{"id":325279,"date":"2024-07-15T18:55:46","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T23:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=325279"},"modified":"2024-07-16T10:04:03","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T15:04:03","slug":"crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/","title":{"rendered":"Crypto Casino Founder Kim Admits to Losing Investor Cash on Sour Bitcoin Bets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Kim, the founder of cryptocurrency casino ZeroEdge, admitted to losing $3.67 million in investor capital on leveraged bitcoin trades that went awry.<\/p>\n

\"ZeroEdge\"
An image from the ZeroEdge cryptocurrency casino. Founder Richard Kim departed after admitting to stealing investor capital and using it on bad Bitcoin trades. (Image: Medium)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kim resigned from the startup gaming entity earlier this month. In an extensive Substack post<\/a>, he admitted to misdeeds and acknowledged a \u201c20-year struggle with gambling.\u201d He said a phishing site that cost $80K \u201ctriggered old demons,\u201d compelling the use of cash from a recent fundraising round on leveraged bitcoin trades that went bad.<\/p>\n

“I resigned immediately after the losses were crystallized, disclosing what happened to my partner and investors. I kept detailed records — this wasn’t about mixing personal and business funds,\u201d wrote Kim. \u201cMy failure was in not speaking up sooner, paralyzed by fear and the desperate need to preserve my reputation.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kim\u2019s bitcoin trades were made in June, a month in which the largest cryptocurrency<\/a> shed roughly $5,000. Leverage trades would have incurred steeper losses because such positions carry higher risk\/reward profiles.<\/p>\n

Kim Pledges to Move Forward<\/h2>\n

Kim acknowledged that he \u201creally messed up,\u201d but he\u2019s also promising to move forward, telling investors they could benefit from their faith in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my investors: you didn’t just back a project; you invested in my vision, my potential. I will continue building because the world desperately needs what we started,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt is the precise fact that I have proven untrustworthy that compels me to create trustless systems. Those who stick with me will be my lifetime beneficiaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

One of the investors whose capital Kim pilfered was Galaxy Digital<\/a>, a crypto-banking entity controlled by Mike Novogratz. The firm told crypto media outlets the sum it lost in the Zero Edge fraud was nominal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In a somewhat defiant tone, Kim played the victim, framing his departure from ZeroEdge as an example of \u201cinstitution vs. individual, trust vs. trustlessness, company vs. community, computer vs. casino.\u201d He added that investors weren\u2019t just supporting ZeroEdge, they were backing Kim as a person and his potential and vision.<\/p>\n

What Future Holds for ZeroEdge<\/h2>\n

Following Kim\u2019s departure, it\u2019s not yet clear what the future holds for ZeroEdge, but it’s clear the cryptocurrency casino was attempting to employ a unique concept.<\/p>\n

ZeroEdge.Bet is a unique blockchain-based online gambling platform with 0% house-edge casino games, commission-free sports betting exchange, and an open-source platform for parties wishing to build and operate their own games,\u201d according to the company\u2019s LinkedIn profile.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Crypto casinos have boomed in popularity in recent years<\/a>, providing an avenue for increased adoption and use of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. With ZeroEdge, the premise would be that bettors would place wagers with the Zerocoin token, thus positioning them to profit from the coin\u2019s potential upside, which would be driven by more players embracing the 0% house-edge model.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Kim, the founder of cryptocurrency casino ZeroEdge, admitted to losing $3.67 million in investor capital on leveraged bitcoin trades that went awry. Kim resigned from the startup gaming entity earlier this month. In an extensive Substack post, he admitted to misdeeds and acknowledged a \u201c20-year struggle with gambling.\u201d He said a phishing site that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":325281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24066,10],"tags":[86118,81892,81903],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCrypto Casino Founder Lost Investor Cash on Sour Bitcoin Bets<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crypto Casino Founder Kim Admits to Losing Investor Cash on Sour Bitcoin Bets.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crypto Casino Founder Lost Investor Cash on Sour Bitcoin Bets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crypto Casino Founder Kim Admits to Losing Investor Cash on Sour Bitcoin Bets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-15T23:55:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-16T15:04:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ZE3.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"410\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/\",\"name\":\"Crypto Casino Founder Lost Investor Cash on Sour Bitcoin Bets\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ZE3.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-15T23:55:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-16T15:04:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Crypto Casino Founder Kim Admits to Losing Investor Cash on Sour Bitcoin Bets.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crypto-casino-founder-lost-investor-cash-on-sour-bitcoin-bets\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ZE3.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/ZE3.png\",\"width\":628,\"height\":410,\"caption\":\"An image from the ZeroEdge cryptocurrency casino. 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