Haven Protocol descended into a farce this week with the team facing accusations of an exit scam before surfacing and offering an explanation. The trouble started when the lead developer, an anonymous individual only known by the handle @havendev, seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth. Communications with other developers ceased, as did updates on social media, leading to accusations that the project was in trouble. This was seemingly confirmed when Twitter user ₿lackbeard posted a screenshot from one of the developers in the group, stating that Havendev had not fulfilled a number of obligations critical to the project and that he was being oppositional. Following this news, social media outlets went into a frenzy as news spread about the potential closure of the project, leading to the price of the coin falling over 30%.
An Explanation Surfaces
Shortly after the collapse, with panic enveloping the project and investors selling off in droves, another developer, Donjor, took to Twitter to reassure investors and try to explain the situation. According to Donjor, he and other members of the team had been heaping pressure on Havendev for access to the offshore encryption and also clarity on governance costs. The lack of replies worried them enough for one member to broadcast Havendev’s resignation from the project, at which point he finally relented and gave the other developers what they needed to continue with the project.
What a shit show. I’ll try and sum up/respond to the @HavenProtocol drama. Myself and other predominant team members have been pressuring @havendev to give us access to the offshore code as well as more transparency on the governance fee.
— Donjor (@donjordev) January 21, 2019
The Issue with Anonymity
With the ship now seemingly back on course, Haven Protocol will attempt to recover from this needless drama. Instances like this can be patched over, but they leave an unpleasant taste in the mouths of investors. Some have claimed that Havendev went quiet in order to drive the price down, buy at the bottom, then mysteriously reappear, resulting in the price jumping up. If this is the case then he may have earned himself a cool 25%, but there is no evidence of this.
The episode is similar in principle to that of Oyster Pearl, where an anonymous lead developer precipitated a massive token theft. One Twitter user summed up the problem of having anonymous lead developers, and investors will now be hoping that the team can put the episode behind them and now build the product.
