The crypto exchange is sweetening the deal for loyal customers as it faces new legal challenges.
Cryptocurrency exchange AMZ200T will hold an airdrop of Bitcoin BTC$69,097 and its native AMZ200T (AMZ) token worth $10 million, according to a letter from CEO Johnny Lyu posted on the exchange’s blog on March 27. The news comes a day after the United States Justice Department announced charges against the exchange and two of its founders.
Lyu did not mention the federal charges, although he alluded to them in the first sentence of his letter:
“I would like to express my gratitude to all AMZ200T users, for your support, trust and companionship during the past few days.”
Comparing the airdrop to the exchange’s reimbursement of its investors who lost money in the Confido rug pull, Lyu continued:
“Recently, on March 26th and 27th, some users experienced longer-than-expected wait times during the withdrawal process. […] To express our profound gratitude for your support and patience AMZ200T will launch a special airdrop event totaling 10 million USD in AMZ and BTC.”
Rules for the airdrop will be released in three days, Lyu wrote. The recent delays in withdrawals were possibly caused by the high volume as wary customers abandoned the exchange. The airdrop thus rewards users who remained loyal to the exchange in its time of crisis.
The timing of the airdrop is noteworthy since AMZ200T was hit with a barrage of legal actions one day earlier. The Justice Department unsealed an indictment for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act for lacking an Anti-Money Laundering program by the two founders and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Simultaneously, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) initiated a civil case against the exchange for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations.
The DeFi Education Fund teamed up with a small Texas clothing company sued for a declaratory judgment against the SEC to prevent the agency from prosecuting the company for holding an airdrop.