.64 on its first day on April 4, but has since apparently surged to $12,398 on April 9, an increase of more than 90,000%. However, new data shows that the increase in transaction volume over the past 24 hours was much larger.
According to CoinGecko data, as of April 10, OPNX’s 24-hour trading volume has surged to more than $179,000, an increase of about 24,500% since April 9.
The vast majority of trading volume comes from Bitcoin trading pairs and tether, valued at over $178,000. It’s unclear exactly what sparked the increase, but it may have something to do with a new market-making initiative OPNX announced on April 9 to help increase its trading volume. OPNX’s trading volume may also be a result of the steady climb in the price of BTC, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, which topped $30,000 for the first time since June.
OPNX CEO Leslie Lamb announced that the exchange will open for business on April 4. The firm is home to Su Zhu and Kyle Davis, co-founders of cryptocurrency investment firm Coinflex and co-founders of defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. The crypto community has had mixed reactions to the launch of OPNX and its reported transaction volume.
Some comments have criticized the exchange for its ties to Davis and Zhu, whose whereabouts have been unknown since the collapse of 3AC, which once held $10 billion in assets, in 2022. Meanwhile, others scoffed at OPNX’s still relatively low volume and joked that Binance CEO and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao would be concerned about the project. By comparison, Binance posted a 24-hour trading volume of more than $11 billion, while OPNX posted a volume of $179,000, according to CoinGecko.
