A team of cryptocurrency investigators has brought to light the substantial amount of ETH tokens received by Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum, during the token’s initial coin offering (ICO). Bill Morgan, a pro-XRP lawyer based in Australia, drew attention to claims that Lubin received a staggering 3.75 million ETH, which, at the current exchange rate of $2,901, is worth $10.87 billion.
Morgan questioned the percentage this figure represented in relation to the total ETH distributed during Ethereum’s ICO phase. His remarks were in response to a post from a group of sleuths called TruthLabs, who made serious allegations against Lubin, accusing him of engaging in more fraudulent activities than notorious American financial criminal Bernie Madoff.
To support their corruption claims, TruthLabs presented evidence showing that over 50% of all Bitcoin addresses associated with Lubin were used to participate in the ETH ICO. The evidence shed light on the amount of BTC Lubin allegedly paid and the total ETH he received. Screenshots attached to the tweet revealed that the addresses potentially linked to Lubin invested 1,648 BTC during the ICO and received 3,275,145 ETH in return.
TruthLabs stated that their investigation was time-consuming, lasting hundreds of hours, but they shared the information with the public free of charge.
Ethereum’s ICO has faced numerous controversies and allegations of potential corrupt practices. Former Ethereum advisor Steven Nerayoff has previously fueled these debates, claiming that Lubin and fellow co-founder Vitalik Buterin engaged in fraudulent ICO and sabotaged the cryptocurrency.
However, the exact amount of ETH paid to Lubin and other Ethereum co-founders remains unknown. Lubin himself has refrained from disclosing his ETH holdings, including during CoinDesk’s Consensus 2022 event, where he claimed to hold less than half a percent of the cryptocurrency.
This claim contradicts previous estimates, such as Forbes’ calculation in 2018, which placed Lubin as the second-richest person in the crypto industry and estimated his ownership of between 5% to 10% of the total ETH supply.
Despite the resurgence of corruption allegations, Lubin has remained silent about his ETH holdings. As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launches an investigation to determine whether certain ETH transactions qualify as securities, the public’s attention has been drawn to Lubin’s exact ETH holdings.
It is worth noting that Lubin’s company, Consensys, filed a lawsuit last month to prevent the SEC from classifying ETH as a security.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of The Crypto Basic. Readers are advised to conduct their own research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses incurred.