Io.net CEO Ahmad Shadid steps down from CEO role days before token launch

Quick Take

  • Solana-based DePIN Io.net, which in recent months has struggled through an alleged Sybil attack amid accusations of misreported statistics from critics and competitors, has replaced its CEO just two days before the launch of its token on June 11. 
  • Co-founder and former COO Tory Green will be taking over the top job from outgoing CEO Ahmad Shadid. 

Solana-based decentralized infrastructure provider (DePIN) Io.Net, which allows users to contribute spare graphics processing power to a shared pool in exchange for token-based payment, has replaced its CEO just two days before its native token launches on Binance Launchpad. 

Co-founder Ahmad Shadid announced his departure from the CEO role on Sunday with a post on X, naming fellow co-founder and former COO Tory Green as his replacement. 

"While there have been allegations regarding my past, I want to emphasize that I am stepping down as CEO to allow io.net move forward without distraction and to focus on its growth and success," Shadid's announcement post reads in part. Shadid also announced his plan to contribute one million of Io.net's soon-to-be-launched tokens from his personal stash towards the company's Internet of GPUs Foundation to "help grow the ecosystem."  

"Going forward, we will continue to execute on the vision that Ahmad set forth when he founded io.net - to become the world’s largest AI compute network and bring AI to the world," wrote newly-minted CEO Tory Green in his own announcement, which reiterated the company's plan to launch its token on Binance's Launchpool on June 11. 

Io.net has faced pointed criticism from rivals

While Shadid failed to elaborate on the nature of the "allegations" mentioned in his departure announcement, Io.net has faced pointed criticism from rivals in the DePIN space over the past months regarding whether the service truly offered as many GPU chips as it claimed. After Martin Shkreli, among others, noted that the site reported varied metrics for its network size, Io.net claimed in a detailed postmortem that attackers had attempted to spoof GPUs in order to glean increased rewards from the system. Other allegations have concerned Shadid's involvement with chiefly Arabic-language crypto projects in the past. 

"I'm glad to see IO.net taking steps in the right direction," said Greg Osuri, co-founder and CEO of Overclock Labs, a contributor to Akash Network and a competitor in the DePIN space, when reached for comment. He said that while it's a positive move from IO.net's side to replace the CEO, he said that questions remain regarding the allegations.

Shadid clarified that his supply of tokens would be locked for four years, while other investors and team members were subject to shorter lockups. "I have 4 years lockup + vesting, no investor, advisor or team member gets his monthly vested tokens before 2025/June," Shadid wrote in a reply to a critic on X. The project reportedly hit a $1 billion fully diluted token valuation with its Series A fundraising round, The Block previously reported

When asked directly about the timing of the resignation coming just two days before the token launch, Shadid again responded on X. "I am forced to make the wisest decision for the best of the $IO Nation[. I]t’s not about me anymore. It’s about all of you," Shadid replied. Io.net was unable to be immediately reached for comment by The Block. 

Update: Shortened and paraphrased quotation by Osuri.


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About Author

Zack Abrams is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. Before coming to The Block, he was the Head Writer at Coinage, a Web3 media outlet covering the biggest stories in Web3. The story he co-reported on Do Kwon won a 2022 Best in Business Journalism award from SABEW. Other projects included a deep dive into SBF's defense based on exclusive documents and unveiling the identity of the hacker behind one of 2023's biggest crypto hacks — so far. He can be reached via X @zackdabrams or email, [email protected].