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Tag: patricia

  • Patricia Converts Customers’ Assets To Tokens, Repayment Tied To Profitability

    Patricia’s ambitious plan to repay customers has one important caveat.

    Last week, Patricia announced that it converted customers’ assets into its Patricia Token (PTK), months after the company made a $2 million hack public. Now the company has said its plan to repay customers is tied to its profitability.

    Nigerian crypto platform Patricia has announced that it will use a newly created debt management token—the Patricia token—to repay customers the $2 million in customer funds lost in a hack. According to Patricia’s white paper, a smart contract will lock the tokens—which are dollar equivalents of respective customers’ assets—and gradually release them on a monthly basis. While the company did not specify the token’s vesting schedule, it was easy to spot one key detail: customers will only get their money back if Patricia is profitable.

    Per Patricia’s white paper, “This [smart] contract will lock the tokens and gradually release them based on the exchange’s profitability. This approach aligns users’ compensation with the success of the platform, promoting transparency and trust.” As a private company, Patricia does not disclose its financials, and customers will have questions about how they can independently verify the company’s profitability. 

    Hanu Fejiro, the company’s CEO, told TechCabal, “Our OTC Desk has been fully operational, and it is growing and bringing in revenue. We are totally confident in the redemption of Patricia tokens and that we will be able to pay our customers with the proceeds from our operations and our fundraising efforts.” He also added that Patricia is “working with legal partners and the product team on measures to launch a feature that guarantees transparency.”

    There are also valid concerns about the absence of a smart contract for Patricia’s debt token. On the token’s vesting schedule, Fejiro said, “The vesting schedule remains in its early stages since users are yet to convert to Patricia Tokens. This would commence on a scheduled basis once we relaunch the app.”

    While public opinion is primarily skeptical of Patricia’s debt token, the company’s founder is hoping this will play out like Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange platform that successfully used debt management tokens to recover 119,756 bitcoins eleven months after they were compromised in a hacking incident. But Patricia will need to do more to win over an understandably jaded public; it will need to show more transparency, share more information about its smart contract, and think announcements through before it shares them with the wider public.

  • Patricia Suspends Withdrawal; Takes Measures to Recover Stolen Funds

    Patricia, one of the leading digital asset marketplaces, recently experienced a security breach resulting in the loss of bitcoin and naira assets. In response, the company has taken immediate action, identifying one of the culprits and implementing measures to recover the compromised funds.

    Patricia, a prominent digital asset marketplace, has recently encountered a security breach that resulted in the loss of Bitcoin and naira assets. The company has swiftly initiated investigations into the incident and successfully identified one of the culprits involved. Efforts are currently underway to recover the funds that were compromised.

    In light of the breach, Patricia emphasized that only its bitcoin and naira assets were affected, while other cryptocurrencies remained secure. The company reassured its customers and merchants that their assets were protected and that comprehensive measures were being taken to restore the compromised funds. As a temporary precautionary measure, Patricia has suspended withdrawals on its mobile and web apps to gain better control over the situation.

    In a communication to its users, Patricia indicated that the breach might be attributed to the increased popularity of its Bitcoin exchange platform, making it an appealing target for hackers. Originally established as a gift card exchange platform five years ago, Patricia has experienced substantial growth, currently facilitating 30,000 daily transactions and serving 850,000 users. Acknowledging the inherent risks associated with such recognition, the company expressed, “We have rapidly become a household name, receiving prestigious awards worldwide. And that prominence entails a certain level of risk.”

    Patricia clarified that only one of its divisions, namely Patricia Personal, the retail trading application, was affected by the breach. However, the company decided to temporarily halt withdrawals on the app due to internal restructuring efforts.

    Although specific details regarding the breach were not disclosed, Patricia mentioned in the communication that it has identified an individual within the syndicated group responsible for the breach. The company remains committed to pursuing this lead and collaborating with security agencies and partners to conduct a comprehensive audit of the situation and recover the compromised assets.