Opticash

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At dusk of 2022, Opticash, a fintech startup, disclosed its plans to revolutionise cross-border payments for Africans with blockchain technology. Armed with an alleged $700,000 seed fund and pre-launch token sales, the startup embarked on a hiring and marketing spree and hit the rocks within 18 months.&nbsp; 
However, recent revelations have shown that what went on at Opticash was much more than what meets the eye. Apart from the fact that the purported CEO and founder of the startup has no picture trace on the internet and none of his employees ever saw what he looked like, Opticash’s activities from the onset look like an elaborate hoax.&nbsp; 
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Here is the story of Opticash, a fintech startup led by an anonymous CEO. 
<h4 id="opticash-the-beginning" class="wp-block-heading">Opticash: The Beginning&nbsp;</h4> 
Opticash claims&nbsp;it provides an all-in-one solution that takes away the hassle of sending money and receiving money directly into a local bank account for individuals and businesses. 
In a sponsored publicity story on a Nigerian tech publication, the startup claimed to be the first TICT (Trade, Invest, Chat, Transfers) fintech platform to build a bidirectional bridge between crypto and fiat currencies.&nbsp; 
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Also, Opticash unveiled an app-native cryptocurrency that it called the Opticash token. It was with this token that the project sold some dreams to crypto investors who bought it at the presale stage, with the hope of selling at a higher price when the project fully launches. 
Their hopes were also fueled by the possibility of an upcoming crypto bull run in 2024.&nbsp; 
For clarity, a presale is an event when a startup offers up tokens while they are still in the development stage before they are made available to the general public. The purpose of the token presale is either to raise funds to develop the project at the nascent stage or to fund the operations that will lead to the launch. Crypto investors typically get into presales early. This is when the token is sold at a discounted price. Plus, they hope to gain massive returns when the project is listed on major exchanges.&nbsp; 
Apart from the funds raised from the presale, Opticash allegedly raised funds from other private investors. An anonymous source claimed that the total funds raised was $700,000. 
<h4 id="opticash-marketing-exploits" class="wp-block-heading">Opticash marketing exploits&nbsp;</h4> 
Opticash was led by Paul Henry, a Ghanaian living in the United Kingdom, according to how he portrayed himself to his employees and data from his LinkedIn <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-henry-4ba015256?utm_source=share&amp;utm_campaign=share_via&amp;utm_content=profile&amp;utm_medium=ios_app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">profile</a>. From the information available on his LinkedIn page, Henry has no prior work experience. 
According to our source, Opticash hired around 27 employees and rewarded them with robust salaries, in spite of the fact that it had no launched app/product.&nbsp; 
In 2023, Opticash intensified its marketing efforts. It engaged popular social media skit maker Layi Wasabi for an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1eE1cyIziT/?igsh=bTdoeXVheTFqODJi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advertisement</a>. It also engaged some other crypto influencers like Wisdomatic, Shinnobi and Crypto Baddie on X (Twitter). Within the same period, the startup published promotional content on a notable local business publication and a tech news platform. 
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With such burn rate, it did not take long before things went south. An internal source revealed to Technext that in November, funds (the earlier raised $700k) were beginning to dry up, so the project team started reaching out to investors, albeit unsuccessfully. 
In November 2023, Henry’s friend, Iona Hayford replaced him as the CEO of Opticash. Similarly, Iona has no experience working in fintech or any sort of relevant work experience.&nbsp; 
After about 1 year with no product, Opticash launched a product for beta testing in December 2023 – an MVP of Opticash that allows users to send naira from a bank to their Opticash account. Also, the startup facilitated a virtual card integration with Moon Card.&nbsp; 
<h4 id="the-twilight" class="wp-block-heading">The twilight&nbsp;</h4> 
In January, Opticash started slashing salaries, while some employees were not paid. Then, the Head of Engineering was fired. After that a hiring frenzy resumed, despite the startup’s inability to pay salaries. 
According to an employee’s account, the new employees got paid after the first month and were owed for subsequent months. Despite the fact that there was no launched product, the team leadership claimed that they applied for a Canadian license, the reason why they were low on funds.&nbsp; 
This went on till May. Then, the leaders announced that all workers had been sacked. The management and the aggrieved employees agreed at this point that salary arrears would be paid when it successfully raises new funds. 
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Ultimately, both CEOs, Paul Henry and Iona Hayford reportedly went at large. Paul has no traceable picture on the internet, Iona deleted her LinkedIn profile picture and locked her Instagram account.&nbsp; 
A check on Opticash’s social media pages shows that no post has been made since May. In the comment section, one can find aggrieved people who invested in the presale token, asking for their money. 
Also, investors continue to demand their tokens on the project’s Telegram community but they have been met with a deafening silence. 
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An investor in the presale token, identified as Henry, who spoke to Technext said he invested $200 when he came across the project’s account on X (Twitter) because he was just returning to the crypto space after a break in 2021, and he didn’t do his due diligence.&nbsp; 
“A couple of people I know had been lucky through presales, so that urged me to try my luck. Also, they looked like they were building with everything online.” Henry lamented. 
He added that he’s planning to take legal steps. 
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Another investor, who wants to be named as Zlatan said he was influenced by the advertisements from crypto influencers Crypto Baddie and Wisdomatic, without making any check. 
“I invested $150 Into opticash presale. I was convinced because I liked their idea.” 
Also, John heard about the project from one of the crypto influencers in April 2023.&nbsp; 
“I did my little research on it, and based on their utility which they tell us they’re building. I was convinced to try 40$ to invest, thinking they will launch until they vanish into the air.” 
<h4 id="the-team-behind-opticash" class="wp-block-heading">The team behind Opticash&nbsp;</h4> 
The bewildering aspect of the project is the shady identity of its founders/executives. Ex-workers at the startup told Technext that the CEO Paul Henry never revealed his face during team meetings. 
Also, there is no trace of what he looks like on the internet, not even on LinkedIn. Additionally, he has no education/work experience on his profile. 
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Iona Hayford, who, we understand, is Paul’s ally also has no corporate experience or background and has since deleted her LinkedIn profile picture.&nbsp; 
Another ex-employee of the company who spoke under anonymity confirms that Paul never put up a picture on his Slack profile. Also, to assuage presale token investors’ grievance before the project finally packed up around May, the CEO directed employees to inform investors that the token launch would follow a “product-being developed-launch”. 
However, when a beta version was launched in January, investors did not understand why the team refused to give an update on the awaited token because “only the core team understood what was going on.” 
Also, conversation with this former employee of Opticash shows that there was no clear communication of intentions/plans from the executives/management to the workers at the lower level. 
Efforts to reach Paul and Iona proved unsuccessful as there was no response to all the messages sent by this correspondent.
The post <a href="https://technext24.com/2024/10/03/opticash-crypto-startup-squandered-70k/">Opticash: How a crypto startup with no launched product&nbsp;&nbsp; raised and squandered $700,000</a> first appeared on <a href="https://technext24.com">Technext</a>.

Opticash: How a crypto startup with no launched product raised and squandered $700,000

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