$80M Deal Gone Wrong: Alameda Research, Reef Finance Spar Over Unloaded Tokens

An $80 million deal between a rising decentralized finance (DeFi) project and a juggernaut crypto investment firm unraveled Monday, with both projects pointing fingers and wagging chins.

Reef Finance, a multi-chain liquidity provider, appeared to reverse course on an over-the-counter (OTC) deal for its REEF tokens halfway through due to “doubts around Alameda’s long-term interest in being a strategic investor,” the startup said in a Monday blog post.

Reef had offered a 20% discount on the tokens to promote “synergies” between Serum and Solana – two projects in which Alameda is heavily invested. The dispute turned into a Twitter flame war, however, after a large portion of that initial token set was immediately transferred to Binance, presumably to be sold.