Shortly after settling a bitter feud with Tezos, the digital entrepreneur has emerged in another spat – this time with his would-be savior.
Erstwhile digital role model Johann Gevers continues to make headlines and mystify observers: the Zug-based South African was embroiled in a bitter row with cryptocurrency project Tezos for months until ultimately caving in last week. Gevers said he would step down from Tezos' Swiss foundation, paving the way for the digital token to launch, as finews.com reported.
As the Tezos feud rumbled on, unleashing a barrage of criticism of Gevers from a community of investors, developers, and other supporters of the project, he also faced a crisis at his day job, Monetas.
The digital payments start-up rescued itself out of bankruptcy proceedings in Switzerland by selling itself to U.S. investor Daniel Cannon, a former investment banker, as finews.com reported.
Rescuer Retreats
Cannon, through a vehicle called Artillery One, took a majority of Monetas to restructure the firm with Gevers' help. Now, the partnership has fallen apart because Cannon has pulled out, news agency «Swissinfo» reported.
Artillery One broke off the deal and demanded Gevers repay the cash injection, plus damages and 1 million Swiss francs in costs from the collapsed agreement, according to a letter sent from the U.S. vehicle to Gevers.
Cannon's firm said it will pursue action against Monetas and against Gevers over breach of contract, intentionally misrepresenting the deal, and other claims, according to «Swissinfo».
Skirmish Over Money, Shares
What happened? According to Gevers, Artillery One pledged to buy 50.01 percent of Monetas' holding firm, which is registered in teh Caribbean island of Anguilla, for 2 million francs. The entrepreneur concedes he didn't transfer the majority of the Monetas firm to his new investor, but argues that this is because Cannon and Artillery One only coughed up 400,000 francs of the total.
Artillery One's letter in turn claims that Gevers didn't divulge full details of Monetas' debt before the deal, didn't transfer all the start-up's stock, and failed to clarify a renewed bankruptcy threat over the firm.
Battered Reputation
«This is fresh news, so I need to digest it and sit with advisers and key investors to chart the best way forward,» Gevers wrote to investors, according to the news agency. To be sure, the fresh conflict considerably reduces the chances of Monetas surviving.
At Tezos, Gevers is out after buckling in a conflict with developers Arthur and Kathleen Breitman over $232 million raised last year through a foundation controlled by Gevers. His retreat came shortly after the Breitmans signalled they would launch the coin without the Gevers-controlled foundation – or money.
The fresh spat is a huge blow for Gevers, who received high-level Swiss government officials including Finance Minister Ueli Maurer as one of the architects of Switzerland's «crypto valley», outside of Zurich. Following the Tezos skirmish and contradicting claims over Monetas, his reputation in Switzerland's nascent fintech industry is severely damaged.
