Intro
Looks like DeFi is having some serious bad luck. First, the Qubit hack which saw $80 million siphoned off and now a revelation that DeFi project Wonderland treasury manager is Michael Patryn, the co-founder of a notorious Canadian crypto exchange that defrauded investors of upward of $190 million.
The revelation has rocked “Frog Nation,” a loose conglomerate of projects that include Popsicle Finance, Wonderland and Abracadabra, which are all now helmed by prolific DeFi developer Daniele Sestagalli.
Frog Nation-related assets, including ICE, TIME and SPELL, are all down following this bizarre news. Holders are now worry that Abracadabra’s MIM – one of the largest algorithmic stablecoins with a circulating supply in excess of $4.6 billion, may also see the same fate.
Sestagalli expressed that he was unaware that he was working with Patryn who was the co-founder of Quadriga, a Canadian crypto exchange. Michael Patryn went with the online name of 0xSifu. “We had tons of meetings, passed through moments and difficult decisions – that’s how I met him. Not as a person, but as Sifu,” Sestagalli said.
More about Controversy surrounding DeFi Wonderland
“I have been thinking today, could I have prevented more damage today by saying, ‘Yes, it’s him?’ I don’t know,” Sestagalli added.
Sestagalli met Patryn in person when the former had to flee his country last year after receiving threats against his family. Sestagalli then invited Patryn and other developers to move to the same region. Patryn eventually agreed, and as the two grew closer in person, Patryn revealed his past.
Omer Dhanani – Michael Patryn
“In my personal opinion, I try to avoid judging people for what they have done in the past. I tried to stick to the experience I had with him. And we had many, many months of working together, talking every day. And building successful things together.” Sestagalli believes that Patryn has completely changed and he has turned a new leaf.
Back in 2005, Michael Patryn was convicte of identity fraud. He served time in federal prison in the U.S. Back then, he went by the name of Omar Dhanani. And then changed his name to “Michael Patryn” after finishing his sentence.
Candian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX was founded by Cotten and Patryn in 2013. Cotten later died in December 2018 after a trip to India. After which over $190 million worth of cryptocurrency owed to 115,000 customers was deemed missing, according to reports. To this day, no one knows where the funds went. Quadriga executives claimed that only Cotten had access to the private keys that held millions of dollars worth of client funds.
