The founder of German-based startup Savedroid has allegedly disappeared after raising a reported $50 mln through both an Initial Coin Offering[1] (ICO) and private funding, according to local news outlet WirtschaftsWoche[2], today April 18.
CEO and founder Yassin Hankir apparently left the intention behind his disappearance fairly clear with the following tweet, posted earlier today, apparently in Egypt:
Thanks guys! Over and out ... #savedroidICO pic.twitter.com/PMRtjlbEdD[3][4]
— Yassin Hankir #savedroidico (@YassinHankir)
Savedroid’s ICO website[6] now shows nothing but a fullscreen South Park meme:
Social media promptly reacted to the apparent exit scam, with self-described Bitcoin[7] (BTC) alternative BitCoin ONE (BTCONE) posting on Twitter[8] that if Savedroid turned out to be scam, they would donate 100,000 BTCONE to the victims. YouTube user Theo Goodman uploaded a video of today, reportedly of the empty Savedroid office, with a voiceover saying that he “can’t really confirm anything.”
Finance Magnates writes[9] that Savedroid allowed people to participate in the ICO with 56 types of cryptocurrencies, as opposed to many ICOs, which only accept BTC and ETH.
According to what appears to be Savedroid’s only official online presence left standing with an explanation of what the startup is, subreddit /r/savedroid_ico[10] describes Savedroid as “building a user interface that will make a cryptocurrency investment just as simple as a savings account. Our mission is to eliminate adoption barriers and make cryptocurrencies accessible for everyone!”
CEO Hankir, the sardonic Twitter poster, was interviewed[11] about his “success” at the Deutsche Börse Fintech Hub in 2017, and the Deutsche
