Key Takeaways:
IO.net, a decentralized infrastructure provider (DePin) on the Solana blockchain that allows users to lend their spare graphics processing power to AI developers in exchange for a token-based payment, has announced that its CEO Ahmad Shahid has stepped down.
CEO of DePin Protocol IO.net Has Stepped Down Two Days Before Token Launch
Shahid’s resignation comes two days before IO.net was gearing up to launch its native cryptocurrency – IO. The project’s co-founder announced his decision via an X post on Sunday, where he named fellow co-founder and former chief operating officer Tory Green as his successor.
The Solana-based project aggregates GPU supply to create a network for artificial intelligence startups to tap into computing power at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional cloud-based systems. The concept is beneficial to researchers developing AI and machine learning algorithms that need to be trained on large datasets.
Launched in November 2023, IO.net claims to have grown to over 25,000 GPUs and processed over 40,000 compute hours for AI and ML companies. The network leverages Solana to provide transparent proof-of-compute and make every transaction between the GPU supplier and consumer visible on the blockchain.
IO.net Accused of Misrepresenting the Number of GPUs Powering its Network
Shahid is departing the project amid a slew of controversies. Over the past several months, critics and competitors in the DePin space have accused IO.net of misreporting statistics on how many GPU chips it offers.
Furthermore, the network also suffered a GPU metadata attack in late April, resulting in the number of active GPU connections falling from 600,000 to 10,000 for a short period. Users and on-chain sleuths noticed that the project’s official website reported varied metrics for its network size, which the Io.net team claimed in a detailed postmortem report to have been caused by bad actors attempting to increase their rewards from the system.
Also, there were past allegations concerning Shahid’s involvement with Arabic-language crypto projects. The former CEO acknowledged the controversies in the X post without directly addressing them, stating that he is stepping down to allow io.net to “move forward without distraction and to focus on its growth and success”.
IO.net Will Release Its IO Token on Binance Launchpad on June 11th
The IO coin is set to be launched on Binance’s token launchpad – Launchpool – on June 11th at midnight UTC. IO will have a maximum supply of 800 million tokens, from which, 95 million IO will be released on Tuesday.
The timing of Ahmed Shahid’s resignation has prompted concern that he might “dump” his personal stash of IO coins during launch and vanish into thin air. Industry expert “badenglishtea”, wrote in an X post that the situation is “as shady as DePin gets”.
However, Shahid responded to the accusation by claiming that the IO tokens given to the project’s core team are subject to a 4-year lockup period and that no investor, advisor, or team member can sell their monthly vested tokens until June 2025.
He also promised to contribute 1,000,000 IO out of the total he received as the DePin company’s founding member towards its Internet of GPUs Foundation to “help grow the ecosystem”.
Newly appointed CEO Tory Green wrote in his own announcement that IO.net will “continue to execute” the vision set forth by Shahid of turning it into the world’s largest AI computing network.
Greg Osuri, co-founder and CEO of decentralized cloud computing platform Akash Network, said he is glad to see IO.net “taking steps in the right direction”. While noting it was a positive move by IO.net to replace its controversial CEO, Osuri said questions regarding the allegations persist.
There were no updates on whether Shahid would remain connected to the project’s future development. New CEO Green announced additional leadership changes at IO.net will be announced in the “coming days”.
IO.net Raised $30 Million in Series A Funding Round, Reaching an FDV of $1 Billion
IO.net reached a fully diluted token valuation of $1 billion following the conclusion of a Series A round in March.
IO Research, the developer of the Solana-based DePin protocol, managed to raise $30 million in a fundraising round led by Hack VC and participated in by venture capital firms including, Solana Ventures, OKX Ventures, Delphi Digital, Aptos Lab, Multicoin Capital, and The Sandbox, among others.
The IO token is intended to provide a unified transaction experience for IO.net users while enabling an incentive mechanism for suppliers, customers, and users to participate in and grow the DePin protocol.
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