The NFT marketplace OpenSea has acquired Gem, an NFT startup cofounded by a pseudonymous developer accused of sexual abuse, including rape. This month, BuzzFeed News confirmed the individual is the banished Twitch streamer Josh Thompson, who formerly went by the moniker “MethodJosh.”
“During the course of our diligence, we learned about, and immediately surfaced, some deeply concerning allegations against a now-former member of Gem’s leadership team who operated under the pseudonym Neso. Upon investigating the allegations, the employee was immediately exited prior to the close of this deal. This individual has never and will never be affiliated with OpenSea,” OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said on Monday in a statement announcing the acquisition.
Thompson was fired from Gem this month following an investigation into “a pattern of sexual misconduct,” according to an April 9 post on the company’s Discord server by cofounder Lorens Huculak. Business documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News indicate that Thompson was a major shareholder in the company, owning as many shares as cofounders Huculak and Vaibhav Saini.
