A group of cryptocurrency sleuths has drawn public attention to the amount of ETH tokens Ethereum co-founder Joseph Rubin received during the token's ICO.
Bill Morgan, an Australian-based pro-XRP lawyer, called attention to claims that Ethereum co-founder Joseph Rubin received a whopping 3.75 million ETH during the project's ICO. At the current exchange rate of $2,901, 3.75 million ETH coins are worth $10.87 billion.
He questioned the exact percentage of this number when compared to the total ETH distributed during Ethereum's ICO phase. Attorney Morgan made this comment in response to an X post from a detective group operating under the pseudonym TruthLabs.
Amazingly, over 3.75 million ETH was distributed to Rubin during the ICO. What is it as a % of all ETH distributed during the ICO? https://t.co/ll2WWOKeIY
— Bill Morgan (@Belisarius2020) May 13, 2024
TruthLabs raises new allegations against Rubin
The group revealed serious charges against Rubin, alleging that the Ethereum co-founder committed more fraud than notorious American financial criminal Bernie Madoff.
To support the corruption allegations, TruthLabs presented evidence showing over 50% of all Bitcoin addresses used by the Ethereum co-founder to participate in the ETH ICO. The so-called evidence shed light on the amount BTC Rubin allegedly paid and the total amount of ETH he received.
A screenshot attached to the tweet shows that an address possibly associated with Lubin invested 1,648 BTC during the ICO. In return, he received 3,275,145 (3.27 million) ETH in relation to the address Genesis Block 0.
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TruthLabs claimed that the investigation was time-consuming and lasted over hundreds of hours. Nevertheless, they shared the information with the public at no cost.
Controversy surrounding ETH ICO
There have been numerous allegations of possible corrupt practices during the Ethereum ICO. Former Ethereum advisor Steven Nelayoff has fueled these debates in the past, claiming that Rubin and Vitalik Buterin sabotaged the cryptocurrency and were involved in fraudulent ICOs.
However, no one knows the exact amount of ETH paid to Ethereum's co-founders, especially Rubin. Notably, Rubin has refrained from revealing his ETH holdings on several occasions, including during CoinDesk's Consensus 2022 event. During the event, Rubin claimed that his own ETH holdings were less than 0.5%.
His claims contradict previous analyses, particularly Forbes's. When Forbes named Rubin the second-richest person in crypto in 2018, the outlet estimated that he owned between 5% and 10% of the total ETH supply.
Nevertheless, Rubin has remained silent about his ETH holdings despite renewed corruption allegations. Rubin was a key player in Ethereum even before the company launched its controversial ICO in 2015.
In addition to being able to purchase ETH during the ICO, Rubin's position as Ethereum's Chief Operating Officer at the time allowed him to access large amounts of ETH set aside for Ethereum Foundation team members and early contributors. It is possible that it could have been obtained.
The exact amount of Rubin's ETH holdings has been in the spotlight as the SEC launches an investigation to determine whether certain ETH transactions constitute securities.
It's worth mentioning that Rubin's company, ConsenSys, filed a lawsuit last month to prevent the SEC from attaching a securities tag to ETH.
Disclaimer: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the personal opinions of the author and do not reflect the opinions of The Crypto Basic. We encourage our readers to conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
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