Megaupload's Crypto Startup Raises Millions of Investments and Shuts Down
Date: 2023-07-15 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS, BUSINESS
Kim Dotcom's "revolutionary" startup collapsed amid the problems of another subsidiary project
Cryptocurrency startup Bitcache from the founder of the file sharing service Megaupload Kim Dotcom is closing. This is reported by the Internet resource Newsroom with reference to the director of the site Phil Krieg. Liquidation hearings are scheduled for July. In a commentary to the media, Krieg said that the site owed money to investors. Krieg did not disclose the amount owed. In fact, Bitcache did not work a single day, the newspaper notes.
"We've filed for liquidation of Bitcache and we'll see what can be reimbursed," Krieg added.
According to Newsroom, Dotcom first began publicly discussing the idea of the Bitcache crypto payment service back in 2016. According to media reports, the platform raised almost $5 million from more than three hundred investors through the investment platform BnkToTheFuture. Bitcache was supposed to be launched back in January 2017, but Dotcom postponed the process, citing the search for technology for the site.
A multi-level pyramid of innovation
On the basis of Bitcache, Dotcom also launched another project - a decentralized file sharing service called K.im. The file sharing service was supposed to work in conjunction with a separate kimcoin (KIM) token. To lure investors, Dotcom began to advertise not only the project, but also the token on Twitter. For example, back in 2018, Dotcom claimed that "K.im and KIM will destroy the content mafia and replace it with justice and love for content creators."
Later, Dotcom agreed with the Bitfinex exchange, which was supposed to act as an intermediary for the sale of KIM tokens. According to media reports, Dotcom wanted to raise $8 million through a token sale. At first, the exchange agreed, but in October 2019, the launch of sales was postponed, and in November of the same year, Bitfinex refused to take on KIM at all due to "regulatory ambiguity" around the token.
A couple of years later, Bitfinex closed the platform for the sale of tokens altogether. At the same time, archival copies with press releases on the sale of KIM were wiped by unknown persons even in the Wayback Machine. According to Newsroom, the K.im file-sharing service was also closed in 2023.
