Lemon Cash rules out that these measures have to do with FTX/Alameda. “This was the way to go and we’ve known it for a while. During the first days of November, after the problems FTX/Alameda were facing became public, Lemon withdrew all user funds and removed them as an option for the Earn service.”
As confirmed to Ámbito, “FTX Ventures had also invested in Lemon during the Series A extension, with a very small percentage. Lemon decided to only leave deposited in Alameda an amount equal to what FTX Ventures invested and they do not expect to recover that investment.”
And they clarified: “This did not have any impact on users nor does it represent a significant amount to the company.”
Measures to bring peace of mind to users
Last week, Lemon published its “Proof of Funds” and “Proof of Liabilities” certified by an auditor and a notary public. On 11/23 they launched their “Live Reservation Test within the app.”
This new system allows any user to verify every 10 minutes on the blockchain all the information about the reserves that Lemon has in custody of its users with amounts, networks and addresses.
Soon there will be apassive test” based on cryptography to continue raising the standard of transparency of the ecosystem and a project will be presented so that both tests are a standard in the local industry, taking advantage of the fact that Lemon is part of the Argentine Fintech Chamber. Also, it facilitated access to DeFi solutions by acting as a vehicle for the user to receive weekly crypto earnings in the most secure, stable, and decentralized protocols.
The statement from the CEO of Lemon, Marcelo Cavazzoli
Hello everyone,
Today I have sad news to share with you, the one that no entrepreneur wants to give. I decided to reduce the size of our team by 38%.
I feel great pain for many people who trusted in the project and in me, and who today will not be able to continue accompanying us on this path. However, I have to make a series of decisions that will ensure Lemon’s mission in the long term.
I make this decision with sadness, with pain and with the certainty that in order to move forward in this challenging international context, we must let go of talented people who gave a lot for Lemon and contributed to making us the largest crypto company in Argentina today.
All these people also contributed to making the crypto industry in Argentina what it is today. In less than two years, we were able to bring crypto into the lives of more than 1.6 million users and paved the way for mass adoption for the ecosystem.
When Lemon started in 2019, there were no crypto cards in Argentina. You could not pay almost anything in crypto. Crypto was not part of the public conversation, it was for few. Today crypto is for millions. In large part, this is possible thanks to the invaluable efforts of many who added their intelligence, their time and their hearts to Lemon.
Why did I make this decision?
There is an international context of which we are part and to which we have to adapt. The investment market for startups is in a recessionary period and we know that it will continue like this for a while.
This is the right decision to make the company sustainable without the need for new investments in the coming years.
The case of leading companies that made similar decisions such as Meta, Stripe or Coinbase indicate that this is one of the main ways that the tech industry has to face the current state of the market.
Where are we standing today as a company?
Today Lemon is one of the crypto companies with the most financing in Argentina. This year we closed an extension of our Series A for 27.8 million dollars. Thus, adding the 16.3 million from last year, we total a round of 44.1 million dollars.
Investment funds such as DST Global, Valor Capital, GoodWater Capital, CMT Digital, Cadenza, among others, participated in this extension.
This round, along with other measures we are announcing today, give us the financial support to adapt and face the long winter we are going through with the freedom to create innovative products that continue to bring crypto closer to millions of people.
Is this measure related in any way to what happened with FTX?
No, such a difficult and unwanted decision is not made in a matter of weeks. This was the way to go and we’ve known it for a while.
What did Lemon do in the face of the crisis of confidence in the ecosystem in recent days?
During the first days of November, after the problems faced by FTX and Alameda became publicly known, we withdrew all user funds from there and removed them as an option for the Earn service.
FTX Ventures had also invested in Lemon during the Serie A extension, with a tiny percentage. We decided to leave deposited in Alameda only an amount equal to the amount invested by FTX Ventures and we do not expect to recover that investment. Just to be clear: this did not have any impact on users nor does it represent a significant amount to the company.
To drive the path towards transparency and strengthen trust in the ecosystem, we are publishing our Proof of Bookings live within the app. Any user can verify every 10 minutes on the blockchain all the information with amounts, networks and addresses. We are also working on an open source, crypto-based proof of liabilities to further raise the industry standard for transparency.
Where are we going?
Two years ago we led the way in the industry by offering the integration of fiat payments with crypto. A few months ago, we launched the second largest collection of NFTs in the world, with more than 430,000 owners. This was just the first step.
Whats Next? Bring the future of the internet to millions of people through web3 products that create incredible experiences to create the path to decentralization in community.
From day one our mission at Lemon was to bring the future of money and the internet closer to the present. I will be forever grateful to the team that accompanied us on this mission. I assure you that I will work every day to make it a reality.
Source: Ambito
I am a 24-year-old writer and journalist who has been working in the news industry for the past two years. I write primarily about market news, so if you’re looking for insights into what’s going on in the stock market or economic indicators, you’ve come to the right place. I also dabble in writing articles on lifestyle trends and pop culture news.