Key Takeaways:
- Shutdown Decision: Mango Markets, a Solana-based DEX, is closing following governance votes, an SEC settlement, and fallout from a 2022 exploit.
- SEC and Legal Settlements: The SEC settlement included a $700,000 penalty, destruction of MNGO tokens, and delisting requests; further CFTC penalties followed.
- Decline and Impact: The platform, once holding $210M TVL, collapsed to $9M amid legal and exploit challenges, ending its operations in the Solana DeFi ecosystem.
Mango Markets, a decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Solana blockchain, has shut down following governance votes, legal challenges, and a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The platform urged users to close their positions as it winds down, halting borrowing and lending through governance-approved changes effective January 13, 2025.
Mango Markets will be shutting down
— Mango (@mangomarkets) January 11, 2025
It is time for users to close their positions
Mango v4 & Boost are winding down. Most borrowing on Mango will be economically unviable going forward
Proposals are live & become executable on January 13, Monday 8PM UTC
Details below⬇️
The closure follows a September 2024 SEC settlement accusing Mango DAO and the Blockworks Foundation of selling unregistered securities by raising $70 million in 2021 through MNGO governance tokens.
The DAO agreed to pay $700,000 in penalties, destroy remaining tokens, and delist them from exchanges.
In August 2024, the DAO also settled SEC claims for $223,228 and agreed to pay $500,000 to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Launched in 2021, Mango Markets reached $210 million in total value locked (TVL) but saw a sharp decline to $9 million by January 2025.
Its downfall began with a $100 million exploit in October 2022 by trader Avraham “Avi” Eisenberg, who returned $67 million but retained $40 million.
Eisenberg was later arrested and faces a 20-year prison sentence.
The platform’s closure highlights the vulnerabilities of decentralized finance and the growing regulatory scrutiny in the crypto sector.