Web3 is Going Just Great

Only eleven days later, on June 27, the team boasted that the project "has grown to over $1m TVL in 2 working days". An hour after that, they announced that they would be suspending the protocol and beginning an immediate investigation into an apparent theft. Themis boasts in its documentation that "security is the highest priority" of the project, and lists multiple audits from PeckShield.

An attacker was apparently able to exploit the project, draining around 220 Themis-wrapped ETH (nominally worth ~$417,000). Due to liquidity issues, they could only swap these for around 94 ETH (~$178,000) and almost $190,000 in stablecoins, for a total haul of around $368,000.

In the filing, NFID alleges that Prime Trust discovered in December 2021 that it couldn't access some customer wallets, and so "purchased additional digital currency using customer money from its omnibus customer accounts" in order to satisfy withdrawals from said wallets.

Prime Trust reportedly has liabilities of around $82.8 million in fiat currency, plus another $860,000 of digital asset-denominated liabilities. "[Prime Trust] is in an unsafe financial condition and/or is insolvent. Additionally, [Prime Trust's] condition will only progressively worsen as customers continue to withdraw," wrote the regulator.

Jarryd Hayne is a convicted rapist once known for his careers in rugby league and, briefly, American football. He's serving several years in jail, after being convicted of rape, winning an appeal, being retried, and once again being found guilty.

Hayne is one of several inmates apparently convinced by the Ponzi schemer inmate, Ishan Seenar Sappidee, that he could make them massive returns. Hayne provided around AU$780,000 (~US$521,000) in Bitcoin to the enterprising inmate, who apparently amassed more than AU$2 million (~US$1.3 million)from at least seven inmates.

The regulator also demanded Binance return all crypto assets to customers, or transfer them to a company authorized in Belgium. They also noted that "The Crown Prosecutor of Brussels has been informed of the acts that are liable to constitute a criminal offence."

The project was real, and they had in fact brought on Bryan as an advisor and investor. Bryan later stated in a YouTube video that he had "[taken] the majority of my Bitcoin and rolled it into this technology". However, the firm scrapped its plans for an initial coin offering in 2019. Despite this, Bryan continued pitching the ICO to friends and family with the promise of big returns. One investor, a college student, he reeled in after matching with her on the dating app Bumble. Various sources told The Hollywood Reporter they'd lost between $5,000 and $25,000, for a total of almost $50,000.

In October 2020, Producers Market cut ties with Bryan. This coincided with Bryan being arrested for felony strangulation and other charges in regards to a drunken assault on a girlfriend, which he later pled down to misdemeanor menacing and fourth-degree assault.