We’re still in shock after this last week. We apologize for not releasing a statement earlier. We wanted to gather all the information before presenting it to the community but we should have done better in giving you updates.

We have read and listened to every comment and post in our channels in the days after the token listed on Bittrex International.

For many the first impression of Ocean Protocol was poor, and many contributors were hurt and have asked valid questions.

We are working to deliver something important and we feel that the best way to respect our 8,500 contributors, is to remain focused on the mission. Ocean Protocol is building for the long-term. Our goal has always been to unlock data for AI and to address challenges in business and society.

We have a deep responsibility to all contributors and we deeply care about our community. We want to reflect on the emotions, frustration, anger from the community and respond with sincerity.

What happened?

On Friday, May 3, at 1600 GMT, the Ocean Token Contract unlocked. We did this to push through 459 transactions to token holders and allow for deposits into Bittrex accounts. Unfortunately, the process was poorly communicated causing confusion for many wishing to move tokens into Bittrex International. We apologize for this.

In the meantime, people started moving Ocean Tokens to Bilaxy and started trading. Since the token contract is public and accessible, anyone can choose to list Ocean — Bilaxy decided to without communicating with Ocean Protocol. The token price held for a moment above $0.12 but there were more people that wanted to sell than buy. Once the spark was lit, the token price fell quickly to $0.08.