HyperVerse founder shills new crypto project hours after $1.7B fraud charge

Sam Lee, the founder of the HyperVerse crypto pyramid scheme that has been accused of misappropriating $1.7 billion in investor funds, is still promoting crypto projects online just hours after the US charged him.

On January 29, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Lee and HyperVerse of fraudulently promoting lucrative returns on crypto schemes that relied on funds taken from investors.

However, just a day later, the 35-year-old Australian appeared in a Facebook video promoting his new project South African crypto venture VEND. In the 70-minute-long video, Lee, who is the project’s CEO, claims that things can only get better for himself and says that he realizes “the worst is basically people lying to regulators and regulators believing their version of the story.” He also warns potential investors to “not be in the mindset of loss.”

As reported by The Guardian, Lee noted “When it comes to the news cycle, when what is said is not true, it doesn’t impact me… so to prove what is true to be true is very cheap.” It’s worth noting that Lee doesn’t explicitly reference the charges.

What exactly is VEND?

VEND is a series of livestreams in which participants can promote their crypto projects to wannabe investors. Viewers earn rewards by watching the presentations and subscribing to the projects. 

Most projects on VEND rely on Tether (USDT). One project, called 369 Era and presented by Mahmoud Elawa on February 2, offered subscription packages that can supposedly turn 27,000 USDT into a maximum return of 162,000 USDT, a 500% increase. 

Read more: This alleged $1.3B crypto scam likely faked its own CEO

Lee interrupted the 369 presentation to vaguely discuss the universal language of maths and how it can make us all equal. He says, “Believe in maths, believe in bitcoin, blockchain, and the consensus around that, and finally, believe in Mahmoud.”

Users can reportedly earn returns of 3% per day by subscribing to a project. There is also a referral system through which a 30% commission is offered. VEND claims that advertisers generate revenue for the project, but The Guardian notes that no advertisers have been named.

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