Fetch.ai Alleges Ocean Misused Tokens Before ASI Merger

Fetch.ai CEO Alleges Ocean Protocol Misused Tokens Before ASI Merger

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: October 17, 2025

Key Takeaways

Fetch.ai CEO accused Ocean Protocol of secretly issuing OCEAN tokens before a merger and converting them into FET without disclosure;
Binance will stop accepting ERC-20 Ocean token deposits from October 20, and warns users that such transfers may result in lost funds;
Sheikh plans legal action across several regions, while Ocean denies the claims and says its treasury remains secure.

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A conflict involving Fetch.ai’s CEO, Humayun Sheikh, and the Ocean Protocol Foundation has led to legal threats and changes in token handling by Binance $15.21B .

The disagreement comes after the formation of the Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) Alliance in 2024, which brought together Fetch.ai, Ocean Protocol, and SingularityNET under a shared token system.

Sheikh claimed in a post on X that Ocean Protocol issued a large number of OCEAN OCEAN $0.2286 tokens before the merger and exchanged a portion for FET FET $0.2629 .

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He said these tokens were then transferred to exchanges and market makers without proper communication.

According to Sheikh, Ocean created 719 million OCEAN tokens in 2023. Of those, 661 million were swapped for 286 million FET tokens in July 2025.

Binance announced that starting October 20, the exchange will no longer support OCEAN token deposits via the ERC-20 network. Although other networks will remain available, deposits made through ERC-20 after that date will not be processed and may result in lost funds.

In response, Sheikh said he plans to support class-action lawsuits in several countries and encouraged Binance, GSR, and ExaGroup to investigate the situation. He also asked FET holders to gather information and promised to create a way for them to submit claims.

In a post on X, the Ocean Protocol team called the claims baseless and damaging. They said their treasury remains secure and that they offered to make findings from a neutral party public. They also stated that they are working on formal responses.

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