CEO of Collapsed Crypto Fund HyperVerse Seems to Not Exist At All + More News
It appears that the CEO of the failed HyperVerse crypto fund, Michael Meehan, may not exist at all. According to an investigative report by Bloomberg, HyperVerse was founded in October 2018 by Meehan, who claimed to have extensive experience in blockchain technology and investing.
However, the only trace of Meehan appears to be a LinkedIn profile that lists him as the co-founder of the fund. Bloomberg’s search for Meehan — including background checks of people in his past, combing through investment filings, and tracking down former colleagues — came up empty.
Additionally, HyperVerse’s domain registration was linked to an address in Swansea, Wales, that belongs to someone with a different name. And according to the investigation, HyperVerse’s communications team was made up of identity-masking companies that provided fake names and photos for its employees.
This story is just the latest in what has become an increasingly common narrative in the crypto space: fraudulent projects and scammers taking advantage of novice investors. In response to the news, the U.K.’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, has issued a warning about investing in crypto funds.
In other news, Hal Finney’s family is selling his collection of rare Bitcoin-related items. Finney, who died in 2014, was the developer of the first Bitcoin wallet and the recipient of the first non-mined Bitcoin transaction.
His family is now selling a collection of items that, according to an auction house, constitute “some of the most historically significant artifacts in Bitcoin History.” The collection includes Finney’s original Bitcoin wallet, various documents related to his career, and other items of note.
Finally, Chainalysis has released its latest Crypto Adoption Index, which measures the degree to which users are engaging with crypto networks. According to the data, there has been significant growth in user engagement with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple over the last two years. The report also found that roughly 70% of Bitcoin transactions now come from users “with a known identity,” implying that people are increasingly using the asset for traditional financial purposes.