A recent tweet from Rialto.AI linked to a Medium post claiming the company has entered into a “partnership” (revised on 10/12 to “collaboration”) with mega-accounting firm Ernst & Young is causing quite a stir. The tweet from October 11th 2017 can be seen below.
Exciting news: RIALTO.AI enters into partnership with @EYnews (Ernst&Young)! https://t.co/zslWH1moTt
— RIALTO.AI (@RialtoAI) October 11, 2017
Critics were fast to jump on the tweet to gain more insight to this said “partnership”. The twitter account for XRP.tips (@XRPTips) inquired into the “partnership” asking if this was a true partnership or if Rialto.AI was simply just paying for Ernst & Young’s services?
The tweet and the uproar beg the question as to what it means to be in a true business “partnership”. According to Dictionary.com partnership is defined as, “a contractual relationship between two or more persons carrying on a joint business venture with a view to profit, each incurring liability for losses and the right to share in the profits”.
The relationship between Rialto.AI and Ernst & Young is far from the definition of a partnership. It is doubtful that Ernst & Young is sharing in Rialto.AI’s profit and losses. The more accurate term to use for this would be that Rialto.AI is a client of Ernest & Young. The Dictionary.com definition of a client is, “a person or group that uses the professional advice or services of a lawyer, accountant, advertising agency, architect, etc.”
By inaccurately using the word “partnership” to describe their relationship with Ernst & Young, Rialto.AI is setting a bad example for the cryptocurrency industry. As the industry craves more credibility, utilizing fabricated angles and stretching truths as a way of marketing coins and other cryptocurrency related content is not acceptable and will be noted and documented by savvy audiences.
Digging Deeper Holes: Rialto.AI Becomes Less Credible with Recent Clarification Update
Rialto.AI’s stance went from bad to worse as they continue holding on to the Ernst & Young name as a way to increase their perceived value. Now referring to the relationship as “collaboration” as way to correct the previously defined “partnership” relationship is silly when it’s known Rialto.AI is simply a paying client of Ernst & Young.
We believe in Rialto.AI’s team, tech, utility, and recently covered the company in an in-depth review on our website. The need to loop in Ernst & Young’s brand was unnecessary as an attempt to gain attention, and even worse when the nature of the relationship was misrepresented initially.
