Envion

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envion AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 2017
resolution 2018
Reason for dissolution liquidation
Seat Baar , ZG , SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
management Matthias Wöstmann (CEO),
Michael Luckow (founder)
Branch Infrastructure services for cryptocurrencies
Website www.envion.org

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The Envion AG (proper spelling Envion AG ) was a 2017 established company based in the Swiss canton train , which with self-built, mobile mining rigs ( "Mobile minig Units") crypto currencies like Bitcoin and ether win ( " mines wanted"). The mining rigs were to be assembled in standard containers so that they could be operated right next to plants for the generation of renewable energy , the peak generation of which would otherwise not be used. To this end, by January 2018, an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) had raised 100 million dollars. In the course of 2018, the founders and managing directors fell out and business operations never really started. In addition, the price of cryptocurrencies fell sharply. In December 2018, the AG went into liquidation by court order .

history

Foundation and structure

The business idea of ​​Envion was developed by Michael Luckow and a team in Berlin in early 2017 . Luckow had studied at the TU Berlin and sold his first start-up as a student. At the end of 2017, Luckow was appointed managing director of Trado GmbH in Berlin, which also worked for Envion.

Luckow and his partners were looking for a credible managing director for their company and found Matthias Wöstmann (according to his own writing also Woestmann), former journalist, according to his own statements, foreign correspondent for ARD until 1997. Wöstmann had allegedly made a fortune with shares in the solar module manufacturer Solon before Solon went into bankruptcy. After an interlude as an unsuccessful film rights marketer, Wöstmann founded Quadrat Capital GmbH based in Berlin, an asset management company with a focus on the energy industry.

Envion AG was established in October 2017 in the canton of Zug, the business purpose was "Provision of infrastructure services for crypto currencies and blockchain applications as well as development of software for the global operation of data centers". Zug was considered to be particularly friendly towards fintech and crypto currencies and was advertised as "Crypto Valley". In practice, Envion AG was little more than a “ legal shell ”; the actual management and organization as well as the technical operation of the ICO were still at Trado in Berlin. Originally Michael Luckow and his Berlin team held 81% of the shares in Schweizer AG, 19% went to Wöstmann. However, Wöstmann also held the shares of the founders around Luckow in the AG in trust.

At the end of November 2017, the prototype of a mobile mining container was presented to the media in Berlin .

Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

Envion named former CDU politician Friedbert Pflüger , manager Thorsten Grenz and economist Philipp Sandner as advisors on November 27, 2017 .

The Initial Coin Offering to finance the development and construction of the Mobile Minig Units (MMUs) began in mid-December 2017. Own tokens (EVN) were offered, which were issued against payment of Bitcoin, Ether or dollars. As of mid-January 2018, the ICO brought in USD 100 million, according to the company.

At the time, this was one of the ten largest ICOs, and at the same time the largest German ICO.

Rift and liquidation

At the end of January 2018, Wöstmann carried out a capital increase of Envion AG from CHF 150,000 to CHF 390,000 without consulting Luckow . Wöstmann sold the newly created shares to his friends, the lawyers Thomas van Aubel , Jutta von Falkenhausen and the former investment and holding company manager Dinnies Johnannes von der Osten , who acquired them through their asset management company Sycamore GmbH for a nominal value of CHF 240,000. As a result, 61% of the AG were now in the hands of Aubel, Osten and Falkenhausen. The share of founders around Luckow dropped from 81% to 31%. Sycamore GmbH was also used during the IBG scandal to covertly hold shares in Probiodrug and Acktar . The European Anti-Fraud Office complains to the IBG, whose legal advisor was Aubel, irregularities and suspected fraud as well as significant deficiencies in the control obligations of the national authorities and confirmed serious deficiencies in the privatization process of the venture capital fund.

In June 2018, a legal dispute between Trado GmbH (Michael Luckow) and Quadrat Capital GmbH (Matthias Wöstmann) was heard before the Berlin Regional Court regarding this capital increase by Envion AG. Wöstmann, on the other hand, accused Luckow of the fact that Trado GmbH had generated "multi-tokens" of up to 40 million units in the course of the ICO. As a result, an injunction was issued which forbade Wöstmann and van Aubel to sell shares in Envion AG.

In July 2018, the Swiss financial market regulator FINMA opened enforcement proceedings against Envion AG. The subject of the proceedings were possible violations of banking law. The acceptance of deposits from the public at the Envion-ICO is said to be in the form of a bond, and the associated obligations may not have been met. At the same time, FINMA appointed GHR Rechtsanwälte AG, Zurich, as investigator. Wöstmann and the board member Gurov were prohibited from undertaking further legal acts on behalf of the AG without the consent of the investigator.

In August 2018, Berlin law firm complained to the Berlin district court a class action on damages due prospectus fraud one against the Envion AG.

In November 2018 the Cantonal Court of Zug decided to dissolve Envion AG. The formal reason for the liquidation decision was a lack of organization . Envion AG did not have an auditor , as PricewaterhouseCoopers resigned as auditor in May 2018 . As no legal remedies were lodged against the liquidation resolution, the decision became legally binding on December 7, 2018. For the settlement of the bankruptcy proceedings , the certain bankruptcy office train the law firm Wenger Plattner Rechtsanwälte. There are said to be around 30,000 damaged investors worldwide.

Doubtful report by the Blockchain Intelligence Group

As the reason for the capital increase in January, Wöstmann gives a suspected fraud at the end of February. A report by the Blockchain Intelligence Group (BIG) is supposed to prove the alleged guilt of the founders. The Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Handelsblatt take over that this is also the content of the BIG Report . In a blog entry from June 8, 2018, BIG clearly distances itself from the content information on the part of Wöstmann, so the report does not contain a judgment, speculation about what happened, who should have done something or accusations of groups of people and individuals. In the course of the IBG scandal, an expert opinion kept under lock and key by van Aubel and the East was used to justify the suspension of funding by the ACGT.

"From the BIG report: The administrators of the ICO" misused the deliverTokens function (...) by creating 77.2 million tokens. ""

- Matthias Wöstmann, Thomas van Aubel, Jutta von Falkenhausen and Dinnies Johnannes von der Osten : press report from Envion AG

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Sönke Iwersen, Andrew Bulkeley: Envion: The chronology of a cryptocurrency catastrophe. In: Handelsblatt . September 6, 2018.
  2. ↑ Trado GmbH, formerly: Trado Handels GmbH or Trado Handels UG, commercial register no. HRB 119473 B, Charlottenburg District Court .
  3. ↑ Quadrat Capital GmbH, commercial register no. HRB 61956, Charlottenburg District Court.
  4. ↑ envion AG in Liquidation (envion Ltd.) (envion SA). In: Zefix - Central Company Index.
  5. ↑ a b Istvan Cocron: Another trouble around the ICO of Envion AG . On the CLLB website of June 21, 2018.
  6. ↑ Abrupt end of a high flyer. In: Basler Zeitung . 5th December 2018.
  7. ↑ Daniel Meier: A company collects 100 million for a bold idea. Now half is gone - and so is the company. What happened? In: www.nzz.ch. May 4, 2019, accessed May 5, 2019 .
  8. ^ Three New Experts Bring Their Expertise To The Envion Team. Envion AG, November 24, 2017 (press release on Medium).
  9. ^ Nathaniel Popper: In the World of Cryptocurrency, Even Good Projects Can Go Bad. In: New York Times . May 31, 2018.
  10. ↑ a b Felix Holtermann, Sönke Iwersen: Scandal company Envion is to be liquidated. In: Handelsblatt. November 26, 2018.
  11. ↑ Court judgment 90 O 38/18 Berlin Regional Court, June 21, 2018.
  12. ↑ Answer of the state government of Saxony-Anhalt to a small inquiry KA 6/8010 State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt, August 13, 2013.
  13. ^ Investigation report of the 14th parliamentary investigation committee of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt, January 20, 2016.
  14. ↑ The 2017 OLAF report
  15. ↑ crypto chaos shareholders argue with DWF and van Aubel to Envion. In: Juve . 23rd August 2018.
  16. ↑ FINMA opens proceedings against ICO issuers. FINMA , July 26, 2018 (press release).
  17. ↑ Investigator for Envion AG. FINMA, July 19, 2018.
  18. ↑ Christina Kyriasoglou: How Envion Raised $ 100 Million in Investors. In: Manager Magazin . 22nd August 2018.
  19. ↑ Commercial Register and Bankruptcy Office of the Canton of Zug: Daily Register: No. 6903 of May 14, 2018. In: SHAB . May 17, 2018 (Pub. No. 4234259).
  20. ↑ Elisabeth Neuhaus: After the ICO scandal: Can Envion investors still hope for their money? In: Gründerszene. 29th November 2018.
  21. ↑ Capital increase in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce
  22. ↑ Statement by CEO Matthias Woestmann , May 16, 2018
  23. ↑ Victor Gojdka: Wrestling over the crypto container , August 20, 2018
  24. ↑ Sönke Iwersen, Felix Holtermann: Crypto start-up Envion is looking for lost millions , May 16, 2018
  25. ↑ Blockchain Intelligence Group on audits June 8, 2018
  26. ↑ Janko Tietz: Die Innovationsverhinderer , July 30, 2007
  27. ↑ Information on the BIG Report from Wöstmann from June 1st, 2018 '