In the volatile world of cryptocurrency, the downfall of HyperVerse, a hedge fund once touted as a frontrunner in the metaverse race, has taken a dramatic turn with the investigation suggests that Lewis may not even exist as an actual person. After a series of reports and a thorough investigation by The Guardian, it has been verified that there is no evidence of the existence of Steven Reece Lewis, the alleged CEO of HyperVerse, whose downfall led to an estimated $1.3 billion in customer losses.
The narrative of HyperVerse’s CEO, Reece Lewis, is shrouded in deception and mystery. His remarkable CV, which featured roles at Goldman Sachs, selling a web development company to Adobe, and obtaining degrees from the University of Leeds and the University of Cambridge, was used to attract potential investors.However, His professional history seemed equally dubious.
The investigative efforts revealed that Adobe “has no record of any acquisition of a company owned by a Steven Reece Lewis,” and even more revealing is that “Goldman Sachs could find no record of Reece Lewis having worked for the company.” Similarly, both universities where Lewis claimed to have studied have denied any record of his attendance. Furthermore, there are no records of Lewis on the UK companies register, Companies House, or the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Adobe, which was reported to have acquired a web development company owned by Lewis, has no record of such an acquisition in its public SEC filings.
The HyperVerse program promised investors a digital paradise, offering memberships with guaranteed daily returns of 0.5% and the potential for up to 300% return over 600 days. It also provided bonuses for recruiting new members. However, numerous investors have faced difficulties accessing their funds. According to a report by US blockchain analysts Chainalysis, consumer losses from HyperVerse in 2022 amounted to $1.3 billion ($1.92 billion).
Businessman Sam Lee and his partner, Ryan Xu, are suspected to be the masterminds behind Hyperverse, but both have reportedly denied any involvement with the collapsed firm.
Promoters of Hyperverse used fake qualifications and a non-existent CEO, as well as celebrity endorsements, to make the scheme seem legitimate. Celebrities such as Steve Wozniak, Chuck Norris, Jim Norton, and Lance Bass have appeared in videos endorsing both Lewis and the crypto fund.
The Australian publication’s report acknowledged that the celebrities may not have been aware that Hyperverse was using videos of them to promote a pyramid scheme. Hyperverse enticed victims by promising guaranteed minimum returns of 0.5% per day to investors who bought “memberships.” The celebrity support was apparently crucial to the collapsed crypto fund’s plans, the publication concluded.
Celebrities and influencers, such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, have endorsed Reece Lewis as a strong leader for the HyperVerse.British journalist Andrew Penman noted that none of the celebrities involved, such as Wozniak, Chuck Norris, and Lance Bass, could confirm ever knowing Lewis.Penman wrote, “I suspect that he’s a figment of someone’s imagination, created to give a false sense of security to this sham.”He suggested that influencers such as Wozniak, Norris, and Bass were probably “innocently misled” when they agreed to endorse HyperVerse.
Perhaps more noticeably, Lee failed to address The Guardian’s inquiries about Reece Lewis. Instead, Lee contested The Guardian’s supposed “inaccuracies” regarding Lee’s role as the purported creator of HyperVerse and claimed that “people on the Internet” continue to “make things up.”
Reece Lewis ceased tweeting on his sole social media account in June 2022, coinciding with HyperVerse’s suspension of customer withdrawals. Although his identity is still uncertain, his pinned tweet includes a link to a promotional video for HyperVerse. with a caption that reads, “where reality ends and imagination begins.”
Relevant articles:
–Report: CEO of Collapsed Crypto Investment Scheme Hyperverse May Not Exist
– HyperVerse hedge fund CEO may not exist — Investigation finds no record of identity after collapse causing an estimated $1.3 billion in customer losses
– Chief executive of collapsed crypto fund HyperVerse does not appear to exist
– CEO of defunct crypto fund HyperVerse does not exist