Uniswap founder denies swindling Balance.io co-founder Uniswap founder denies swindling Balance.io co-founder
Hayden Adams said Ric Burton was offered Uniswap investor ownership and later a cash repayment, refusing both offers.
2 min read
Updated: Aug. 3, 2023 at 2:33 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Uniswap founder Hayden Adams said he was “sad and disappointed” with recent comments by Balance co-founder Ric Burton.
Burton said he was owed money from supporting Adams get Uniswap off the ground. However, Adams fired back, saying that two deals were turned down, including an offer for investor ownership.
Burton alleges being double-crossed
On Feb. 2, Burton posted a tweet thread detailing his account of developing the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem during its infancy and the friendship the pair had struck up.
The thread mentioned supporting Adams in getting Uniswap off the ground. This involved giving unrestricted studio access, mentorship, and money. Burton said that Adams had verbally agreed to repay him from Uniswap’s investment funding.
However, around March 2019 — following the death of his grandmother — Burton was going through a rough patch, leading to him being asked to leave Balance. He said this was also when his relationship with Adams became distant.
Burton said he felt sadness over not being included in Uniswap’s funding and being frozen out by Adams — who did not return his messages. Adams later offered to pay on the condition details of their relationship were never publically discussed. Burton found this offer offensive.
To “right the wrong,” Burton is suing Adams.
Uniswap founder gives his side of the story
In response to the allegations, Adams said Burton’s account contained untruths ranging from “very misleading to outright lies.” He was also reluctant to engage sooner due to the ongoing legal action.
Adams disclosed more information on the repayment aspect, saying the deal took the form of a post-money Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) — with the option for Burton to choose whatever amount he wanted.
A post-money SAFE sets out a fixed ownership percentage for the investor. But, per a screengrab, Burton said Balance was running low on funds and turned down the SAFE offer.
Adams clarified that he did receive a grant, that Burton declined early investment, and later refused another offer to repay money owed.
Furthermore, Adams dismissed the accuracy of several other claims, including Burton making the Paradigm investment introduction. The situation became too much, including Burton’s behavior, that he decided to freeze him out.
“I eventually cut off contact with Ric because of how poorly he treated people around him, including my friends and colleagues.“
Nonetheless, Adams said he is grateful for Burton’s help in helping get Uniswap up and running.
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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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Since its inception, the Uniswap Protocol (“Uniswap”) has served as a trustless and highly decentralized financial infrastructure.
Uniswap Labs
Uniswap Labs is a corporation that builds products on top of the Uniswap protocol to make it simple and easy to use. Its headquarters is in New York, New York, and it was created in 2018.
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.