The Swiss cryptocurrency promised a good ascent, before sinking lower than Earth.Image: Imago, montage watson
The time when his logo was enthroned on Ferrari Formula 1 seems far away. Today, Velas has problems. The price of his cryptocurrency fell and the officials left Switzerland. However, the company has escaped bankruptcy.
22.07.2025, 05:3122.07.2025, 05:31
Pascal Ritter / CH media
Let’s start with the good news: the Zugoise start-up Velas has managed to avoid bankruptcy. The company exists again without the mention “in liquidation” in the commercial register.
In April, no one came to Velas’ hearing. The Cantonal Court of Zug then opened the bankruptcy procedure. In June, the company successfully successfully opposed the court’s decision.
An error put on the account of the dizzy
Like other companies, Velas had apparently not paid attention to a modification of the law that came into force this year. This law stipulates that tax debts can also lead to business bankruptcy. For Velas, the problems with the cantonal tax administration were resolved after the deposit of 6344.50 francs that the company owed.
We could therefore simply put this case on the negligence account. But there is also bad news.
From TOTAL FAUTION POINT
The price of the Velas VLX cryptocurrency touches the bottom. According to the CoinmarketCap portal, a unit cost 0.0017 franc francs on Friday noon. In the Telegram cat of the Velas community, a user asked: “Hey, what’s new?” Is the project dead? ” Another user replied: “It looks like”. A third disputed, hoping for a better future.
At its peak, in November 2021, the Velas corner was worth around 40 cents per unit. The previous year, the company appeared in the list of the 50 best companies in Crypto Valley Venture Capital. This association of Swiss investors takes care of the Crypto-Start-up Zougoises. Indeed, the canton specializes in the establishment of blockchain companies. Velas was therefore also a kind of model figure.
In 2022, the Velas logo appeared on the racing cars of the Formula 1 Ferrari stable, alongside known brands such as Ray-Ban sunglasses. “Velas Blockchain technology is the fastest in the world,” said the advertising message.
In 2022, the Velas logo appeared on the racing cars of the Formula 1 Ferrari stable.Image: Geert Vanden Wijngaert / AP
The objective of the company is that applications and marketplaces use its infrastructure. Like a few other companies, Velas is inspired by Ethereum, the second cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Ethereum’s success is fueled by the hope that many applications, still centralized by companies and authorities today, will soon take place in the blockchain.
According to this vision of the trade of the future, decentralized digital systems replacing receipts and conventional documents should in the future confirm the authenticity of financial transactions or contracts. Velas has praised its own technology as faster and more ecological.
The Velas corner, ignored by certain platforms
Velas was founded by Farkhad Shagulyamov and Alexandrov. Shagulyamov, of Swiss nationality, has roots in Uzbekistan and lived in Zumikon (ZH). He was the first member of the board of directors, then president of the latter and held the post of CEO between 2021 and 2024.
Alex Alexandrov was born in Ukraine and would have sold newspapers to earn money when he was a child. He then emigrated to Canada, where he embarked on the cryptography sector. He bought Coinpayments, which offers payment services in cryptocurrencies. You can always use VLX, Velas currency. However, this is not the case for all cryptocurrency exchange platforms: some no longer list the Velas corner.
Founders who leave the ship and the country
Cryptocurrencies generally disappear from exchange platforms when demand is too low or suppliers fail to get along with the owners of the platform. As Alexandrov is involved in Velas and Coinpayments, the VLX corner should continue to be accepted.
In September 2023, the founder of Velas, Shagulyamov, left the board of directors and settled in Dubai. Since then, Velas has not been represented in Switzerland only by an employee of a company that offers administrative services to active businesses at the international level. It seems that all the important actors of Velas have left Switzerland, hence the intervention of a person external to the board of directors and residing in Switzerland.
Is Velas a “Shitcoin”?
The economist and chartered accountant Jürg Kradolfer is a cryptocurrency expert. It is more surprised by the ascent of the Velas corner price than by its fall. He declares:
“Velas promises that its blockchain technology is better than others. It may be true, but it does not mean that the Velas corner has value. ”
Even if the blockchain applications became more important in the future, this would not necessarily go hand in hand with an increase in the value of cryptocurrencies.
For Kradolfer, Velas cryptocurrency has similarities with “Shitcoin”. Cryptocurrencies decked out in this little touting nickname are made attractive to investors by marketing and sponsorship, and gain value thanks to the demand thus generated. But, as Kradolfer explains:
“Once the media threw has passed, the price collapses and those who have not yet sold receive nothing”
He points out that, unlike Bitcoin, the “money supply” of Velas and other alternative cryptocurrencies is not limited. Suppliers of these corners can increase the amount of money at any time, which leads to loss of value, even if suppliers promise not to do it.
A project in the future more than uncertain
Getting a comment from Velas turned out to be difficult. An e-mail address formerly planned for press requests no longer works. A request to an address that still operated did not receive an answer. On the X platform, the founder Alexandrov announced for the last time in March new functions of the Velas platform, which led some users to deal with it a crook.
He responded ironically with a smiley in the shape of a kiss. On the phone, the only member of the Board of Directors of Velas is content to say that bankruptcy is no longer relevant and that the company continues to exist. He cannot answer other questions.
The Crypto Valley Venture Capital investor club does not wish to comment on the current company. According to him, the registration of Velas in the top 50 in 2020 was made on the basis of the data available at the time and for a specific period.
Translated and adapted from German by Léa Krejci
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