In a shocking turn of events, the DeFi crypto project Wonderland (TIME) is reported to have been run by a felon, Michael Patryn. On Thursday morning, a Twitter user named Zachxbt exposed that the treasury manager for Wonderland is financial-criminal Michael Patryn.
The con operated pseudonymously on Twitter with the handle 0xSifu and had withheld his identity. The scandal came to light after Wonderland DAO prepared a ‘vote’ whether ‘0xSifu’, who is indeed Michael Patryn should remain as treasurer.
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Nonetheless, the expose has rocked the crypto sphere showing how easy it is for felons to make a re-entry into blockchain tech.
“0xSifu is the Co-founder of QuadrigaCX, Michael Patryn,” tweeted Zachxbt, a pseudonymous Twitter account. Zach has a history of unmasking crypto scams and exposing behaviours that can cause risk to investors. “If you are unfamiliar, that is the Canadian exchange that collapsed in 2019 after the founder Gerald Cotten disappeared with $169m.”
In addition, Zach revealed that he confirmed Patryn’s identity with the founder of Wonderland, Daniele Sestagalli. “I have confirmed this with Daniele over messages,” he tweeted along with screenshots of the chat.
The revelations sent shockwaves in the Wonderland community and Wonderland (TIME) dipped -32% minutes after the tweet. The price is now hovering around the -16% mark and could remain down for the rest of the day.
Who is Michael Patryn and How Did He End Up Being A Financial Felon?
Michael Patryn is a convicted criminal and was the co-founder of the now-defunct Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX. The notorious crypto trading platform had defrauded investors with close to $190 million. Patryn was arrested for fraud in 2017 and served a jail term. The charges of running an identity-theft ring was also pinned against him and was found guilty of the crimes.
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Moreover, this isn’t the first time that Patryn faced a jail term. In 2005, he had pleaded guilty to commuting a credit card and bank fraud. Also, in 2007, he admitted to criminal cases of burglary, grand larceny, and computer fraud, in two separate cases. He served 18 months in U.S prison for his crimes and was deported to Canada after he completed his sentence.
However, jail-term did not stop Patryn from committing further financial crimes. A decade later, he was part of a crypto exchange QuadrigaCX in Canada and had emptied Bitcoin storage accounts that belong to users.
Surprisingly, Daniele Sestagalli tweeted saying he was aware of Michael Patryn’s past and still decided to keep him as the treasury. The decision has left the Wonderland community divided and questioned the morals and principles of the DeFi token.
At press time, Wonderland (TIME) was trading at $329 and is down -22.10% in the 24-hours day trade. The DeFi token is expected to dip further and it is advised to remain cautious and stay away from scamsters.