Initial coin offerings, or ICOs, managed to raise billions over the last two years, at least until regulators caught on and sent notices to several projects, especially those selling tokens very similar to securities.
However, not all projects during the ICO mania managed to deliver on their promises and most investors had their fingers burnt to the tune of millions of dollars.
This story is about one such case, where we received numerous reports from several sources, alleging that a fairly successful ICO from 2017, has repeatedly refused to honor private investment agreements and owes one particular venture capital fund over $8 million after reneging on an agreement for over a year.
Moreover, recently, several members of the community who bought tokens in the ICO have also shared their stories of dismay, lack of communication and fear that their investments are now all but lost.
The ICO, in this case, is Gladius, which managed to raise over $12M in its token sale, pitching a decentralized DDoS protection network which can also serve as a CDN, where users can lend their spare bandwidth to earn GLA tokens.
The story
Max NiebylskiAlex GodwinMarcelo McAndrews
As per our sources, after negotiations, an agreement was penned between Gladius and Krypton Blockchain, according to which Krypton was to invest a sum of $600,000 in the ICO, in exchange for 15% equity, GLA tokens with an 80% bonus (valued at $1,080,000) and other obligations. This agreement was duly signed by Gladius founder and CEO Max Niebylski and Krypton Blockchain’s authorized lawyer (Cryptovest has a verified copy of this agreement).
Following this, Krypton Blockchain made the $600,000 investment via Bitcoin in late November (as agreed). These transactions are verified on the blockchain, and Cryptovest has received evidence to the same effect (screenshots below).