Azeem Ahmed, founder of Mochi Finance and GaiaDAO, sold about 550,285 Convex Finance (CVX) tokens on March 19, liquidating roughly $946,000 and triggering a more than 10% intraday drop in CVX’s price. On‑chain records show the tokens were sold at an average price near $1.72, pushing CVX from roughly $1.88 to $1.68. Proceeds were routed to a multisig tied to the Mochi protocol, which held about $864,858 after the sale. About 500,000 CVX remain locked on Convex Finance.
The CVX holding traces back to a controversial November 2021 episode in which Mochi minted its USDM stablecoin against 10 billion MOCHI tokens—assigned a hard‑coded oracle price despite minimal market value—and used the minted 46 million USDM to convert into roughly 9,876 ETH and purchase about 1,050,285 CVX. Those CVX were locked on Convex. Curve’s Emergency DAO responded by killing Mochi’s gauge and blocking emissions, calling the maneuver a “clear governance attack” amid broader “Curve Wars” disputes over CVX and CRV voting power.
Afterward, Ahmed resurfaced with GaiaDAO and a Peg Rebalancing Module (PBM) intended to distribute CVX staking rewards from the locked position to USDM holders to help restore the peg. The PBM charged a 2% management fee and an initial 20% performance fee; forum records show Ahmed briefly increased the performance fee to 50% before reversing it following backlash. By November 2025, distributions from the 1,050,285 vlCVX position had stopped, and on‑chain analysis indicates rewards were rerouted to a wallet that also signs on the CVX multisig. Forensics firm IFW Global estimates the value of diverted staking rewards alone at more than $1.6 million.
Beyond staking flows, investigators allege about 2,198 ETH (roughly $6.67 million at the time) and $471,429 in USDC were drained from Mochi/ETH liquidity pools and never returned to depositors. Airdrops from protocols including Prisma, CNC, VELO, LFT, and YB reportedly remained unclaimed or undistributed. IFW Global’s certified reports put aggregate investor losses tied to the Mochi ecosystem and associated pools at over $54 million.
Ahmed’s record spans at least four DeFi projects dating back to 2020—Yieldfarming.insure (SAFE), Armor.fi, Mochi Finance, and GaiaDAO—with repeated accusations from community members and former collaborators of misappropriating funds. During the original Mochi‑Curve clash, Curve framed Mochi’s strategy as a governance attack; Ahmed has defended the actions as an attempt to gain DAO voting power. Former co‑founder Robert Forster later accused Ahmed of stealing “millions in LP tokens,” which Ahmed denied, saying funds were returned and counter‑alleging misconduct by Forster.
Legal pressure has followed. A prior suit by an Armor.fi user in San Francisco Superior Court (Chen v. Ahmed, Case No. CGC‑21‑589609) was resolved via out‑of‑court settlement after a temporary restraining order application. Attorneys and affected parties now point to potential U.S. claims including securities fraud under Section 10(b), racketeering (RICO), common‑law fraud, conversion, and unjust enrichment. Investors have been directed to consider complaints with the SEC, CFTC, and the FBI’s IC3 portal.
Ahmed’s March 19 liquidation is the most aggressive on‑chain move from Mochi‑linked wallets since the 2021 Curve incident. Many impacted investors view the sale as evidence the locked CVX may be used for exit liquidity rather than restitution. With roughly 500,000 CVX still locked under the same governance control, further sales could create major liquidity events for CVX and raise broader questions about DeFi governance when voting power is acquired via contentious on‑chain actions. Ahmed has not publicly addressed the latest allegations, and his social accounts have been inactive for months.
