Buterin’s Father and Antonopoulos Deny Advising Tapscott; CIBC Pulls Out

Andreas Antonopoulos and Dmitry Buterin, among others, are denying their involvement in well-known Canadian investor Alex Tapscott’s projects. Other ecosystem heavies have made similar declarations. Based on reporting, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) has dropped their underwriting of Mr. Tapscott’s latest effort.

Also read: SEC Warns of Celebrity Endorsements, ICOs Might be a Target

Misrepresentation?

Forbes Senior Editor, Laura Shin, reports during two articles of an ongoing saga involving well-known Canadian investor, Alex Tapscott. His Toronto-based Nextblock Global is set to launch a 100 million CAD project, investing “early stage in seed rounds of companies and projects which may or may not choose later on to do a token sale or initial coin offering,” according to its website.

Ms. Shin found at least four listed advisors to Mr. Tapscott’s current venture are denying their involvement, including Coinbase’s Kathryn Haun, Shark Tank’s Vinny Lingham, Karen Gifford of Ripple, and Vitalik Buterin’s father, Dmitry.  

Screenshot from Forbes.

Ms. Haun said, “I’m not an advisor and I never have been,” according to Forbes. Mr. Lingham stated to Ms. Shin, “I’m not an advisor to his fund.” Mr. Buterin “confirmed he had been approached to be an advisor but had declined,” the article continues. And through “a press representative, Gifford stated that she is not an advisor and that she never spoke with Tapscott about becoming one,” Ms. Shin notes.

As of this writing, the above names are not listed on the company’s website.

Mea Culpa

Mr. Tapscott asserts with the exception of Ms. Haun, “None of those people have appeared in the deck,” he’s quoted by Forbes. “They were listed in a draft version of a deck.”

“Karen and Vinny were in a draft version of the deck which never got used because I was not able to confirm with them,” Mr. Tapscott claims. The article insists these names were indeed circulated among at least a handful of investors.

Alex Tapscott

Such associations are heavily sought in crypto-investment circles, and Nextblock’s potential inclusion of them could have lent the project a lot of credibility. The four mentioned have ties to regulators, capital, technicians of the highest orders.

According to the article, Mr. Tapscott has termed such insinuations as “bizarre.” In an email exchange, he apologizes to Mr. Lingham, explaining “mea culpa for listing you in the first place but I want you to know I am not raising money on your reputation or name and not misrepresenting you,” reports Ms. Shin.

Back in March, Andreas Antonopoulos publically rebuked a Coindesk announcement from Mr. Tapscott’s Blockchain Research Institute, tweeting, “I did not agree and will not be part of the Blockchain Research Institute as ‘proposed faculty.'”

Seemingly in response to allegations, the Globe and Mail reports Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), one of the five largest in Canada, will pull its underwriting of Nextblock Global’s public offering.  

What are your thoughts on project advisors? Do they convince you to invest? Tell us in the comments below!

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