Andre Cronje has earned the right to be called “DeFi’s godfather,” having been responsible for building several successful projects in the space. However, the famous developer decided to bring down the curtain on his time in DeFi.
A Sunday tweet from Andre Cronje’s close friend and colleague at the Fantom Foundation, Anton Nell, announced that both he and the South African software developer had decided to call it quits. Nell offered no reason for the sudden decision. Instead, he wrote that “There are around ~25 apps and services that we are terminating on 03 April 2022.”
Andre and I have decided that we are closing the chapter of contibuting to the defi/crypto space.
There are around ~25 apps and services that we are terminating on 03 April 2022.
1/3— Anton Nell (@AntonNellCrypto) March 6, 2022
The affected apps to be phased down by Nell and Cronje include, Yearn.fi, keep3r.network, multichain.xyz, chainlist.org, solidly.exchange, and bribe.crv.finance. There were several speculations over why the duo called off their time with Fantom. Some users felt that both developers needed a break from the mental demands of their roles. However, others felt evil was lurking around.
YFI and FTM Takes a Dive
Shortly after the news of their withdrawal from Fantom and the DeFi space, some users suspected the possibility of a rug pull. Rull pulls refer to quick exits by developers looking to profit from their projects. Also, it also refers to a decision that causes related cryptocurrencies to plunge or suffer a decline.
Cronje’s involvement in Fantom was behind many investors’ trooping to Fantom. Furthermore, his new project, Solidly, had huge potential. However, the project, which launched last week, dropped by 67%, while Chainlist fell by 4.3%. Furthermore, Yearn Finance plunged by 6%. Also, Fantom’s TVL took a 40% hit to $7.16 billion.
Some other users lamented the lack of communication from the developer whom they had grown to trust. Cronje deactivated his Twitter account last week, deleting all his tweets. This act raised suspicions amongst his followers.
This would not be the first time the prominent developer has bid farewell to the DeFi space. In 2020, Andre Cronje claimed he was close to rage-quitting after another developer pointed out loopholes in Yearn Finance. However, Nell moved to assure fans and investors that this decision was for real.
He wrote, “Unlike previous “building in defi sucks” rage quits, this is not a knee-jerk reaction to the hate received from releasing a project, but a decision that has been coming for a while now. Thank you to everyone that supported us over the past few years.”
Fantom is Not a One-Man Project
Crypto users cannot ignore Cronje’s work in the DeFi space. However, his exit cannot decide Fantom’s fate. Shortly after Nell’s tweet, Fantom Foundation CEO Michael Kong clarified that the project would continue to function regardless of what had happened. In a series of tweets he shared, Kong emphasized that Nell and Crone were bringing their involvement with the projects to an end. Furthermore, the duo would hand over their roles to existing teams.
Kong tweeted, “As many of you are aware, Anton, who works with Andre, tweeted that they were “terminating” 25 projects. This was misunderstood. They are “terminating” their involvement but handing over anything they run to the existing teams.”
He further mentioned that some of the projects, such as Yearn Finance, have been ongoing for years. Kong also revealed that Solidex will now take over Solidly, Cronje’s newest project.
5/ So no, these projects are not closing down development. Some of them have been running independently for years.
— Michael Kong (@michaelfkong) March 7, 2022
Yearn Finance’s lead developer, Banteg, also made some reassuring remarks to the Fantom community. He noted that Cronje’s departure had no impact on the platform’s day-to-day operations. He wrote, “People burying YFI, you do realize Andre hasn’t worked on it for over a year? And even if he did, there are 50 full-time people and 140 part-time contributors to back things up.”
Fantom Foundation shared a tweet insisting that “Fantom isn’t and never was a one-man team.” The platform added that 40+ people are working on the project. Also, Fantom is constantly expanding its team.
We're extremely grateful to Andre for all he did for crypto as a whole.
However, Fantom isn't and never was a one man team.
There are 40+ people working at Fantom.
— Fantom Foundation (@FantomFDN) March 6, 2022
DeFi applications run on blockchain-based smart contracts. These smart contracts are permissionless by design. As a result, they can continue to work even if the original developers are no longer involved.
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