- Founder provided few specifics on how the project would use its $325 million treasury to deliver value for token holders
- Pseudonymous treasurer of Wonderland was Michael Patryn of QuadrigaCX, the fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange
Daniele Sestagalli, the founder of popular DeFi protocol Wonderland, is promising to resolve issues in the wake of a scandal-ridden price drop. On Monday, he answered questions from the Wonderland protocol community on Discord, making big promises, but providing few specifics on how the project will leverage its treasury of $325 to deliver value for token holders.
Co-treasurer was a criminal
Wonderland found itself in the eye of the storm last week when it emerged that its pseudonymous treasurer “Sifu” was in fact Michael Patryn, the cofounder of QuadrigaCX, the fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange.
Patryn was ousted following a DAO vote and moved $2.8 million worth of Ethereum from his public address to privacy mixer Tornado Cash on Tuesday.
What to do with Wonderland’s treasury?
Wonderland’s TIME token’s current market cap is $320 million. It has $325 million in its treasury. As the majority of investors bought the token at a valuation far above the current treasury, other stakeholders are pushing for an outcome to raise prices again.
Still other holders want to dissolve the project by letting stakeholders redeem their TIME tokens for a proportional share of the protocol’s assets.
Is there a plan?
Sestagalli expressed wishes to dissolve the project over the weekend. He wrote that a plan was needed on Discord, which is beginning to take shape in some former and current proposals from across the community. However, none of them have won support from the distraught investor community.
TIME dropped 95% from its ATH
Briefly before Sifu was unmasked, the token lost 40% in just one day, dropping as much as 95% from its all-time high. The reveal led to another hit.
Sestagalli told CoinDesk in an interview that he had known who Sifu was for a number of weeks, but this didn’t deter him from working with him. This resulted in a crisis in confidence from investors.
Community votes to continue project
It appears Wonderland will soldier on for whatever that’s worth. Yesterday, 55% of voters expressed the wish for the project to carry on. It was one of the biggest votes in history with over 22,000 addresses taking part. A few whale investors voted to terminate operations.
Sestagalli wrote in Discord:
We understand that there is still will to continue, the community wants to make it. Unwinding for many of you means taking a loss and you don’t know what to do next. You believed in me and you want to keep [invested] in me.
