ONDO has fallen more than 7% after Ondo Finance confirmed the unexpected death of founder and CEO Nathan Allman, triggering a wave of risk-off selling.

According to Ondo Finance’s statement posted on X, Allman died unexpectedly, though the company did not disclose the cause of death.

The announcement pushed ONDO from around $0.444 to nearly $0.409 before buyers stepped back in, with the token later recovering part of the losses during volatile trading.

Ondo described Allman as the figure who shaped “every part” of the company, pointing to his role in building the firm into one of crypto’s largest tokenized asset platforms. 

A Brown University graduate, Allman founded Ondo in 2021 after working on Goldman Sachs’ digital assets team, where he focused on blockchain and institutional finance initiatives.

For traders, the reaction quickly turned into a “key person risk” event, especially because Ondo’s business is closely tied to institutional partnerships and regulated financial products rather than speculative DeFi activity alone. 

Products such as USDY and OUSG helped position the company as a major player in tokenized US Treasuries and yield-bearing blockchain assets.

Market participants also appeared concerned about whether the leadership transition could affect Ondo’s relationships with financial firms and distribution partners. 

The project has expanded in recent years through integrations with MetaMask, Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM, and tokenized ETF initiatives involving Franklin Templeton.

At the same time, Ondo moved quickly to contain uncertainty by naming company president Ian De Bode as the new CEO. 

In its statement, the firm said De Bode had already been overseeing strategy, product development, and daily operations for more than two years.

De Bode later said on X that Ondo’s direction would remain unchanged and added that the company would continue executing Allman’s vision.

The company also stated it remained committed to building “a more open, accessible financial system.”

The leadership change arrives during a period of rapid growth for the tokenized real-world asset market. 

According to DefiLlama, Ondo Finance’s total value locked briefly rose above $4 billion this month, while Ondo Global Markets reportedly crossed $1 billion in TVL.

Ondo Finance TVL. Source: DefiLlama.

On the 4-hour chart, ONDO has started pulling back after failing to hold recent highs near the $0.44 region. 

ONDO/USD 4-hour price chart. Source: TradingView.

At the time of publication, the token was hovering around $0.422, with price slipping below the 20-period EMA near $0.424 while still remaining above the 50-period EMA around $0.409.

The move suggested that short-term momentum had weakened following the news-driven selloff, though buyers were still defending higher support levels created during May’s rally. 

Volume also picked up sharply during the decline, indicating aggressive repositioning after the announcement.

Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index on the 4-hour timeframe dropped toward the neutral 50 zone after recently touching overbought territory above 70. 

The RSI cooling from elevated levels is often a sign that bullish momentum may be fading, though it does not yet confirm a full trend reversal.

As long as ONDO stays above the 50 EMA and the 100 EMA near $0.389, the structure from the recent breakout remains intact on the higher timeframe. 

A recovery back above the 20 EMA could reopen the path toward the $0.44 to $0.45 resistance range, where sellers previously emerged.

On the downside, failure to hold the $0.409 support area may expose the token to another retest of the $0.389 region.

Beneath that level, the 200 EMA near $0.358 could become the next major support that traders watch if sentiment around the leadership transition deteriorates further.

The post ONDO drops 7% after Ondo Finance confirms founder Nathan Allman’s death appeared first on Invezz

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