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Wednesday, 31 August 2022
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Partner(s)
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Good morning!
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It seems to be a very gloomy week for the Nigerian tech ecosystem. Since Monday the space has been rocked by negative PR that could jeopardise the standing of an industry that is funded mostly by foreign investors.
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The timing could not have been worse as this is happening when investors have begun to raise alarms about alleged discrepancies in the numbers that founders present to their investors. Some say that user numbers and market value have in some cases been inflated or misrepresented.
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Now Risevest CEO has had to step down, Flutterwave has had more of its fund frozen in Kenya, and 54gene has had to undergo massive retrenchment of staff.
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Below are the tech stories and news you need to know to start your day, carefully curated by Technext.
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Summary of the news
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- $100m worth of NFTs have been stolen in the past 1 year, Elliptic report shows
- Elon Musk said that the whistleblower’s testimony has given him more reasons to dump his Twitter bid
- Again, a high court in Kenya has frozen over $3.3m belonging to Flutterwave
- Risevest CEO has stepped down over allegations of workplace impropriety including sexual misconduct, intimidation and bullying
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$100m worth of NFTs stolen in the past 1 year
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A new report has revealed that the NFT market has been plagued by a massive heist spree in the last year, Technext reports. According to the blockchain research firm, Elliptic, over $100 million worth of NFT assets were stolen between July 2021 and July 2022.
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The NFT space is abundant with investors, collectors, and creators as well. And with the huge amount of money that has flowed into the market in recent years, it is not surprising that scammers discovered it as a soft spot for their craft.
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Some of the most popular ways NFTs get stolen are by owners clicking on a bad link, exposing their secret phrase and via user error. This way, users are often tricked into transferring their NFTs or providing access to the wallet. Most times, scammers will approach them in the DMs either offering help or a deal that is too good to be true.
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Also, NFT thieves can create fake profiles impersonating trusted influencers or companies in the space and approach unsuspecting people with an offer of help with a problem they’ve been experiencing. Platforms usually used for these nefarious operations are Discord, Telegram and Twitter.
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Musk finds solace in whistleblower’s testimony
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Specifically, Musk claims that Twitter’s declaration in the merger agreement that it had not misled the SEC is false, citing Zatko’s allegations. In Zatko’s own complaints, which were published last week, he claimed that Twitter repeatedly and knowingly misled regulators about the security of its platform.
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“[Zatko’s] allegations, if true, demonstrate that Twitter has breached the following provisions of the Merger Agreement, thereby giving the Musk Parties the right to terminate the Merger Agreement pursuant to its terms as more fully described below,” states Musk’s new termination letter.
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Kenya Court freeze $3.3m belonging to Flutterwave
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A Kenyan High Court has frozen another Sh400.6 million ($3.3 million) in three separate bank accounts and some 19 Safaricom M-Pesa Pay Bill numbers belonging to Nigerian fintech company, Flutterwave following allegations of card fraud and money laundering by the country’s anti-corruption agency, Technext reports.
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On August 25, the court granted the Asset Recovery Agency’s (ARA) request to restrict the fintech’s attempts to transfer or withdraw its funds in the three bank accounts—two in UBA and one in Access Bank—as well as the 19 Safaricom M-Pesa Pay Bill numbers.
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The amounts frozen include Sh110 million in a UBA bank account, another US $ 556,622 (Sh66.7 million), Sh29.1 million in Access Bank and Sh68 million, Sh112 million and Sh14.5 million in a total of 19 Safaricom Paybill numbers.
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But this hasn't deterred the company from pursuing its IPO fillings.
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Bloomberg reports that it's currently preparing for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange, even as it deals with regulatory hurdles in its key markets. Chief Financial Officer of Flutterwave, Oneal Bhambani told Bloomberg that the company will use the funds to expand operations in its existing markets and enter new ones in Africa.
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Risevest's CEO, Eke Eleanya Urum steps down
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Risevest's co-founder and CEO, Eke Eleanya Urum, has stepped down from his role as he comes under investigation for allegations of workplace improprieties including sexual harassment. TechCabal was the first to report the news on Monday night. Risevest released a statement yesterday saying that an investigation is going on by an independent body.
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TechCabal reports that Eke was first notified of the allegations against him by investors on August 1st.
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“I was told on the evening of August 1 by investors that someone reached out that there were allegations of bullying, sexual harassment, and intimidation,” Eke told TechCabal over a call. “They didn’t say by whom, but I was told to step aside so an independent panel could carry out an investigation.”
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In light of allegations of abuse of power and sexual impropriety, Eke Urum willingly agreed to step aside as CEO of Risevest as of August 3 2022 to allow for a 6-weeks investigation, set up by Risevest's investors, to run its course.
We are committed to getting to the root of the matter and have launched a formal investigation to achieve this. The situation is being handled with utmost transparency through an independent panel with no affiliation to employees of Risevest.
We want to assure our stakeholders and the general public that we continue to operate optimally as a company, and our customers will continue to enjoy the highest quality of services and support. Here are answers to some of the questions you may immediately have.
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Latest in funding
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Other stories we are following
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