Ocean Protocol Refutes Fetch.ai’s “Token Theft” Claims, Calls for Fulfillment of FET Migration Obligations

• Ocean Protocol denies stealing community tokens from ASI Alliance

• FET claims Ocean Protocol stole from the community as the super AI formally collapses.

Ocean Protocol and Fetch.ai Breakdown

The ASI Alliance breakdown, a joint initiative that once included FOcean Protocol, Fetch.ai, and SingularityNet, has officially collapsed. In light of these, the breakdown has taken another turn after the Ocean Protocol Foundation publicly denied claims made by Fetch.ai executives that Ocean “stole community tokens.”

In an official statement, Ocean described the allegations as “false, misleading, and libelous,” asserting that the tokens in question were never part of the ASI merger agreement and remain securely held by Ocean Expeditions (formerly oceanDAO), an independent organization legally separate from the Ocean Protocol Foundation.

Ocean Protocol Denies “Token Theft” Allegations

The controversy began after Fetch.ai CEO Humayun Sheikh accused Ocean of “trying to steal from the community” during an X Space on October 9, 2025, following Ocean’s withdrawal from the ASI Alliance. Sheikh questioned why Ocean had “entered into tokens that belonged to the community or the alliance” if it no longer wished to participate.

Ocean swiftly responded, rejecting these accusations and clarifying that Ocean Expeditions, not the Ocean Protocol Foundation, holds the community treasury. The foundation explained that Ocean Expeditions was incorporated as a separate entity in June 2025 and is not bound by the ASI Token Merger Agreement.

“The statement by Sheikh is false, misleading, and libelous,”

Ocean said.

“Neither oceanDAO nor Ocean Expeditions are parties to the ASI Alliance Token Merger Agreement.”

According to Ocean, this fact had already been disclosed to both Fetch.ai and SingularityNET as early as May 2024, during merger discussions.

Ocean Expeditions’ Legal Independence

Ocean emphasized that Ocean Expeditions operates independently and that its treasury, representing community tokens, is held in a legally established trust in the Cayman Islands under the guardianship of Ocean Expeditions’ trustees.

“The Ocean community treasury remains in the custodianship of Ocean Expeditions guardians via a duly established, wholly legal trust,”

The foundation stated.

Ocean further clarified that every $FET token holder retains full property rights over their tokens and that neither Ocean Protocol Foundation nor Ocean Expeditions has any obligation to the ASI Alliance. Instead, the Alliance itself has obligations toward Ocean Expeditions as a token holder.

Call for Fetch.ai to Honor Its $FET Commitment.

Beyond refuting Fetch.ai’s accusations, Ocean turned the spotlight back on Fetch.ai, accusing it of failing to meet its contractual duties under the ASI Token Merger Agreement.

The foundation urged Fetch.ai to immediately inject the remaining 110.9 million $FET tokens into the $OCEAN:$FET token migration contract, which allows Ocean token holders to redeem their tokens for FET.

“Ocean Expeditions has no legal obligations to the ASI Alliance,”

The foundation stated.

“Rather, Fetch.ai has a clear, legally binding obligation to inject the remaining 110.9 million $FET into the bridge contract. To date, this obligation remains unmet.”

Ocean also clarified that there is no “return of tokens” to any party, as none were ever stolen or misappropriated. The tokens in question remain securely held for the Ocean community under Ocean Expeditions’ oversight.

A Rift That Exposes Deeper Tensions

The ASI Alliance was initially launched to unify three AI-focused blockchain projects. The projects include Fetch.ai, Ocean Protocol, and SingularityNet under

a standard token Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) token to accelerate decentralized AI development.

However, growing internal disagreements over governance, transparency, and token management led to Ocean’s withdrawal earlier this year. The latest public dispute exposes the deepening fracture between the former partners, raising questions about the alliance’s future viability.

Ocean’s latest statement concluded with a warning to Fetch.ai and other Alliance representatives to stop spreading unverified information:

“Any published information regarding this matter, unless confirmed officially by Ocean Protocol Foundation, should be assumed false. We also request that Fetch.ai, Sheikh, and all other ASI Alliance spokesmen refrain from confusing the public with false, misleading, and libelous allegations.”

The Bigger Picture

As blockchain alliances become more common across emerging sectors such as AI and data tokenization, the ASI dispute underscores the challenges of managing shared token economies and multi-entity governance structures.

For now, Ocean Protocol maintains that its withdrawal was conducted lawfully, its community assets are secure and independently managed, and that Fetch.ai must honor its remaining obligations before further allegations can be taken seriously.

The clash highlights a larger truth in decentralized ecosystems: even in a trustless environment, clarity of legal and organizational boundaries remains crucial for community confidence.