Tezos "Going Rogue" on Launch. The Latest Updates on the Project

It has indeed been quite a long road for Tezos investors. The record breaking ICO of 2017 has been mired with infighting and accusations of poor governance from the foundation chairman.

This had also happened at a time when investors in the US decided to launch a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was alleging that the Tezos raise breached the SEC's laws on identifiable securities.

It now seems as if the co-founders behind the project are planning to "go rogue" and press ahead with the much awaited "Tezzies" release. The comments were made by Kathleen Breitman at the UCLA Blockchain Lab’s Cyber Days.

She claimed that if it were up to her, the tokens would be available in a couple of weeks. Perhaps that may be a ray of hope for all those who contributed, but how likely is this?

Ambitious Targets

It is no doubt positive news that the Tezos team as embodied by the Breitmans are taking matters into their own hands. The release of the Tezzies tokens has been pushed back a number of times and the pre-release futures price has been fluctuating wildly. Kathleen said

We plan on releasing the token and going rogue in the next few weeks. We’re able to release the token on our own terms. For a while I felt like I was being ‘gaslit,’ but then I unburdened myself of the morality of it. Things needed to move forward. It’s unfair, but we need to ship the code.

This is also notable as it looks as if Tezos is the first cryptocurrency project that is likely to fork before it has actually been released. Arthur Breitman, who has been spearheading the development has also been active on Twitter keeping investors in the loop with regards to the project.

Over in Switzerland though, things are moving at a much slower pace. Although the foundation has a new board member, there has been no definitive timeline given for any upcoming launches. They merely commented on the Board setting up "Operational systems" and "organizational arrangements".

While one would feel inclined to completely write off the Board, it would be a really suboptimal outcome. This is mainly because the board is in full control of the funds (over $400 million) as well as the new tokens. Hence, the only hope is that the board completes their burdensome administrative work rather soon.

SEC Refuses FOIA Request

There has also been more developments in the class action lawsuit that has been hovering over the project. The law firm that is representing the plaintiffs has been denied a request by the SEC for information on the Tezos ICO raise.

David Miller of SilverMiller received the denial letter on the 6th of February in response to his request based on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The SEC withheld the request citing Exemption 7(A) which relates to cases involved in "enforcement activities".

What exactly this could imply about SEC intentions is not entirely clear. David Miller seems to think that the FOIA denial is evidence that the SEC is looking into the legal grounds of the ICO. However, according to the Breitmans and the foundation, there have been no communications from the SEC as of yet.

Light at the End of The Tunnel

The market seems to view the comments by Kathleen and Arthur as positive. The futures price of the Tezzies tokens rose by over 6% on HitBtc. There is a general feeling of enthusiasm in the community about the eventual launch.

Moreover, there is also a hope that the new board member could provide a stabilising force in a foundation that many think has been run as a dictatorship recently.

One can only hope that once the Tezzies are launched, the governance focused blockchain will have far less governance drama going forward.

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