tl;dr
Chris Williams, CEO of OpSec, a purported AI Cloud Security platform, and the entire core team have resigned following an investigation by ZachXBT, who claimed that OpSec was fraudulent. Williams cited the investigation's findings, including the deliberate withholding of critical information by OpSe...
OpSec Scandal: CEO and Core Team Resign Amid Allegations of Fraud Chris Williams, CEO of OpSec, a purported AI Cloud Security platform, and the entire core team have resigned following an investigation by ZachXBT, who claimed that OpSec was fraudulent. Williams cited the investigation's findings, including the deliberate withholding of critical information by OpSec's anonymous founder, as reasons for the mass resignation. The investigation revealed that OpSec's hardware capacities were nonexistent, and leaked Telegram chats showed the lack of a plan for executing OpSec's business model. This led to suspicions of misconduct and ultimately the team's resignation. ZachXBT also warned of a heightened risk of scammers due to crypto's bull run and encouraged users to conduct due diligence.
So, what were ZachXBT’s allegations, and how did they impact the firm’s operations? On the surface level, OpSec appeared to be a legitimate business, even partnering with other cloud computing firms to create DePin solutions. However, Zach stated that one user, Zopp0, created at least four shaky crypto startups, hoping to attract naive investors. ZachXBT’s investigation began in March when he posted evidence that OpSec’s purported hardware capacities were nonexistent. In November, however, he followed this up with leaked Telegram chats in which Zopp0 openly discussed his total lack of a plan for executing OpSec’s business model. These chats made it clear that the business had no real core.
In other words, Zopp0 managed to insulate Williams and the rest of OpSec’s developers from this lack of functionality. Positive social media buzz, partnerships, and other publicity actions drove up OpSec’s price. Behind the scenes, however, Williams said Zopp0 provided a “lack of clarity regarding OpSec’s direction,” and frequently withheld pay. The actual fraud here is somewhat similar to several which ZachXBT previously investigated. A seemingly legitimate project courts public interest, but upon closer inspection it cannot execute the purported vision. Zach also claimed that Zopp0 was secretly running OpSec and several less prominent “businesses”, a common tactic in token scams.
After obtaining this leaked information, ZachXBT confronted Zopp0, who became increasingly agitated in private chats. Excerpts from these were again leaked to ZachXBT, building evidence of misconduct. Zach then released most of this leaked information at once. Williams claimed that this corroborated his team’s own suspicions, leading to the mass resignation. As of yet, none of Zopp0’s other alleged sham businesses have gone through public employee discontent. Nonetheless, ZachXBT also compiled a list of influencers who helped pump OpSec’s social media presence. He warned of a heightened risk of scammers due to crypto’s bull run and encouraged users to conduct due diligence.