Nothing says “measured professional critique” quite like calling someone a huge scammer on the internet and then issuing a partial retraction less than an hour later.
Tom Schmidt, a general partner at Dragonfly Capital, did exactly that on June 5, publicly labeling the Nova Markets team as “huge scammers” just one day after the on-chain perpetuals exchange announced its funding round. The round included names like Wintermute Ventures, Cumberland, and GSR. Schmidt didn’t just question the project. He questioned the judgment of every firm that wrote a check.
The 52-minute reversal
Approximately 52 minutes after his initial broadside, Schmidt walked back part of his statement, specifically retracting his characterization of certain legacy investors’ relationships with the project.
The apology, however, came with an asterisk. Schmidt maintained his condemnation of the Nova Markets team itself, describing their approach as a “classic bad faith maneuver.”
