Fox Journalist Uncovers Ethereum Founder Buterin’s Connection with Prometheum

A recent investigation by Fox Journalist Terrett revealed that Ethereum founder Buterin has close ties with a firm with part ownership in Prometheum.

In what came up as an unexpected revelation, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has been revealed as a co-founder of Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, a non-profit research institute funded by Wanxiang Holdings. Wanxiang Holdings is one of the owners of Prometheum, with a major stake in the company.

Prominent Fox Journalist Eleanor Terrett disclosed this information in a recent tweet. 

Ethereum co-founder @VitalikButerin is listed as a co-founder of @WXblockchain, a part owner of @PrometheumInc which was recently given rights to operate a #crypto exchange in the U.S. Other filings show Buterin is also Chief Scientist at Wanxiang Blockchain Labs. pic.twitter.com/ywdl4u97RM

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) June 21, 2023

A Web of Connections

Essentially, China Wanxiang Holdings is a holding company that manufactures auto parts through its subsidiary firms. Wanxiang’s Executive Director is Dr. Feng Xiao. Terrett’s recent disclosure suggests that Wanxiang Holdings is behind the funding of Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, a non-profit organization.

Furthermore, Ethereum founder Buterin and Dr. Feng Xiao are two of the three founders of the non-profit Wanxiang Blockchain Labs. In addition, Dr. Xiao is one of the earliest sponsors of Ethereum.

A Medium article by Wanxiang Blockchain reveals that Dr. Xiao proposed to donate $500,000 to the Ethereum Foundation in April 2015 to support the Ethereum mainnet launch. This proposal was made to Buterin in Wanxiang headquarters, and the donation was made under Wanxiang.

The disclosure further reveals that Wanxiang Holdings is one of the owners of Prometheum, with a major stake in the company. An SEC filing by Prometheum shows that HashKey, a partner of Wanxiang, bought 68.8 million Prometheum shares and others for $12 million in 2018.

HashKey also entered a negotiation to acquire 10% of Prometheum for $12.5 million. The deal was to go through after the SEC and FINRA approved Prometheum as a broker-dealer. 

Interestingly, Dr. Xiao, Executive Director of Wanxiang, is also the Chairman of HashKey. Following the purchase of Prometheum shares, Dr. Xiao became a member of Prometheum’s board of directors.

Connecting the Dots

The disclosure has garnered attention from the broader crypto community, given the fact that Prometheum is the only crypto-focused company lauding the SEC’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Prometheum has received a license to operate as a digital asset securities platform, positioned by the SEC as the ideal compliant company.

The recent discovery unlocks the connection between Prometheum and Ethereum co-founder Buterin at a time when SEC Chairperson Gary Gensler has refused to label Ethereum a security despite asserting that all assets using the proof-of-stake mechanism are securities.

Moreover, the recently released Hinman documents reveal that Bill Hinman, former SEC Director, aimed to make his infamous 2018 speech about Ethereum. The documents disclosed that Hinman would later go on to speak with Buterin following the speech. This raised speculations of a collusion between the SEC and Ethereum.

The latest revelation has fueled these speculations, especially as it has uncovered that the SEC appears to have been protecting two crypto entities with close ties to Buterin: Ethereum and Prometheum.

Recall that reports of Ethereum being “Chinese-controlled” emerged two years ago following a report from Ripple in the wake of the SEC lawsuit. The Ripple report claimed that Bitcoin and Ethereum were “susceptible to Chinese control.” Buterin dismissed these claims and alleged that Ripple was out to throw Ethereum under the bus in an attempt to save its “sh*tcoin.”

Furthermore, the XRP community speculated that the SEC and Ethereum insiders colluded to attack XRP which was perceived as a competition to Ethereum then. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson previously dismissed these claims as “conspiracy theories.”