Ric Burton has initiated legal action against Hayden Adams over debts incurred from allegedly assisting in the listing of Uniswap.

Balance CEO Ric Burton claims he was betrayed by Uniswap founder Hayden Adams, who he once considered one of his “closest friends.”

Burton invested his time, friendship, and an unspecified amount of money to support Adams in bringing Uniswap to market. But Burton said he felt heartbroken and sad that his efforts were never rewarded.

Burton helps Uniswap get off the ground

It started in New York in the spring of 2018, with Burton seeking out dApp developers. This involved hosting events and providing time, money, and studio space to promising developers.

He recalled that of all the developers he met, Adams and his unwavering passion for Uniswap stood out among the crowd of hopefuls.

“He was on an absolute war path. Every time you saw him, he was talking about Uniswap.”

The two, whose goal is to make “Ethereum magical for people,” quickly became close, supporting each other in their respective struggles.

“We supported each other in the process of trying to build startups in an ecosystem with few solid projects.”

Burton said he believed in Adams and his simplicity-centric AMM DEX concept and didn’t consider granting him unlimited studio access. When Adams’ money ran out, Burton paid the rent and even used Balance’s money to cover his expenses.

Realizing the potential of the protocol, the Ethereum Foundation soon came knocking, marking an important turning point. And with cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm joining in, the future looked bright.

Adams went AWOL

Adams told Burton that he intended to include him in the Uniswap round in return for his help. Burton believed that Adams would keep his promise.

Fast forward to March 2019, when Burton was experiencing personal difficulties, including the loss of his grandmother. He didn’t reveal further details, only saying that another co-founder had also asked him to leave Balance.

“Balance isn’t great at that, so to speak.

The situation with Uniswap is very good.

Adams raised over $1 million.”

Burton then discovered that Paradigm were not keen on including him in this round, which he attributed to his difficulties with Balance.

“They have no interest in having a failed founder on the capital table of their new unicorn.”

During this time, Burton says Adams ignored his messages and went AWOL. But as the UNI token prepared to launch, contact was reestablished. That’s when Adams offered to reimburse Burton.

However, the offer was conditional on never discussing the events and circumstances of their relationship publicly. Burton commented: "It is one of the most offensive contracts I have ever seen."

Fast forward to now, about four years later, and Burton tells the story, saying that grief prevented him from going public sooner.

After closing the tweet thread, Burton confirmed that he would be taking legal action to recover the money he was owed. But at the same time, he expressed his uncertainty about himself and this course of action by asking the Twitterverse if they thought he didn't deserve anything.

“My purpose for creating this topic is simple: to gauge the community’s opinion of my contributions.”