Swan Bitcoin has filed a lawsuit accusing former employees of stealing its trade secrets and creating a copycat business — all allegedly orchestrated by Tether. The Australian Bitcoin mining company claims that six ex-employees, including consultants, plotted with Tether to “steal” its cutting-edge mining operations, backed by funding from the crypto giant.
According to the lawsuit, Swan’s stolen trade secrets include proprietary code, hash rate optimization techniques, and financial models, which were allegedly used to form illegal replica companies. One of these companies, Proton Management, supposedly operated with full approval from Tether.
Tether initially financed Swan’s mining venture in Tasmania and was even in talks for a $25 million Series C round of funding, valuing Swan at up to $1 billion. Tether’s CFO, Giancarlo Devasini, had praised Swan CEO Cory Klippsten, calling him “the best CEO in the field.” However, things took a dark twist.
According to Swan, Tether played both sides, as advisor Zach Lyons from Marlin Capital Partners secretly met with Swan’s former mining director, Raphael Zagary, and others, telling them that Swan had “no value” to Tether. Lyons allegedly encouraged employees to abandon ship and join Tether or other operations, ensuring Swan’s collapse.
By mid-July, with Tether’s supposed blessing, Zagary sowed discord within Swan, leading to mass layoffs and the abandonment of Swan’s IPO plans. The promised $25 million from Tether? Gone.
Swan has been left reeling, claiming the chaos led to the closure of its mining unit and a 45% workforce reduction. Stay tuned — this legal battle could shake up the crypto world.
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