A metaverse initiative called HyperVerse is accused of defrauding $1.3 billion by luring members with the legitimacy of a phony CEO.
The Guardian claims that Steven Reece The Australian cryptocurrency community is pursuing Lewis because of his clear role in the early 2022 collapse of the well-known HyperVerse project. But even after two years of nonstop data collection, investors still don’t know who the real “financial expert” Lewis is. In fact, there are hints that the management team may have invented the CEO role in order to cover up dishonest activity.
In particular, Lewis often made appearances at events throughout the project’s marketing campaign, where he was presented as an accomplished investor. He claimed to have worked for prestigious international bank Goldman Sachs, graduated from Leeds University, and had a PhD from Cambridge University. The HyperVerse team also revealed that Lewis had founded and sold a profitable software firm to Adobe.
Due to the CEO’s reputation, a large number of individuals decided to fund the initiative. Lewis encouraged everyone to join early in order to receive the highest return on investment, making continual promises about the company’s and the metaverse industry’s future via video chats with the community.
“HyperVerse will develop a system that coexists with the physical world, revolutionizing interpersonal communication. We will support investors in making significant gains in the metaverse age, since the race has only just begun,” he declared.
In addition to Lewis’s talks, the cryptocurrency initiative reportedly drew interest from the public by offering profits of up to 0.5% every day, or 300% in just two years, according to CryptoNews. Thousands of Australians joined HyperVerse because it offered them the chance to swiftly enhance their assets, even though regulators had warned them that this may be a Ponzi scam masquerading as blockchain technology.
To allay investor concerns, the project management team also used the names of several more celebrities. HyperVerse faked endorsement from many KOLs by using Cameo, a company that lets consumers pay for any character to read stuff that has already been published. As an illustration, Steve Wozniak, the “virtual” co-founder of Apple, said, “I am here to support Lewis and I am looking forward to the project’s completion.” “HyperVerse will lead the metaverse space under the leadership of CEO Lewis,” impersonated action movie icon Chuck Norris.
But HyperVerse abruptly folded a few months after the advertising campaign concluded. The HVT cryptocurrency used in the project fell from $7.4 to zero value. The official social media account X ceased being updated, and it was impossible to access the project’s website. In addition to the unexplained departure of CEO Lewis, records from the market analysis section Chainalysis show that around $1.3 billion in global investor funds vanished.
Following an inquiry, it was discovered that the community had been duped and might not be able to get their assets back. As of right now, neither the US Securities and Exchange Commission nor the British company register have any information regarding Steven Reece Lewis. Adobe also failed to disclose the HyperVerse CEO acquisition in their SEC filing. Lewis, who works at Goldman Sachs, Leeds University, and Cambridge University, is also absent from the list of studies.
The Guardian claims that hints point to a relationship between Hypertech, an Australian corporation owned by Sam Lee and Ryan Xu, and the HyperVerse project. Lee, nevertheless, refuted the accusations of fraud. “Many people made mistakes themselves, but I became the target of harassment and threats,” Lee stated.
The victims of the project are still attempting to convince the authorities of Lee and Xu’s involvement in the HyperVerse problem.