- It’s been a while since we checked in with META 1 Coin Trust, the creators of the world’s worst whitepaper
- META 1 is under investigation by the SEC over their token raise
- There have been a number of interesting updates since we last covered the project back in November
META 1 Coin is a project very close to our hearts. When it came onto our radar back in March 2020 due to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) taking legal action against, we knew we were onto something special. We pulled apart its laughable whitepaper, dubbing it the worst in the world, which we replicated on a special episode of the FullyCrypto podcast. We have continued to follow the META 1 story as it has gotten stranger, with the latest coverage coming in November and their “public launch”. It’s time to see what has happened since.
A Very Private Public Launch
In an entirely predictable episode, META 1 Coin’s public launch has been nothing of the sort. Despite posting pictures of the META 1 Exchange on blog posts that boast of META 1 price increases (which, don’t forget, they promised in their whitepaper), there has been no hint of public access to the “decentralized exchange”. The company claimed that the exchange “can handle the trading volume of the NASDAQ while settling orders instantly” despite being decentralized, although the fact that no one can actually see the exchange in action makes this very hard to prove.
A couple of weeks after this ‘launch’, David Schmidt, the former senator who the SEC allege knowingly peddled misleading information to potential investors, parted ways with META 1, who claimed to have “enjoyed a fruitful business relationship in promoting the company’s digital coins”. Fruitful indeed – META 1 managed to scam $4.3 million out of investors.
A Very Private Decentralized Exchange
In December, META 1 announced a pilot program in the lead up to their supposed full launch. Despite no word being spoken publicly of the results of this pilot, it seemed to go well as January 2021 brought the fantastic news of the META 1 coin price rise, despite the fact that no one could access the exchange to sell it. No, the only place to buy and sell META 1 coin remained the publicly unavailable yet ‘decentralized’ META 1 Exchange, meaning that the only evidence on offer of such a gain were some screenshots of the exchange. OneCoin anyone?
Things took a slightly odd (well, odder) twist a week after this market-defying update when META 1 Coin Trust, the company behind the coin, announced the formation of Universal Law. This is apparently the legal arm of the company which, according to Dunlap, has a very grand ambition:
Operating in commerce as a Secured Party Creditor with a Private Non-Statutory Trust truly makes a person human again by restoring one’s dignity and civil liberties. One becomes a master over one’s destiny, instead of being a slave to the system.
Absolute nonsense, but then we would have expected nothing less given the language used in the META 1 whitepaper. Universal Law’s Secured Party Creditor service is available online at a cost of $22.22, or you can procure the combination package of Secured Party Creditor and Private Non-Statutory Trust which is available for a bargain $88.88. Given that Dunlap once tried to get out of a Land Rover loan repayment by questioning the real meaning and value of the U.S. dollar, this could be a very entertaining informative watch.
SEC Waiting to Strike
Given all this ‘progress’, you might think that things are going well for META 1, Dunlap, Bowlder et al. You’d be wrong. In pushing on with their project they are studiously ignoring the SEC, who in November 2020 filed for a summary judgement in their case against META1 and its founders because Bowdler and Dunlap can’t be bothered attending court hearings regarding the case, even when conducted by video link.
The request is now with the court, and it seems just a formality before they are awarded a victory in the case which should effectively shut down what remains of META 1 and will result in fines and probable further punishment for Dunlap and Bowdler.
The assets of all the main protagonists have been frozen for months, which makes it even more unlikely that the developments META 1 claim are happening actually are taking place. It also explains why they are creating bogus online legal courses and charging for them.
META 1 Coin is on Death Row
In summary, while META 1 Coin likes to present an outward appearance of achievement and progress, the reality is that the company is very likely on its last legs financially and might even go under of its own steam before the SEC gets the chance to shut the scammers down for good which is all but inevitable at this point.
