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NFT app Rebase co-founder accused of going ‘rogue’ in suit by partner

An apparent business partner of Rebase's co-founder claims he was pushed out of the firm and funds he owned were moved from a joint crypto wallet.

The co-founder of the nonfungible token (NFT) project Rebase is facing a lawsuit from his apparent business partner accusing him of going “rogue” by stealing $2 million from a joint crypto wallet and ousting an apparent co-founder out of the firm.

An April 17 filing in a United States District Court in California from Krzysztof Gagacki, who says they’re the co-founder of Rebase, made eight separate complaints against the firm's other co-founder Edmond Truong.

Gagacki is demanding a jury trial for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, defamation and trademark infringement.

While it is unclear exactly when the professional relationship between the two deteriorated, Gagacki alleged Truong breached a partnership contract on Oct. 27. 2022 by misappropriating $2 million into a separate wallet owned and controlled by Truong without his consent.

Gagacki claims to own a 50% share of the funds and says Truong refuses to provide him with the private keys to the digital wallet.

In the filing, he claims Troung “ousted” him from the business by presenting himself to third parties as the “sole owner” and “decision maker” for Rebase.

Gagacki further alleges that Troung is stating Gagacki is no longer “employed” at the firm after things had “gotten a bit out of hand.” A LinkedIn account owned by Gagacki does not list an employment history at Rebase.

Truong also allegedly “intentionally interfered” with several prospective deals that Gagacki had been working on for the firm in addition to making several defamatory statements to the firm’s business contacts about Gagacki.

Gagacki claims these statements have had a “disastrous effect” on his reputation.

One of the deals involved American celebrity Bella Hadid, who featured in the firm’s Cy-B3lla NFT project but then refused further collaboration after it was made apparent to her that the two business partners clashed heads, the filing claimed.

Truong also allegedly seized a Twitter account relating to Hadid’s NFT collection which Gagacki claims to have the trademark rights for with his other company, IOVO AG:

“[Truong] has also commandeered the @REBASEgg and @cybellaxyz Twitter accounts. Specifically, [Truong] has changed the password for these accounts and is actively denying Mr. Gagacki access.”

Another claim mentioned by Gagacki was Truong’s unauthorized pursuit to issue a Rebase token on the Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution Arbirtrum.

Related: ‘Wave of litigation’ to hit NFT space as copyright issues abound

If a token is issued, there may have serious ramifications for Rebase, the filing explained:

“If a Rebase app token is listed on any major cryptocurrency exchange, the market value of the tokens, which will be minted on the Arbitrum network and offered to the public, could reach many times over the Rebase app’s last round valuation of $150,000,000.”

According to the firm’s Twitter account, Rebase is set to integrate on Arbitrum on April 21:

The firm’s $150 million valuation has come on the back of venture capital funding from Animoca Capital, Anti Fund Investment Fund, LLC, DeFiance Capital and the now-bankrupt Three Arrows Capital.

Cointelegraph contacted Gagacki, Truong and Rebase but did not receive an immediate response.

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Mango Markets exploiter seeks to keep disputed funds paid as ‘bug bounty’

Attorneys representing Avraham Eisenberg argued he had already settled his dispute with Mango DAO and shouldn't have to pay back any more funds.

The alleged exploiter of the decentralized finance protocol Mango Markets, Avraham Eisenberg, is seeking to keep his share of crypto gained from his so-called “highly profitable trading strategy.”

On Feb. 15, attorneys for Eisenberg filed a motion in a New York District Court objecting to a lawsuit from Mango that asks for $47 million in damages plus interest starting from the time of Eisenberg’s October attack, whidrained around $117 million from the protocol.

The lawyers argued that Eisenberg shouldn’t need to pay back any more funds to the DeFi platform due to a settlement agreement that he reached with Mango DAO, arguing that the “matter was settled.”

Eisenberg’s (right) last public appearance was on a podcast in late October, just weeks after his alleged exploit of the platform. Source: YouTube

A governance proposal was passed by the Mango DAO following the draining of its treasury that saw Eisenberg keep a portion — $47 million — of the pilfered funds as a bug bounty along with a stipulation that Mango wouldn’t pursue legal action.

“Eisenberg transferred funds totaling approximately $67 million to Mango Markets,” the attorneys wrote, adding:

“Weeks later, eligible Mango Markets’ members received reimbursement from the Mango Markets treasury. At that point, all involved considered this matter closed and Mr. Eisenberg heard nothing further from Mango Markets.”

Mango, however, said in its suit that the settlement should be voided as it was made “under duress” and alleged Eisenberg “was not engaged in lawful bargaining.”

Eisenberg’s attorneys rebuffed these claims, saying the “improper three-month delay” for Mango filing its suit “undermines any alleged irreparable harm.” The lawsuit, they say, aimto “take advantage” of Eisenberg’s December arrest in Puerto Rico by United States authorities.

Related: Alleged Mango Markets exploiter waives bail during hearing in federal court

Eisenberg was charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with commodities fraud and manipulation.

He also faces a lawsuit from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission that alleges market manipulation and a suit from the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating securities laws relating to anti-fraud and market manipulation.

Eisenberg has previously stated his trades on Mango were “legal open market actions, using the protocol as designed,” and called his purported attack a “highly profitable trading strategy.”

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