Crypto Market Leaders Engage in Twitter Feud: DWF Labs vs. GSR vs. Wintermute

By 0xGorki 09/22/23 4:57 AM

In a recent turn of events, leaders from three prominent Market Makers (MM) have ignited a fiery Twitter feud that has captured the attention of the crypto community. What began as a seemingly innocuous exchange quickly escalated into a heated argument, leaving Twitter abuzz.

The feud kicked off with Andrei Grachev, the founder of DWF Labs, posting a picture alongside some of his competitors at a Twitter event. In his tweet, Grachev commented on various market-related topics but emphasized a lack of discussion about perpetual contracts, which he expressed his fondness for. He thanked @Crypto_Ciara for the invite and concluded with a friendly cheer emoji.

Nice talks about the market, traders, exchanges, risks and market makers. Unfortunately we didn’t talk to much about perps, despite I love them. Thanks boys for the panel discussion, thanks @Crypto_Ciara for the invite, cheers 👋 pic.twitter.com/IrUjIwsaZH

— Andrei Grachev (@ag_dwf) September 15, 2023

However, this seemingly innocuous post marked the beginning of a heated controversy. Cristian Gil, co-founder of GSR, another major MM in the crypto market, fired back with a provocative tweet, stating that Andrei Grachev had no business being on that panel. Gil found it insulting to share a platform with DWF Labs and expressed his disappointment that, in late 2023, entities like DWF Labs could still gain so much attention.

@ag_dwf had absolutely no business to be on that panel.
It’s insulting to @GSR_io , @okx and @wintermute_t to be in the same room as @DWFLabs .
It’s very sad that in late 2023 bad actors like @DWFLabs can still get so much airtime.

— Cristian Gil (@CristiangilGSR) September 20, 2023

In response, Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute, a competitor of both DWF Labs and GSR, liked Gil’s post, showing support for his sentiments. Grachev wasted no time in firing back, claiming superiority in terms of technology, trading, business development, and more. He challenged his competitors to compete fairly and suggested they would fail if they did so.

I never thought that you could be THAT scared of us. Yeah, we are stronger than you in terms of tech, trading, BD and everything. Just try to compete fairly – and you’d gone. Yeah, if I were you – I would be also crying all the time . Cheers 🎢 https://t.co/j3RO2ZrkWa

— Andrei Grachev (@ag_dwf) September 21, 2023

Grachev went even further, taking a swipe at Wintermute’s CEO by suggesting that they cooperate with their competitors and called them out for complaining like children. He also claimed that DWF Labs was outperforming Wintermute in the market. Gaevoy responded to Grachev’s tweet with a simple “lol.”

lol

go “invest” more, we are trembling in your presence

— wishful cynic (@EvgenyGaevoy) September 21, 2023

While these exchanges are all in words, the public spat serves as a reminder of DWF’s sudden emergence earlier this year. The company burst onto the scene as a reputable investor and MM for startups, gaining significant attention.

However, controversies soon arose regarding DWF’s activities. Questions emerged about whether DWF was genuinely involved in venture capital or merely engaged in market manipulation, approaching projects with token purchase offers and then attempting to profit from them.

Previously, Yoann Turpin, the Chairman of Wintermute, had criticized various aspects of DWF Labs at the Token2049 event. Turpin had a negative view of DWF Labs’ role as an MM, suggesting that they had caused confusion in the community by labeling their OTC trading activities as investments.

Turpin also raised a more significant issue: because of DWF Labs, the community had developed a negative perception of the role of MMs in the crypto market. He argued that many MMs focused on price manipulation rather than providing the necessary liquidity for the market’s sustainable development. In contrast, Wintermute positioned itself as a liquidity provider rather than an MM, advocating for self-regulation.

The feud between these prominent market makers shows no signs of resolution. Wintermute and DWF Labs both have impressive track records, contributing to the growth of various projects. The conflict initially erupted in March when The Block raised suspicions about Andrei Grachev’s involvement in projects DWF Labs was acting as an MM for. They alleged that he had invested early to support DWF Labs in market manipulation.

In response, Grachev revealed that Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute, was a board member at The Block. He insinuated that Wintermute had used media outlets to criticize DWF Labs. Two weeks later, The Block confirmed Evgeny’s ownership stake in the media company, further complicating the situation.

Reacting to this revelation, Evgeny pointed out that Grachev had previously worked as the Regional Head of Huobi in Russia and had connections to the infamous OneCoin project, a well-known scam. He also emphasized DWF’s poor investment performance and refuted allegations of weak security due to inefficient wallet allocation.

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