Ethereum co-founder sued for breach of contract

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Joseph Lubin, who helped found the Ethereum cryptocurrency project with Vitalik Buterin, is being sued by a former business associate. Harrison Hines submitted a suit against Lubin in the Supreme Court of the State of New York County in New York in June, lobbying a number of allegations against the entrepreneur and seeking more than $13 million in compensation.

Hines is the founder of the Token Foundry, a startup supported by the ConsenSys project, which was also founded, in part, by Lubin. According to a summons reportedly presented to Lubin, he is guilty of “breach of contract, conversion, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, fraud, declaratory judgment and unpaid profits arising from the defendants’ acts in connection with the business known as Token Foundry.”

The summons further explains that the amount sought covers “monetary damages in the amount of $12,827,000 on the contract, quasi-contract and fraud claims plus $404,783 in unpaid profits.”

The summons was also filed against ConsenSys AG and the ConsenSys Token Foundry LP as additional defendants.

According to the summons, it was presented on June 5 and Lubin had to respond “within 20 days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service, or within 30 days after service is complete if service of this summons is made by any means other than by personal delivery to you within the State of New York.” Absent any response, a judgment would be entered by default against the defendants.

It doesn’t appear that any follow up has been made available. There’s nothing more on the court’s website and Lubin hasn’t issued a public response. Absent any new details, it isn’t clear how Hines may proceed with his lawsuit.

The Token Foundry was designed to help new blockchain companies introduce tokens. It was forced to lay off most of its staff during last year’s lull in the crypto markets and Hines was one of those who was let go. The lawsuit stems from concerns that ConsenSys may not have been upfront with its disbursement of equity when the Token Foundry was disbanded, and previous reports have suggested that it had lied to employees about the percentages they were entitled to receive.