Following a controversial exit scam by its founder, the team behind Oyster Protocol has announced that the project will fork and be revamped as Opacity.
Looking to Put the Past Aside
Oyster witnessed a season of turmoil in October when the company’s sole owner, known as Bruno Block, allegedly made off with roughly $300,000 in PRL-based investor funds.
CEO William Cordes later stated on Medium that an investigation is underway:
We are in the process of filing law enforcement reports, working with our attorney, and have hired a private investigator… We are being advised to not reveal any confidential details of this ongoing investigation, as this may complicate and extend the duration of that investigation. Bruno’s actions are being investigated by some of the best in the industry, whom have identified and brought to justice bad actors that executed their crimes in far more sophisticated methodologies.
Rebuilding Trust in the Project
“Opacity” is the name of a tool on the Oyster protocol that allows individuals to safely share documents and files online through an anonymous and decentralized platform. Users who upload files will have total control over who has access to their data. All files are kept private, and uploaders can choose which individuals will gain access.
The new project name takes inspiration from this tool, and underscores the project’s commitment to transparency.
Looking to rebuild trust among its users, the newly-revamped Opacity has published details regarding how funds are being spent to assure individuals that the company taking its financial responsibilities very seriously.
Some of the non-headcount expenses included in its latest report were items like rent expenses, general business supplies, legal fees, marketing and public relations fees, and exchange-related fees.
The report shows these expenses as meandering through the low $20,000 range in both August and September 2018. However, the company later put an end to duplicative hosting instances, which greatly reduced AWS costs. This ultimately cut these expenses in half by October. The team is confident all non-headcount expenses will be somewhere in the low $10,000 range from here on out.
Headcount costs, on the other hand, tend to be a little pricier. These items include management wages, engineering, product marketing and community control. To lower spending costs, the team has already announced that in both November and December of this year, managers will not be accepting any salary money.
In addition, the rest of the team will either join managers in earning no funds for their work or will take significantly reduced salaries for the remainder of the year.
Once January rolls around, the team will re-evaluate the project’s position and examine the latest expense reports. Granted things have improved financially, they will once again begin offering salary options to employees.
Hard Fork Scheduled for November 9
The Oyster Protocol hard fork will introduce users to Opacity and its new native cryptocurrency, OPQ.
There will be a total supply of 130 million units of OPQ, and 1 OPQ will be provided to every wallet holding at least 1 PRL – the company’s present unit of crypto – by end-of-day Friday, November 9.
Presently, there are only about 103 million units of PRL in circulation, which means there’s likely to be funds left over once the fork is completed.
Management has announced that approximately 20 million of the remaining OPQ will be put towards salaries and continuing operations, while 5 million will be offered as grants to both current and future employees. The remaining 2 million will be held in a secure account should the company ever fall on hard times and need emergency funds.
The team is also aiming to work out new deals with exchanges listing its currency once the hard fork finishes. All trading of PRL was halted on October 29, though managers say they’re looking to bring liquidity back as soon as possible, and users can look forward to regular updates.
The company’s second currency – known as SHL – is also scheduled to undergo a hard fork in the coming weeks. This will produce a separate token, though a fork date has not been set. Opacity says it will be providing further details soon.
