Who is Erik Voorhees?
Erik Voorhees is an American and Panamanian startup developer. Currently, he is the founder and CEO of ShapeShift, a digital asset trading platform that hosts over 50 digital assets. Voorhees has been involved in crypto since at least 2011 and has been behind several unique Bitcoin ventures like SatoshiDICE, Coinapult, Bitinstant and FeedZeBirds. Some of his projects have involved him in a series of fines and legal troubles with the SEC.
In 2012, he founded SatoshiDICE, which allowed users to gamble virtual dice using Bitcoin. After some legal issues, he sold the company a year later for $11.5 million, which is widely regarded as the one of the first major blockchain business acquisitions. Then in 2013, he created Coinapault, a company that used SMS text messaging to send BTC, though he sold the company soon after. In 2014, he was forced to shut down his other company FeedZeBirds which paid users in Bitcoin to retweet sponsored messages. The SEC fined him and claimed that he was using social media to acquire investors’ capital without seeking federal approval first and essentially operating an illegal gambling business.
His most recent and successful venture, ShapeShift, has raised tens of millions of dollars in seed funding. This project has also been a subject of scrutiny; Voorhees has faced further SEC violations and was accused of using Shapeshift to launder $9 million for criminal activities, though he denies such allegations.
Voorhees is an outspoken libertarian who is against taxation, anti-financial regulation and generally anti-government. Shapeshift is a zero-fee service, which aligns with his personal political and economic philosophy.
Quote:
"Within five years there will be a major financial meltdown and crypto will be ready"
Picture source: ShapeShift