Azeem Ahmed, founder of Mochi Finance and GaiaDAO, sold about 550,285 Convex Finance (CVX) tokens on March 19, generating roughly $946,000 in proceeds. On‑chain records show an average sale price near $1.72, which pushed CVX from about $1.88 to $1.68 intraday. Proceeds were routed to a multisig associated with the Mochi protocol and that multisig held about $864,858 after the sale. Approximately 500,000 CVX remain locked on Convex under the same governance control.
The CVX position traces back to November 2021, when Mochi minted USDM stablecoin against 10 billion MOCHI tokens that used a hard‑coded oracle price despite minimal market liquidity. Mochi converted about 46 million USDM into roughly 9,876 ETH and purchased about 1,050,285 CVX, which were then locked on Convex as vlCVX. Curve’s Emergency DAO killed Mochi’s gauge and blocked emissions at the time, calling the maneuver a “clear governance attack” amid disputes over CVX and CRV voting power during the broader Curve Wars.
Ahmed later launched GaiaDAO and introduced a Peg Rebalancing Module (PBM) intended to distribute staking rewards from the locked vlCVX to USDM holders to help restore the peg. The PBM charged a 2% management fee and initially a 20% performance fee; records show Ahmed briefly raised the performance fee to 50% before reversing the change after backlash. By November 2025, distributions from the 1,050,285 vlCVX position reportedly 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 roughly 2,198 ETH (about $6.67 million at the time) and $471,429 in USDC were drained from Mochi/ETH liquidity pools and not returned to depositors. Airdrops from protocols including Prisma, CNC, VELO, LFT, and YB are said to have remained unclaimed or undistributed. IFW Global’s certified reports place aggregated investor losses tied to the Mochi ecosystem and associated pools at over $54 million.
Ahmed’s history includes involvement with at least four DeFi projects since 2020—Yieldfarming.insure (SAFE), Armor.fi, Mochi Finance, and GaiaDAO—and repeated community accusations and claims from former collaborators of misappropriating funds. During the original Mochi‑Curve clash, Curve characterized Mochi’s actions as a governance attack; Ahmed has defended them as an effort to gain DAO voting power. Former co‑founder Robert Forster later accused Ahmed of stealing “millions in LP tokens,” a claim Ahmed denies, saying funds were returned and counter‑alleging misconduct by Forster.
Legal pressure has followed earlier disputes. A 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 cite potential U.S. claims that could include securities fraud under Section 10(b), racketeering (RICO), common‑law fraud, conversion, and unjust enrichment. Investors have been advised 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 affected investors view the sale as evidence the locked CVX might be used for exit liquidity rather than restitution. With roughly 500,000 CVX still locked under the same governance control, additional sales could create major liquidity events for CVX and revive questions about DeFi governance when voting power is acquired through contentious on‑chain actions. Ahmed has not publicly addressed the latest allegations, and his social accounts have been inactive for months.