This week, the cryptocurrency community was rocked after Kadena’s sudden shutdown announcement sent the KDA price crashing by over 60% in a few hours. The massive price collapse triggered an enormous sell-off as investors scrambled to understand the abrupt closure of the once-promising blockchain project. Soon after, a shocking exposé from analysts revealed that the problems ran far deeper than market conditions, hinting at serious internal misconduct and mismanagement.
Kadena Scandal Exposed After KDA Price Crash
A day after the KDA price crash on Tuesday, crypto analyst Lovrin revealed on X social media that several Kadena employees were allegedly caught shorting the token with leverage just before shutdown announcements, securing tens of millions of dollars in profits. The reports indicate that crypto exchanges purportedly facilitated these trades, painting a picture of coordinated internal manipulation.
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Adding fuel to the scandal, a viral X post from crypto market commentator @Katexbt exposed additional allegations against the Kadena leadership. The post claimed that the 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 outset.
Katexbt asserted that the blockchain was effectively non-functional, claiming a throughput of 480,000 transactions per second, yet it lacked real users or wallets. Partnerships and institutional involvement that were publicly promoted were reportedly exaggerated or fabricated, adding further doubts about the legitimacy of the Kadena project.
The team also allegedly hired a KOL agency, prioritizing selling tokens for real money over paying the marketing firm for its services. Additional allegations point to complex ties between Kadena’s leadership and affiliated companies, including the Kaddex domain, which was said to have been registered under Popejoy’s Kadena Eco’s family golf club in Italy.
Katexbt claimed that the blockchain project was slapped with a lawsuit at some point, but it made little difference as the team hid behind a maze of LLCs. Even more shocking, the crypto commentator alleged 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 near peak prices, netting an estimated $20 million to $80 million in profits. Following this, community members reportedly ousted Melpignano, though Katexbt alleges that the former CEO remains on a shell company’s payroll.
About The Kadena Shutdown
On Tuesday, Kadena released a public statement confirming the cessation of all business operations. The team stressed that, despite the organization’s wind-down, the Kadena blockchain would continue to operate independently under a decentralized model.
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The announcement described the closure as a response to market volatility and unfavourable conditions, expressing gratitude to staff, partners, and the community. The Kadena team clarified that the blockchain itself was not owned or operated by the company, emphasizing that independent miners and maintainers would govern it in the future. They also noted that about 566 million KDA remain to be distributed as mining rewards through 2139, while 83.7 million tokens are scheduled to come out of lockup by November 2029.
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
