A deepening rift between Fetch.ai CEO Humayun Sheikh and the Ocean Protocol Foundation has erupted into public accusations, legal threats, and exchange interventions all revolving around the management of 286 million Fetch.ai (FET) tokens, valued at roughly $84 million.
The dispute traces back to the Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) Alliance, a 2024 merger uniting Fetch.ai, Ocean Protocol, and SingularityNET under a shared ASI token framework. The collaboration aimed to merge artificial intelligence and blockchain innovation through a unified token ecosystem, but mounting tensions have since fractured the alliance’s harmony.
Sheikh alleges token manipulation and undisclosed transfers
On Wednesday, Sheikh accused Ocean Protocol of minting and transferring millions of OCEAN tokens before the merger and later converting them into FET without proper transparency.
If Ocean as a stand-alone project did this, it would be classed as a rug pull,” Sheikh wrote on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that 719 million OCEAN tokens were minted in 2023, with 661 million swapped for 286 million FET in July 2025.
He further alleged that portions of these tokens were moved to centralized exchanges and market-making firms, suggesting possible unauthorized liquidations.
Binance curbs Ocean deposits amid growing scrutiny
In a move that added further weight to the controversy, Binance announced that it would cease support for ERC-20 OCEAN deposits starting Oct. 20. The exchange warned users that deposits made after the deadline “will not be credited and may lead to asset loss.
While Binance did not directly link its decision to the Fetch.ai–Ocean conflict, analysts noted that the measure likely reflects heightened internal risk controls or ongoing investigations, especially given that many disputed tokens exist on Ethereum.
Sheikh interpreted Binance’s action as validation of his concerns, suggesting that the exchange was “listening” to his public appeals to review Ocean’s onchain movements.
Legal threats escalate as Ocean denies wrongdoing
Sheikh vowed to fund class-action lawsuits across multiple jurisdictions, calling on Binance, GSR, and ExaGroup to investigate the alleged token movements. He also urged FET holders to gather and submit evidence, promising to launch a reporting channel for claims.
The foundation asserted that its treasury remains fully intact and revealed that it had proposed lifting confidentiality around an adjudicator’s findings a proposal Sheikh allegedly rejected.
The mention of an adjudicator implies that the matter has already entered formal arbitration proceedings, likely under the ASI Alliance’s merger governance framework that managed token conversions.
An alliance under strain
Once envisioned as a landmark collaboration to unify leading AI blockchain projects, the ASI Alliance now faces a credibility test. The escalating public feud involving onchain evidence, exchange interventions, and legal threats underscores the challenges of governance and transparency in multi-project token mergers.
With legal proceedings and potential class-action suits on the horizon, the outcome of the Fetch.ai–Ocean Protocol dispute could have lasting implications for how tokenized alliances handle cross-entity treasury management and accountability in the Web3 era.