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A major validator for the privacy smart contract layer-1 blockchain Secret Network has announced that it will no longer provide nodes and support for the network.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 29, major validator Smart Stake announced that it would shut down its Secret Network validator nodes on Feb. 21.<\/p>\n
Smart Stake cited \u201ccomplex\/stressful validator operations, cost\/effort of validator ops, and recent events,\u201d as reasons for withdrawing its services.<\/p>\n
Smart Stake is a staking and validator service provider that supports several networks, including Crypto.com, Polygon, Cosmos, and until recently, Secret Network.<\/p>\n
\nPSA for @SecretNetwork<\/a> delegates of Smart Stake:<\/p>\n
Smart Stake will be shutting down its Secret validator on 21st Feb. Please redelegate to another validator.<\/p>\n
Reasons: 1) Complex\/stressful validator operations on $SCRT<\/a> 2) Cost\/effort of validator ops 3) recent events<\/p>\n
\u2014 Smart Stake (@SmartStake) January 29, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The move comes amid revelations by Secret Labs founder Guy Zyskind, regarding the Secret Foundation\u2019s financial transparency. <\/p>\n
On Jan. 28, Zyskind made\u00a0public allegations<\/a> that the foundation and its founder and CEO, Tor Bair, \u201csold a substantial amount of USD worth of SCRT,\u201d \u2014\u00a0 the native token for the Secret Network \u2014 in late 2021. <\/p>\n
\u201cTor cashed out a significant portion of these proceeds,\u201d he alleged.<\/p>\n
Zyskind also mentioned a $4 million inflow for the foundation in its Q4 2021 report but did not mention the withdrawal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis action was not disclosed in any financial reports provided to the community by the Foundation, which was introduced by Tor as a nonprofit organization on several occasions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nLooking forward to resuming writing math proofs and bad code after all the @SecretNetwork<\/a> drama<\/p>\n
\u2014 Guy Zyskind (@GuyZys) January 29, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Bair, however provided his version of events on the Secret governance forum on the same day. He stated<\/a> that the withdrawals were part of his share of vested tokens.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of paying out my vested tokens in December 2021, I converted my vested portion of tokens to USD at the OTC price and Secret Foundation distributed these funds as a dividend.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
He added that \u201cthis information is verifiable in our 2021 tax filings, which have been previously reviewed by Labs, and I have previously disclosed this information to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ongoing internal leadership conflict has rattled at least one network validator provider and the ecosystem\u2019s community.<\/p>\n