Lucas Duplan, founder of failed payments startup Clinkle, is now reportedly involved with blockchain and cryptocurrency projects including Universal Recognition Token (URT).

Clinkle, described by Wired as “an object lesson in Silicon Valley overhype,” was launched by Duplan in 2011 while he was a computer science student at Stanford University.  The mobile payments app drew funding first from Accel partner Jim Breyer and by 2013, had raised $25 million from a number of investors including VMWare’s Diane Greene, Andreessen Horowitz, Intel Capital and PayPal’s Peter Thiel.

There were also reports that Richard Branson had invested in Clinkle and would become an advisor. Never-published photos showed Duplan and Branson burning fake money, designed to signify how Clinkle would eventually replace paper money.

Clinkle never really took off and was extensively criticized despite having recruited former Netflix and Yahoo executives. When Venmo and Apple pay launched, Clinkle changed tactics to offer rewards programs.

Duplan was heavily criticized and so too was the investment in Clinkle, with no one investor taking a board seat or investing enough to take some responsibility for the project.

Wired reports that Duplan has now formed a venture fund, backing enterprise-software and blockchain startups operating out of New York, and that he has active involvement in the Universal Recognition Token (URT) project. Duplan has denied founding the company or being involved in the day-to-day operations but has admitted to having some involvement.

URT is a blockchain-based system aimed at changing how companies reward employees and offering a marketplace for those employees to auction their rewards. The project recently completed a “presale” for early investors and reportedly has plans to launch an ICO later this year.

Wired and Forbes report in more depth on Clinkle, Duplan, and URT.

The post Controversial Clinkle Founder Now Involved with Blockchain Projects appeared first on UNHASHED.

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