NFT App Rebase Co-founder Accused of Rogue Actions in Lawsuit by Partner: A Comprehensive Report

Rebase Co-Founder Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Misappropriation of Crypto Wallet Funds

One of the co-founders of non-fungible token project Rebase, Edmond Truong, is facing a lawsuit from his apparent business partner Krzysztof Gagacki. The lawsuit, filed on April 17 in a US District Court in California, accuses Truong of stealing $2 million from a joint crypto wallet and ousting Gagacki from the firm.

Gagacki has made eight separate complaints against Truong, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, defamation, and trademark infringement. Gagacki claims to own a 50% share of the funds, and alleges that Truong refused to provide him with the private keys to the digital wallet.

Truong is accused of presenting himself as the “sole owner” and “decision maker” for Rebase, and of making defamatory statements about Gagacki to the firm’s business contacts. Gagacki claims that Truong also seized a Twitter account relating to Bella Hadid’s NFT collection, which Gagacki claims to have the trademark rights for with his other company, IOVO AG.

Another claim mentioned by Gagacki was Truong’s unauthorized pursuit to issue a Rebase token on the Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution Arbitrum. The firm’s $150 million valuation has come on the back of venture capital funding from Animoca Capital, Anti Fund Investment Fund, LLC, DeFiance Capital, and the now-bankrupt Three Arrows Capital.

The Allegations

Krzysztof Gagacki is claiming that Edmond Truong breached a partnership contract on October 27, 2022, by misappropriating $2 million into a separate wallet owned and controlled by Truong without Gagacki’s consent. Gagacki further alleges that Truong “ousted” him from the business and is stating that Gagacki is no longer “employed” at the firm after things had “gotten a bit out of hand.”

Truong is also accused of “intentionally interfering” with several prospective deals that Gagacki had been working on for the firm. Gagacki claims that Truong’s statements have had a “disastrous effect” on his reputation. One of the deals involved American celebrity Bella Hadid, who featured in the firm’s Cy-B3lla NFT project but then refused further collaboration after it was made apparent to her that the two business partners clashed heads.

Gagacki claims that Truong has also commandeered the @REBASEgg and @cybellaxyz Twitter accounts, changing the password for these accounts and actively denying Gagacki access.

Rebase’s Integration on Arbitrum

According to Rebase’s Twitter account, the firm is set to integrate on Arbitrum on April 21. The filing explained that if a Rebase app token is listed on any major cryptocurrency exchange, the market value of the tokens, which will be minted on the Arbitrum network and offered to the public, could reach many times over the Rebase app’s last round valuation of $150 million.