Solana's Io.net CEO Steps Down 2 Days Before Token Launch

Ahmad Shadid stepped down as CEO of the Solana-based DePIN Protocol io.internet on Sunday. The choice got here two days earlier than the launch of io.internet’s token, IO. In consequence, the crypto neighborhood was skeptical of the choice and the previous CEO’s previous.

Solana-Primarily based DePIN Venture Adjustments Administration

Two days earlier than the IO token launch, Ahmad Shadid introduced he was stepping down “efficient instantly” as CEO of io.internet. The Solana-based protocol is a decentralized bodily infrastructure community (DePIN) designed to “present limitless computing energy to machine studying purposes.”

Io.internet aggregates GPUs from totally different storage suppliers to supply cost-efficient GPU computing energy to AI and ML groups. Moreover, it permits customers to earn cash renting out their spare GPU capability.

In response to Shadid’s submit, the choice was taken after cautious consideration and is “in the very best curiosity of the neighborhood and the undertaking.”

Shadid annouces his departure from io.internet. Supply: Ahmad Shadid on X

Furthermore, he claimed he would present gratitude to the ‘IO Nation’ by donating 1 million IO tokens from his allocation to io.internet’s GPU basis “to assist develop the ecosystem.”

Tory Inexperienced, former COO and co-founder of the undertaking was named the brand new io.internet’s CEO. Inexperienced assured customers that the undertaking will proceed working in direction of attaining its purpose of turning into the “largest AI compute community and convey AI to the world.” He said:

AI compute spend is on observe to be on the order of $100B in 2024, and but there stay important and structural gaps in entry to present assets. io.internet’s imaginative and prescient is a world the place AI merchandise of the approaching decade are constructed on open, permissionless platforms which can be accessible to all. We’re excited to proceed constructing the web of GPUs.

Crypto Group Not sure Of Io.internet’s Future

Shadid claimed that his determination was unrelated to the allegations towards him. The previous CEO defined he needed the Solana-based undertaking to function with out turbulence.

I wish to emphasize that I’m stepping down as CEO to permit io.internet to maneuver ahead with out distraction and to give attention to its development and success.

Nonetheless, the neighborhood had blended emotions in direction of the information. Some customers agreed that the resignation was the very best step for io.internet’s future, whereas others discovered the timing suspicious.

A number of neighborhood members expressed skepticism, stating {that a} dump after launch was doable. Shadid addressed this concern, explaining that he has a “4 years lockup + vesting.” He additionally detailed that no investor, advisor, or group member can dump the neighborhood as they gained’t get their month-to-month vesting tokens earlier than June 2025.

Nonetheless, io.internet’s co-founder didn’t handle the opposite claims. Some customers introduced ahead the scamming allegations of Shadid’s previous and urged buyers to avoid the undertaking.

One X consumer accused Shadid of being a “well-known scammer within the Arabic crypto neighborhood” who has “been a serial scammer since 2018.” The consumer cited a number of social media posts and movies compiling the alleged scams carried out by Shadid.

Moreover, Martin Shkreli has accused the Solana-based undertaking of deceptive the neighborhood and manipulating the knowledge they offered. To some buyers, Shadid’s resignation “mainly legitimized” Shkreli’s claims and will recommend a bearish future for io.internet.

Nonetheless, many count on to see how the state of affairs develops after the launch. Io.internet’s IO token is about to launch on Binance’s Launchpool on June 11. In response to the crypto trade’s announcement, 95 million IO tokens will likely be launched at launch, and buying and selling will begin at midday UTC with the IO/BTC, IO/BNB, IO/FDUSD, and IO/TRY buying and selling pairs.