Fake crypto CEO that fronted $1.3 billion rug-pull exposed as jobbing actor who got paid $5,000 with a suit thrown in

Earlier this year PCG reported on a crypto rug-pull with a new twist: The CEO of the firm involved didn't appear to exist. The news came in the wake of a Guardian Australia investigation into Hyperverse, a crypto scheme that collapsed with an estimated $1.3 billion in losses, and during its time was fronted by a chief executive by the name of Steven Reece Lewis. Reece Lewis had one hell of a C.V., but when the wheels came off he appeared to have vanished into thin air. Now the man behind the crypto baron has been found and, in another twist truly emblematic of crypto, it's an actor who was paid a relative pittance.

The HyperVerse scheme was launched in late 2021 with a video featuring Reece Lewis alongside video messages of support from such luminaries as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and actor Chuck Norris (it appears these were scripts commissioned through Cameo rather than endorsements). The company said Reece Lewis was a University of Leeds graduate who'd done a master's degree at Cambridge, sold a company to Adobe, launched an unnamed startup, had a stint at Goldman Sachs, etcetera. As the investigations into HyperVerse began, the Guardian began reaching out to these institutions: none of them had heard of Reece Lewis. 

Now, the man who posed as Reece Lewis has been found. Stephen Harrison, an Englishman resident in Thailand, said he was «shocked» to discover what HyperVerse had claimed about him, and had picked up the job while working as a freelance presenter and commentator. Harrison said a friend of a friend had approached him about the opportunity and, seeing it as a straightforward presenting gig, Harrison accepted.

«I was told I was acting out a role to represent the business and many people do this,» said