Back in 2017, Hush launched itself as the future of banking and wanted to disrupt the current financial industry – much in the way Revolut is currently doing. However, in order to reach its goals, it decided to host an ICO to raise funds. If you have been following the crypto markets, you will know that ICOs have been suffering lately, and Hush’s ICO was no exception. It failed miserably and with a massive lack of funds the Hush project has subsequently vanished from the face of the Earth.
ICO Regulations Coming Soon
Hush was based in France, meaning it had to rush its ICO as to avoid falling under the France’s new ICO regulations. Under the new regulations, ICOs in France will require the same type of information and vetting as an IPO would in a bid to weed out scams and protect investors. This in turn will create a new breed of ICOs that are much safer investment products and attract a new wave of investors.
Wall Street Journal Calling Out ICO Scams
Hush didn’t have any of the markers of a traditional ICO scam, but given how it has handled allegedly running out of cash it could quite easily have been a con. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently compiled a study of over 3,200 active ICOs and found 513 to be outright scams. A further 2,000 ICOs had major red flags and it warned these should be treated as very risky investments. Had the WSJ included Hush’s ICO, it could have easily thrown up a few more red flags.
Founders Vanished in the Background
The notorious Éric Charpentier was the founder of Hush, and he doesn’t have the best record when it comes to the handling of corporate funds. He played a huge part in the banking startup Morning, which subsequently ran out of funds, Charpentier vanished and it was then saved by French bank Edel.
It appears as if Charpentier is back up to old tricks, as around July 2018 he vanished from all of his regular social media accounts, and subsequently so too did other key members of the team. Hush’s community manager attempted to calm investors by saying: “Eric is now taking the time to manage his projects far from the pressure of his networks. We have decided not to justify ourselves. We work in silence. The real investors in the project know. We leave the fantasies for others.” However, it appears as if investors don’t believe the statement from Hush and they are beginning to start legal proceedings against it.
Hush is just one of the many ICO projects of 2018 that simply couldn’t attract enough investors during the bearish market. Without the necessary funds to get off the ground, Hush was doomed from the get-go. It looks like investors could be in for a long and protracted court battle to recover funds.
