I think you are right. utopianfuture was probably dishonest, but the way he left without even a fight suggests to me he saw this as his way to avoid trouble with the SEC.
NEM had an IPO, clear and simple, and like erik voorhees, UP was destined for trouble. His real world identity is probably easy to determine, and I remember him trying to argue NEM didn't have an IPO, and I think UP was starting to get freaked out..
Does UP forgo his dev share now? has that been decided? If he still gets his share, then I'd say UP is having a good laugh at us
UP still gets
all of shares he has (several), well deserved(!).
in fact he still holds all the nemstake tokens including sole issuance right at the moment. as u can see he is still Nem.
it is in utopianfutures hands. that he "retired" was the worst mistake for Nem and will be hard challenge for community.
that he left as leader is good. that he left project is bad.