It’s been a tough year for the crypto project Helium Network and its founder Amir Halem. Initially lauded as a competent startup and Internet of Things buff, it failed this summer when it was revealed that some advertised big-name “partners” — including Salesforce and Lime — weren’t actually in business with the firm.
Things only got worse. In September, Forbes revealed its native token HNT was highly centralized, with insiders holding the majority of tokens. It also announced the launch of a dashcam-based mapping network that appears to suffer from much the same pyramid-like arrangement of the helium grid.
The launch was supported from now defunct FTX Ventures. On Monday, billionaire Bill Ackman strangely announced he also liked Helium. He previously tweeted support for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) as his empire crumbled.
“You have to give [SBF] credit for his reporting here. I don’t know any of the facts, but I’ve never seen a CEO take responsibility like he’s doing here before.” Ackman published when news of its “liquidity crisis” broke. The tweet was deleted very soon after it was posted.
FTX filed for bankruptcy, with attorney John J. Ray III took over as CEO from SBF. IN declaration for the first day, Ray said he had never seen “such a complete failure of corporate control and such a complete lack of reliable financial information.” The famous lawyer handled the bankruptcy of Enron.
Before the fall of FTX Helium turned to work with Solana to launch a crypto phone and network – its biggest supporter was the SBF. In September, the Helium community voted to give up its own token for Solana’s token, SOL. At the time, one SOL cost $31. It is since then the value has fallen by over 62%to $11.70 at press time.
Yet somehow, amid the turmoil, Helium’s founder quietly decided to start his own professional racing team.
Helium’s founder launched Cyber Dynamics Racing, LLC
Cyber Dynamics Racing was founded in September of this year. There is little information about the LLC – the Homepage is a blank screen displaying only a logo.
A quick search reveals that the company is based in California’s Bay Area, in a modest five-bedroom, five-bath, five-acre luxury mansion. It sold last year for over $4 million.
The sprawling estate features a four-car garage and a ‘motor course’ suitable for a professional motor racing company. There is, of course, a pool and a putting green.
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The founding of Cyber Dynamics Racing is a puzzling move, to be sure. An individual who has started a failed crypto network and is in the midst of launching a new dash cam mapping network, with nearly $365 million and $21 million invested in each project, respectively, likely to be busy.
But venture capitalists shouldn’t be surprised: Helium’s founder’s Crunchbase profile a photo shows him racing a car. In small biographyhe claims to have been “building and racing Japanese sports cars since the 1990s.”
At least we know he’s focused on something.
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