U-Zyn Chua Formally Exits Cake Group After Months of Co-Founder Dispute

Cake Group CTO and co-founder, U-Zyn Chua, has officially left the building after a rather public falling out with fellow co-founder Julian Hosp.

Posting his final farewell on LinkedIn, Chua wrote, "Today marks the end of my journey at Cake Group. It's been an incredible journey, and I'm immensely proud of the achievements of the team, especially thinking back how far the initial prototype I built in 2018 has led to."

"While I'm moving on, I have faith in the company's future and wish the entire team nothing but the very best!

I'm taking a short break to recharge and refocus on my passions – open source, coding, and even rekindling my love for art. Stay tuned for what exciting things come next!"

Hosp responded to Chua's exit by resharing a tweet on X that showed a "deactivated" account belonging to Chua.

"Up- and Onward. Will share a bit of the past 8 months on Wednesday's Twitter Space on @bake_io, talk about the current state and the exciting road ahead for Cake. Tune in!" Hosp tweeted.

Up- and Onward. Will share a bit of the past 8 months on Wednesday's Twitter Space on @bake_io, talk about the current state and the exciting road ahead for Cake. Tune in! https://t.co/OhoqureNX3
— Dr. Julian Hosp (@julianhosp) May 27, 2024

Bitterness Baked In

Chua's exit comes almost exactly one month after the Singapore High Court dismissed an application from Chua to wind up the company.

Chua initiated the process to wind up the company on 1 December 2023 but in April, Judicial Commissioner Alex Wong said that it was inappropriate for Chua to seek liquidation and there were no grounds for shutting down the firm.

Wong clarified that his order did not reflect an endorsement of Hosp's behaviour outlined in Chua's claim, urging the co-founders to resolve the conflict carefully.

Chua argued that he was trapped and liquidation was the only solution. Wong said he was unconvinced that Chua exhausted other forms of exit and that he could sell his shares on the open market.

The former CTO said selling his shares would be tough as no buyer would want to be a minority shareholder but Wong refuted the claim.

Chua also cited his soured relationship with Hosp and the co-founder's "poor reputation" as a reason for the market to not want his shares. Wong rebutted that it was Chua who reached out to Hosp in 2019 to work together.

In February, Hosp offered Chua an opportunity to buy over Cake Group. "In a surprise turn of events, 1 business day before the court hearing yesterday, Julian Hosp made an offer for me to buy over the entirety of his wife and his Cake Group shares, thereby allowing them both to exit Cake Group," Chua tweeted.

"Even though the offer came outside of the usual document submission window for court proceedings, I am putting in serious consideration in taking up the offer by Julian."

However, Chua said in April, "after Julian's last offer to sell in February 2024, I have both offered to buy his shares, and offered my shares for him to buy, at exactly the same asking price. Both were declined."

February also saw Hosp and Chua reaching a settlement with early investors John Rost and Howard Fineman. Rost's and Fineman's outstanding DFI has been converted to DUSD and then burned to "show full support to the DeFiChain community."

Bake clarified that Rost and Fineman have not been involved in Bake since April 2021.

In a separate public statement addressed to Hosp and shared by Hosp, Rost expressed regret for comments made towards Hosp, his wife and Chua. "In the heat of the moment, I made certain negative statements about the Cake Group, DeFiChain and its community, Mr U-Zyn Chua, Dr Julian Hosp and his wife Mrs Bettina Hosp," Rost said.