Token Foundry Founder Sues Joseph Lubin for $13 Million
- Hines stepped down as the head of the firm last year.

Token Foundry founder Harrison Hines has filed a lawsuit against Joseph Lubin, the co-founder of Ethereum, for breach of contract.
According to the court documents, Hines accused Lubin with “breach of contract, conversion, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, fraud, declaratory judgment and unpaid profits arising from the defendants’ acts in connection with the business known as Token Foundry.”
He is now demanding more than $13 million, which includes unpaid profits to the company along with a huge chunk in damages.
“The relief sought is monetary damages in the amount of $12,827,000 on the contract, quasi-contract and fraud claims plus $404,783 in unpaid profits,” the court documents stated.
A profitable company, yet betrayed by the parent
Founded in 2018, Token Foundry was incubated by ConsenSys as a firm for promoting token sales and designing digital tokens for clients. According to Coindesk, the company generated more than $50 million in revenue in 2018, most of which came as the fees for its consulting services.
Major clients of the firm included Dether, which raised $13.4 million via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Initial Coin Offering (ICO) An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Acco An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Acco Read this Term), Virtue Poker, which raised $18.5 million through a token sale, and geolocation startup FOAM, which raised $16.5 million via its ICO.
Although Hines founded and led the Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term startup in its initial phase, he was relieved of his post last year for undisclosed reasons.
Lubin, one of the co-founder’s of Ethereum, in 2014, founded ConsenSys with his own funds, which is focused on building a growing ecosystem of developers that work on decentralized applications and infrastructure for the Ethereum blockchain. It also advises enterprises and governments globally.
Earlier this year, Finance Magnates reported that the company aimed to raise $200 million from investors in Hong Kong and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the company also saw the departure of a number of key executives in recent months including its marketing chief Amanda Gutterman and the head of ConsenSys Ventures Kavita Gupta.
Token Foundry founder Harrison Hines has filed a lawsuit against Joseph Lubin, the co-founder of Ethereum, for breach of contract.
According to the court documents, Hines accused Lubin with “breach of contract, conversion, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, fraud, declaratory judgment and unpaid profits arising from the defendants’ acts in connection with the business known as Token Foundry.”
He is now demanding more than $13 million, which includes unpaid profits to the company along with a huge chunk in damages.
“The relief sought is monetary damages in the amount of $12,827,000 on the contract, quasi-contract and fraud claims plus $404,783 in unpaid profits,” the court documents stated.
A profitable company, yet betrayed by the parent
Founded in 2018, Token Foundry was incubated by ConsenSys as a firm for promoting token sales and designing digital tokens for clients. According to Coindesk, the company generated more than $50 million in revenue in 2018, most of which came as the fees for its consulting services.
Major clients of the firm included Dether, which raised $13.4 million via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Initial Coin Offering (ICO) An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Acco An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Acco Read this Term), Virtue Poker, which raised $18.5 million through a token sale, and geolocation startup FOAM, which raised $16.5 million via its ICO.
Although Hines founded and led the Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term startup in its initial phase, he was relieved of his post last year for undisclosed reasons.
Lubin, one of the co-founder’s of Ethereum, in 2014, founded ConsenSys with his own funds, which is focused on building a growing ecosystem of developers that work on decentralized applications and infrastructure for the Ethereum blockchain. It also advises enterprises and governments globally.
Earlier this year, Finance Magnates reported that the company aimed to raise $200 million from investors in Hong Kong and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the company also saw the departure of a number of key executives in recent months including its marketing chief Amanda Gutterman and the head of ConsenSys Ventures Kavita Gupta.