Final statement on Sinovate (SIN)

As the dust begins to settle and we bring some closure to the matter at hand, the Flits team hereby conclude:

With regards to the wrongful initial integration of SIN masternode creation and ‘burning’ inside the Flits app, we wish to re-iterate that the process was concluded alongside and fully supervised by the Sinnovate team. Their developers offered to help and were actively involved when integrating, controlling and setting up the ‘SIN integration’ within the Flits app.

It has become apparent that things have indeed gone awry with said integration of DIN nodes, upon the hard fork recently past at block 550 000. As a result, those SIN investors making use of our platform ‘lost’ their masternodes as a result.

Flits is unlike any other platform. We are fully decentralized and hold no control over funds, keys or masternode creation. It is for this very reason, that no reasonable comparison can be made between Flits and other ‘third party’ service providers.

Should we have performed the integration on our own, then of course our current view point would most certainly have been very different. But this was 100% not the case. We always knew of the ‘custom’ factor with regards to the SIN blockchain, and that this would require the assistance of their team, to get all integrated correctly.

During our recent discussions with their team surrounding the new mainnet update, we came to the conclusion that something was wrong – resulting in a potential risk for those SIN investors making use of Flits. Initially through these same discussions, a possible solution was tabled (for Sinovate to create a fork). Should this have been possible, the Flits team had planned to offer reimbursement to all those affected for their lost rewards (up to a maximum of 2 months). This would have been the same in fact for any other suitable remedy derived.

Though we feel that what was tabled may indeed still be technically possible, it has since been rejected by the Sinovate team, on a differing view. It is a real pity though, as we still consider it a potentially good fix. The end result.. Sinovate appears willing to let down around 15% of their total investors, with no apparent desire to take ownership/responsibility – for their part on the wrongful integration on the Flits app. With Sinovate desiring to pass all blame and responsibility on Flits, their investors have now become victims in a battle of ‘principle’.

In the interest of full transparency, we released a statement on Friday (prior to block 550 000).. In reaction, we since witnessed a rather unpleasant ‘blame game’ commence. We wish to apologize to everyone who became ‘entangled’ in the mess which played out in our public channels. We understand that when fingers were pointed, it must have become quite hard to discern fact from fiction.

With partial screen-shots from old conversations publicly shared, an attempt was made to manipulate investors by passing on all blame to Flits. We strongly disapprove of such a tactic, which is subjective to say the least. False accusations aside, we can confirm that from the outset, we have been committed to finding a possible solution for those affected investors.

We as a reputable company will certainly not lower our standards, by taking part in such a public duel – presenting our own ‘evidence’ to the contrary. This would obviously be of no benefit to those affected, and only sour the relationship even further between the two projects. We have a responsibility towards our partners, users, investors and backers to keep a certain level of professionalism.

As explained previously, we are happy to reimburse all fee credits for ‘incomplete’ hosting of SIN. This being a highly unusual situation, no precedent will be set going forward. This process will be initiated shortly with recipients being notified once complete. We do believe that we bear this responsibility to help those SIN investors affected.

Regrettably though.. as Sinovate has/had the power to help their investors in a more significant manner, it is not for us to bear any more responsibility. It goes without saying that we are still willing to continue further discussions with their team, should they so wish. This in an effort to ascertain how they may help their investors further.

It is undoubtedly an unpleasant situation to have arisen, and we are of the view that it is not fair to allow investors to suffer as a result. As a decentralized wallet and hosting provider though, we also cannot bear the responsibility of the actions of other projects – especially when there are potentially multiple solutions worth digging into.

With emotions running rampant, we have even become aware of people within the SIN community ‘threatening’ to confront the Flits team at their offices. We strongly disapprove of these sort of statements, and further state that it should be the responsibility of Sinovate to diffuse such behaviour, while of course continuing to search for a fitting solution. No project should use their channels to facilitate hate campaigns, whilst advancing their own agenda through sharing misleading or biased information, to influence investors.

We are all trying to do our best in this situation, and hope that we can keep things ‘professional’. It’s these types of situations which can potentially cast a darkness over crypto in general. We appeal to all parties concerned, to please treat one another with respect and dignity. We encourage everyone to remain objective at all times, and converse with us directly should the need arise.

In closing.. we do hope that we can move forward positively, searching for new opportunities together. Flits will continue to contribute with shaping the world of crypto, and bridging the gap with traditional markets.

Note: We wish to stress to our general user base, that they need not worry unnecessarily about the safety of their other crypto holdings. The difficulty described was as a result of the integration of Sinovate and their ‘burning’ of coins. SIN was a fully custom integration, where their devs were actively involved.