EXCLUSIVE: Sismo in difficulty, could soon be shut down

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Launched in 2021, the French nugget, which develops identity management and privacy solutions on Ethereum, is set to return funds to investors.

This is a major blow for the French crypto ecosystem. According to our information, start-up Sismo is set to cease trading soon. As a reminder, Sismo, which was launched in 2021, develops identity management and privacy solutions on Ethereum.

The end of Sismo's venture, which raised $10 million in 2022 (Pitchbook), would be a blow for 2 reasons: the first, because the project is particularly promising and followed. "The crypto industry will only develop if we manage to exchange information without it being disclosed, and that's precisely what Sismo is working on," explains one investor.

The second, because the end of the project would not be linked to purely financial issues💰. Sismo, which generates a small amount of revenue, does indeed still have funds, but the management team has reportedly decided to return what remains to investors.

Technical issues

When asked about this decision and the reasons for Sismo's difficulties, its co-founder and CEO, Hadrien Charlanes, declined to comment. However, according to several investors, Sismo has in fact been struggling to make technological progress in recent months. "They're very good, but probably not strong enough on ZK-Rollups", explained one of them.

The technical difficulties at Sismo, which has a small staff of around ten, are thought to be largely linked to the recent "burnout" of the start-up's head of Tech, who has not been replaced. "These are projects where you need real developers, with very specific skills, and these are profiles that are hard to find," explains someone close to the company.

While waiting for investors to recoup their funds (51% of their stake), the team is looking at how to potentially open-source the project. "They've developed a lot of interesting things," explains one industry insider. "It has to be useful to others", he adds, referring to the possibility of the code being bought up by others. But is this still possible? And what would investors say? That's what we'll be following.

This analysis is not investment advice. It has been prepared without taking into account your personal situation, particularly your financial situation, risk profile, and investment objectives.

Before investing in any product, investors should fully understand the risks involved and consult their own legal, tax, financial, and accounting advisors.

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