Vanbex Labs Sells Two Products to Hyperion Amid Fraud Investigation

Securities and cryptocurrency exchange Hyperion Technologies acquired two products developed by blockchain consulting firm Vanbex Labs, which is currently under investigation in British Columbia.

Vanbex announced in a post published on its blog on Sept. 4 that Hyperion had acquired Vanbex’s blockchain solutions Rocket and CryptoTaxes. 

The Forfeiture Office alleges that Vanbex and its partner Etherparty carried out their $22 million ICO FUEL token with the sole intention of pocketing the money. Canadian police froze Vanbex’s assets, as Cointelegraph reported at the beginning of April. 

Scam allegations

According to the office, the company received $22.5 million in the alleged crypto fraud, and attempted to liquidate their assets in response to an investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In late August, a Supreme Court judge in British Columbia, Canada, denied the defendants’ motion to set aside the asset freeze.

At the beginning of May, Vanbex also filed a lawsuit against its former contractor for spreading false and defamatory statements about the firm. Vanbex’s founder Cheng told Cointelegraph at the time that the firm knew with certainty that false claims by their former contractor “have created files with several government agencies,” adding that business accounts have not been frozen.

Per the release, Rocket is a product meant to aid in smart contract development and deployment, as well as in the issuance of crypto assets. CryptoTaxes, on the other hand, reportedly simplifies tax filings for capital gains and losses in relation to crypto asset trading. The two products will be available through Hyperion’s platform for the FUEL token which has been launched by the firm in 2017. The exchange’s CEO Michael Zavet commented on the development:

“Acquiring Rocket and CryptoTaxes was a strategic move enabling us to focus on a larger market share, which we are very excited about.”

Firm’s scope expansion

Hyperion said that, with the acquisition, its platform became ready to cover all the needs of companies looking to issue a digital asset, raise funds in the marketplace, and list it on a regulated exchange. Vanbex will continue to operate as a blockchain consulting company with a focus on supporting Hyperion’s growth.

Cryptocurrency exchanges are acquiring companies or products increasingly often. One of the last examples took place earlier this week when Binance, the world’s largest exchange by trading volume, has acquired JEX, a crypto-asset trading platform that offers spot and derivatives trading services.