Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Allegedly Stole Startup’s Work, New Lawsuit Reveals

A blockchain firm has sued Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, alleging that he stole their technology while passing it off as an investment. Stolen Work Passed Off As Investment? According to a lawsuit alleging that Coinbase committed fraud, its CEO took the work of a blockchain firm for a competitor project under the premise of a potential investment. The lawsuit was filed on Friday in California by MouseBelt Labs, a blockchain accelerator, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was designing a platform for publishing academic research that used tradable tokens when he learned of a similar platform called Knowledgr. According to the lawsuit, Armstrong’s ResearchHub, like Knowledgr, would reward participants with tokens akin to bitcoin. Patrick Joyce worked on Knowledgr with MouseBelt’s technical and financial assistance. The accelerator had begun communicating with Joyce in 2018, but the two only signed all of the necessary agreements in May 2019 to begin working together. At first, everything seemed to be going to plan. Joyce was on track to fulfill agreed objectives, and MouseBelt was staying on track to satisfy its contractual obligations. In Armstrong’s article, “Ideas for Improving Scientific Research,” was published, he encouraged anyone interested in sharing ideas to contact him. Patrick Joyce was one of those who did. Knowledgr drew Armstrong’s attention, and he provided a cash commitment as well ...