Once upon a time, two smart young crypto-anarchists met and fell in love. Let's call them Jacques and Diane.
They got married, worked hard, and had a blockchain. A few years later--thanks to dedication, hard work, and good graphic design--they convinced people everywhere in the world to send hundreds of millions of dollars in the hope that in return they'd get magic beans called "Tezzies."
What made the beans magic? When sold, they'd grow in value far beyond their initial price and blossom into fabulous sums of money. And the funding they provided would be enough for Jacques and Diane to buy countries, media outlets, endowed chairs at universities, and other fancy stuff.
Like all fairy tales, this one had treasure and monsters.
The treasure took two forms.
First, our crypto-heroes thought they'd get a generous payout: a large part of the loot (currently around $40 million), plus many Tezzies. They'd worked hard on the blockchain, put 2 or 3 years of time in (while working other jobs for a while) so a large percentage seemed only natural. Second, the fine folks who sent their cash from everywhere in the world thought they'd get magic beans too (though they were told there'd be no guarantee).
Many monsters lurked along the way. Regulators were one, particularly the fierce American monster SEC. To avoid SEC's sharp fangs, our fearless crypto-heroes made a moated castle in the magical land of Zug. Known as Stiftung, or Foundation, the castle would take contributors' money and (hopefully) send them their magic beans some months later.
Another monster? Our crypto-heroes crossed swords with one of the Stiftung's guardians, who they installed in that position. They accused him of greed, self-dealing, and blamed him for stalled development and the general lack of magic beanage anywhere. The guardian (a creature named Gevers) denied the whole thing, and said Jaques and Diane have improperly meddled in Stiftung's care and feeding.
Meanwhile, every week, Stiftung sells ten or twenty million dollars in crypto, and puts the money in its bank account, not Jacques and Diane's. And those magic beans? Nowhere to be seen.
The fine folk who sent their money? They're getting old waiting, and receiving solicitations from US class action lawyers.
The ending has yet to be written. But you get the idea.
