Balance CEO alleges betrayal at hands of Uniswap founder Balance CEO alleges betrayal at hands of Uniswap founder
Ric Burton opens legal action against Hayden Adams over alleged debts incurred by assisting Uniswap to market.
2 min read
Updated: Aug. 3, 2023 at 2:46 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Balance CEO Ric Burton claimed he was double-crossed by Uniswap founder Hayden Adams, who, at one point, he considered one of his “closest friends.”
Burton had invested time, friendship, and an unspecified sum of money in supporting Adams to take Uniswap to market. But Burton said he feels heartbroken and sad that his efforts were never repaid.
Burton helps get Uniswap off the ground
It began in New York in Spring of 2018 with Burton looking for dApp developers. This involved hosting events and giving promising developers time, money, and studio space.
He recounted that of all the developers he came across, Adams and his unwavering enthusiasm for Uniswap stood out among the many hopefuls.
“He was on an absolute warpath. Every single time you met him all he could talk about was Uniswap.“
United by the goal of making “Ethereum magical for people,” the pair quickly became close, supporting each other in their respective struggles to make it.
“We were there for each other during the ups and downs of trying to build startups in an ecosystem with very few solid projects.“
Burton said he believed in Adams and his simplicity-focused AMM DEX concept and thought nothing of granting him unlimited studio access. When Adams ran out of money, Burton paid his rent, even dipping into Balance’s money to cover his expenses.
Realizing the protocol’s potential, the Ethereum Foundation soon came knocking, marking a significant turning point. With crypto investment firm Paradigm on board as well, the future looked bright.
Adams goes AWOL
Adams told Burton he intended to include him in the Uniswap round as repayment for his help. Burton trusted Adams to keep his word.
Time passed, and in March 2019, Burton encountered personal difficulties, including the loss of his grandmother. Without disclosing the finer details, he said he was also asked to leave Balance by the other co-founder.
“Suffice to say, things were not good at Balance.
Things were VERY good at Uniswap.
Hayden raised just over a $1m.”
Burton then discovered that Paradigm was not keen on including him in the round, which he put down to his difficulties at Balance.
“They were not at all interested in having a failing founder on the cap table of their new unicorn.“
During this time, Burton said Adams ignored his messages and went AWOL. But contact was re-established as the UNI token was readying for roll-out. It was then Adams made an offer to repay Burton.
However, the offer came with the condition to never discuss the events and circumstances of their relationship in public. Burton commented, “This was one of the most offensive contracts I had ever seen.”
Fast forward to now, some four years later, Burton tells this story, saying sadness had prevented him from going public sooner.
Closing out the tweet thread, Burton confirmed instigating legal action to recover the money owed. But at the same time, he expressed uncertainty in himself and this course of action by asking the Twitterverse whether they think he deserves to get nothing.
“My goal with this thread is simple: to gauge the community’s sentiment about my contribution.“
CryptoSlate reached out to Burton for further comment. No reply was received by the time of press.
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Samuel Wan
Samuel Wan, a finance professional turned full-time crypto content creator, values individual autonomy and personal freedom in his pursuits.
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Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Uniswap
$14.1256
Since its inception, the Uniswap Protocol (“Uniswap”) has served as a trustless and highly decentralized financial infrastructure.
Ric has designed some of the early concepts for a blockchain browser and dapp store for Ethereum in May to June of 2014.
Hayden Adams is the inventor of Uniswap Protocol, an open-source protocol for providing liquidity and trading ERC20 tokens on Ethereum.