American investor and hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli, convicted of fraud in 2017announced the launch of the Albumswap decentralized exchange.
The new DEX will receive its MS governance token.
An entrepreneur of Albanian origin receivedfame due to drug speculation. His companies bought the rights to the drugs and increased their prices significantly. For example, for Thiola, used to treat a rare disease, the increase was about 2000%.
Shkreli's activities caused a wide public outcry in the United States, and he himself received the nickname «pharma brother» [Pharma bro].
In December 2015, the SEC charged him withsecurities fraud. According to the regulator, the entrepreneur organized a Ponzi scheme. In 2017, the court sentenced him to 7 years in prison and a fine of $7.36 million. In May 2022, Shkreli was released early for good behavior.
Why Albumswap?
In 2015, an entrepreneur bought exclusive rights to the new album of the cult group Wu-Tang Clan for $2 million, which he had not even listened to.
After his release, Shkreli admitted that while in prison, he became acquainted with cryptocurrencies and used the decentralized exchange Uniswap. He called the platform "really cool."
DEX host founder Hayden Adams wrote:
«Will Shkreli still like Uniswap if he finds out I listened to that WuTang album he bought later?»
Shkreli responded to Adams' post by asking followers:
«Guys, should I start my own DEX to teach this guy a lesson?».
According to the entrepreneur, the project will be a fork of Uniswap, and its name is inspired by the discussed album.
«I didn't plan this.But I really didn't appreciate his tweet. For me, if I can get even 5% of their market share, then I've done my job. All I can do is be a thorn in their side,” Shkreli said.
According to a ForkLog report, as of MayUniswap has remained the consistent leader among the DEXs in terms of monthly trading volume. The platform indicator was $62 billion (over 57% of the total). Curve, which has risen to second place, has more than $26 billion.
Data: ForkLog.
Recall that in May, the volume of deals made on Uniswap exceeded the equivalent of $1 trillion since the launch of the DEX in 2018.
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