Substratum’s CEO and community never cease to amaze me.

In response to indisputable accusations that Substratum lied about their “hedging” of ICO funds, Substratum’s CEO felt the need to revitalize his community with a sermon.

Justin Tabb had to say this to Substratum Community members:

“We should have lots of content to start hammering some videos again soon just really focused on getting the product out (both products from both companies). We are SO close it’s amazing to see it come from idea stage to where these are so close. People can say what they want but we have put together some amazing projects here and now that the ground work is laid and the foundation is there it’s on to the fun stuff”.

“There’s a lot of conjecture out there and a lot of hate like you say that all seemed to start shortly after we released our China video. Could be coincidence or might not. Either way we are staying the course!”

“People all through history that wanted to do something great had people who called them crazy or whatever terrible thing they could think to say. William Wilberforce was called a trader and a seditionist for advocating for the banning of the slave trade. Obviously he wasn’t but it was the worst thing that people could think of to say so they said it to try to discredit him”.

“So I take inspiration from those people”.

“Anyhow appreciate you all and can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on”.

“I don’t agree with what these people are saying, it’s irritating and false, but I believe in their right to say what they want which is why we are fighting so hard to deliver on our mission”.

“I spoke on a panel a few months back and one of the panelist said that success in the blockchain space today is about still being around and contributing 6 months later. Well we’ve been around for almost 2 years now and I can’t wait to show you what we are contributing”.

Wow, so Justin Tabb is comparing Substratum and himself to early abolitionists and saying he is being “discredited”? After reading this and finding it amusing, I can’t help but notice never did he once mention the XRP and LTC transfers after he publicly said in an interview they were “in cold storage”.

However, he had more things to say in response.

Justin Tabb also stated to Substratum Community members:

“I honestly don’t pay a whole lot of attention because i have two companies to run and two products to give. We have an online reputation management company who watches it and of course our awesome mods keep and eye out. Rather than reacting to every little thing he puts out there we are working on RESPONDING in a thoughtful way as needed. You may have seen some of the articles out there”.

Yes, it’s easy to ignore than to prove otherwise. This costs resources that the team likely can’t spare considering they have less than 1/3 of their ICO Ethereum holdings left. FYI, less than 1/3 is not “roughly half” Justin.

Now that the only remaining additional assets, which were said to have been in cold storage, have been liquidated, Substratum does not have much time left until they will run out of money.

At a calculated monthly burn rate of $150k, Substratum’s remaining ETH holdings suggests they will only be able to afford a few more months to pay operational costs and expenses for employees.

“I know for a fact and have the proof that we have run a reputable business true to the spirit of the project. So they can say what they want, we are focused on delivering what we promised and we will let the results speak for themselves”.

Quote me on it. 

Damage Control

After community members saw a post that received a lot of traction on Reddit and an article, many of them started to have questions regarding the legitimacy of Justin’s Tabb’s statements about the XRP and LTC transfers.

Justin Tabb responded recently to them.

“Amen. Pure and simple the article was written long before we converted LTC and XRP to pay attorney fees and a few other expenses. I’ll be writing an article and having our PR team review it for publication. All the best and back to work!”

Um, the article in question was published March 10, 2019 and it says that clear as day within the article. The article was not “written long before we converted LTC and XRP to pay attorney fees and a few other expenses”. Furthermore, the XRP and LTC transfers were made weeks before the publication date.

The same publication even posted another price positive article the very next day on March 11, 2019.

Justin Tabb’s response is not adding up.

“Having to explain why we are using funds that were specifically contributed to run this company and build this product is sort of exhausting but we will do it one more time. A smear campaign is just that but whether they like it or not we are STILL HERE. Two years later. Delivering product every week. Many projects have come, raised way more than we did and are LONG GONE”.

In what world is “having to explain why we are using funds that were specifically contributed to run this company” a thing you should not be doing, especially when people can check your transaction history as the blockchain is open and can be traced? These are reasonable concerns as Justin Tabb stated XRP and LTC was “in cold storage” and it turned out they were sold without any notice.

It’s clear as day, Justin Tabb is not only being not completely truthful about Substratum’s “hedging” but the XRP and LTC that was “in cold storage”, was sold.

Furthermore, how is Substratum “delivering product every week”? Do they have a new product they are working on each week?

After seeing this response, I am going to message Justin Tabb and verify these statements. There are major holes in his story that simply are just impossible to be true.

Update: As of March 14, 2019, Justin Tabb has declined to comment further on my inquiries.