On July 30, Eduard Jubany Tur, the founder of ZKX, said that the site would be shut down because it was not profitable. Many people were caught off guard by the sudden choice and lack of communication.
Amber Group, a major market maker for ZKX, was shocked by the sudden end. Not long ago, the company went to X to complain that ZKX wasn’t talking to them. Amber said it would be helping to make sure there was enough cash for ZKX’s token generation event on June 19.
In order to make this possible, Amber borrowed 2 million ZKX tokens for free. Even though no one else was buying, Amber kept buying ZKX tokens to keep the market liquid, even as prices went down.
Tur Defends ZKX Closure
On June 24, ZKX asked for the return of 1 million tokens to cut down on usage and boost trust in the community. Amber agreed, and the loan was cut down to 1 million tokens. When ZKX said it was shutting down, Amber already had 3 million ZKX tokens and had bought another 2 million on the open market to make sure there was always funds in circulation. Amber stressed how important it is to be honest and said that ZKX’s lack of contact set a bad example.
Several other partners agreed with Amber. HashingKey Capital said ZKX was wrong for not being open about its finances and business plans. The venture capital company wrote on X that they were sad that trust and confidence were being lost because ZKX wasn’t responding to their messages and Tur handled the situation badly.
Ye Su, an investor, was also angry that he wasn’t told about the shutdown before it happened. He said that the ZKX team failed to provide him information about funds or spending. ZachXBT, a well-known blockchain researcher, said that the ZKX mess was caused by a rug pull.
Even though there was criticism, Henri, who is in charge of developer relations at the Starknet Foundation, stood up for ZKX and said that the team had made important advances to the ecosystem. Henri thought that ZKX’s sudden shutdown was due to bad decisions, not bad intentions.
In a long X post, Tur defended his position and made it clear that all user funds had been returned and that over 95% of withdrawals had been finished. He admitted that the team had underestimated the costs of running the business, such as the costs of keeping a layer-3 blockchain and making markets.
Tur talked about the project’s financial problems and attempts to keep cash on hand, pointing out that the $7.6 million raised over four years was not enough. He made it clear that the team was acting honestly, trying to find a balance between the needs of all stakeholders and looking into other ways to keep the project going.
