Kim Dotcom revealed today that the big plans he promised for this month regarding Bitcache and Megaupload 2.0 have been derailed. Following its first capital round Bitcache looked at raising further startup funding in what would have been a stock and cash merger deal with a publicly listed Canadian company valuing Bitcache at $100 million and providing $12 million in additional capital.
To unlock the Asian market, register now to the iFX EXPO in Hong Kong
Dotcom says that the company already submitted a draft press release announcing an intended merger to its exchange on Friday, and that trading of the stock was halted while waiting for a response.
However: "The Exchange demonstrated a bias against the merger and requested further detailed and intrusive information. The Bitcache board has decided that the complexities of the proposed merger would be unnecessary burdens in this early stage of its growth. Bitcache feels it is important as a technology startup to stay nimble and reduce corporate complexity in favor of technology development. The experience of dealing with the Exchange has only served to encourage that view. We are looking forward to a beta launch of Megaupload 2.0 and Bitcache later this year."
Back in August 2016 Dotcom claimed that the service “will take Bitcoin mainstream”, and that nobody will upload to any other cloud after Bitcache goes live at the launch of Megaupload 2.0 in January 2017. He even predicted that the service will reach 100 million Bitcache wallets thus propelling the price of Bitcoin to over $2000.
Background
If you are not familiar with Kim Dotcom, Megaupload or his ordeal with the American authorities, here is a very short summary. Kim Schmitz was a famous teenage internet entrepreneur and hacker in the ’90s that, among other things, legally changed his last name to Dotcom and created the popular file Hosting website Megaupload.
In 2012, the US Department of Justice seized the domain names and shut down Megaupload for allegedly enabling copyright infringement by some of its over 150 million users. Urged by the Americans, the New Zealand Police raided his former massive mansion and arrested Dotcom. Over $40 million of Megaupload funds were seized by the authorities and he is still fighting American extradition demands to this day.
As a result of the incident Dotcom became a vocal critic of the American approach to policing intellectual property rights online at the expense of individual freedom and privacy. He also started and funded the Internet Party in New Zealand to promote e-democracy, internet freedom and privacy.
