[2018-04-09] Twitter Cancels @Bitcoin Account as its CEO Invests in Lightning Ne

[nickbelski]

Twitter Cancels @Bitcoin Account as its CEO Invests in Competing Lightning Network

Is a conflict of interest at play?

“So this is how free speech dies,” wrote Bitcoin Cash enthusiast Roger Ver on Twitter. “With thunderous applause.”

Roger Ver, a former Bitcoin ‘evangelist’ who was once known as the ‘Bitcoin Jesus’, was responding to Twitter’s decision to suspend the @Bitcoin account, an account that had been used for the promotion of Bitcoin Cash. The account was suspended on Sunday, April 8, reportedly because of a number of complaints by other Twitter users; some suspect that an “army” of Bitcoin supporters were responsible for them.

According to a CoinTelegraph report, some Reddit users have suspected that Ver has been the operator of the @Bitcoin account “due to an alleged coincidence with the Tweets that both Ver’s Twitter and @Bitcoin ‘liked.’” These users have pointed out that if Ver was somehow able to purchase control of the account, which has been posting what some have called pro-BCH “propaganda” for months, that the account was indeed in violation of Twitter’s rules.

Who’s At Fault?

While many Bitcoin supporters were happy to see @Bitcoin go, other voices in the crypto community–including plenty of Bitcoin Cash supporters–agreed with Ver.

What was especially troubling to these BCH supporters is the presence of a possible conflict of interest. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey made a $2.5 million contribution to Lightning Labs several weeks ago. Lightning Labs is the firm responsible for creating the Lightning Network, a second-layer solution to the Bitcoin network’s scalability problems. If the Lightning Network is successfully deployed, it could drive mass amounts of users away from BCH and onto BTC.

“Welcome to the new Silicon Valley,” wrote Reddit user BeijingBitcoins. “All these guys who thought they were being disruptive to the old ways of doing things have instead amplified the censorship, information control, and social manipulation to levels that would have Orwell turning in his grave.”

However, not everyone believes that the decision to suspend the @Bitcoin account was as ‘Orwellian’ as some are making it out to be. ‘Cypherpunk’ Jameson Lopp replied to Ver’s tweet, saying that “freedom of speech means that the government won’t throw you in a cage for saying something it doesn’t condone. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you want on someone else’s property.”

See more: https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/twitter-cancels-bitcoin-account-ceo-invests-competing-lightning-network/

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[buwaytress]

Not that I'm enamoured of Twitter or any social media use for existing crypto use, but I'd say that the removal of @Bitcoin has been something long coming. The misleading of the name itself accounts for account abuse, who knows how many newcomers wanting to get Bitcoin were misled into thinking Bitcoin actually had some sort of authority on Twitter, much worse how many actually got their early miseducation from the highly erroneous material on bitcoin.com and Ver.

That alone should have been enough. Freedom of speech is fine, but not if you intentionally mislead unsuspecting people who earnestly wanted to learn about Bitcoin.

[1Referee]

Twitter should donate that handle to either the operators of the bitcoin.org website, or the actual developers contributing to Core.

I just fucking hate it that Roger Ver and his BCrash shills think he has the right of claiming his scummy project has any right to even remotely be put in the same category as Bitcoin. Roger Ver and Jihan Wu are one of the largest Bitcoin holders in this ecosystem, and if we just calculate that they each have at least 200,000BTC, then simple math tells me that they now hold at least 20,000BTC worth of BCrash each (not even calculating how many more they gained by manipulating the market). It's nothing more than a blatant cash grab. At current levels that's a $140 million bonus at minimum.

[davis196]

Twitter should donate that handle to either the operators of the bitcoin.org website, or the actual developers contributing to Core.

I just fucking hate it that Roger Ver and his BCrash shills think he has the right of claiming his scummy project has any right to even remotely be put in the same category as Bitcoin. Roger Ver and Jihan Wu are one of the largest Bitcoin holders in this ecosystem, and if we just calculate that they each have at least 200,000BTC, then simple math tells me that they now hold at least 20,000BTC worth of BCrash each (not even calculating how many more they gained by manipulating the market). It's nothing more than a blatant cash grab. At current levels that's a $140 million bonus at minimum.

I wish that Twitter could give the @Bitcoin handle to the bitcointalk forum admins,so they could tweet interesting content from this forum.
Anyway,if Ver really holds 20,000 BTC,I doubt that he actually is a 100% BCH supporter.Why don`t he just sell all his BTC holdings and pump the value of his BCH altcoin.I guess that his propaganda and his investing decisions don`t match.

[1Referee]

Anyway,if Ver really holds 20,000 BTC,I doubt that he actually is a 100% BCH supporter.Why don`t he just sell all his BTC holdings and pump the value of his BCH altcoin.I guess that his propaganda and his investing decisions don`t match.

He holds more than 200,000BTC, perhaps even closer to 250,000BTC combined with all his altcoins. He is nothing more than a pathetic human being. The only reason he isn't going full nuts on BCrash is because it is only a money grab opportunity for him. He doesn't believe in it. Regardless of how people rightfully dislike him, he isn't stupid. He very well knows that he need his Bitcoins in order to remain a powerful entity within this market.

I remember having seen one of his streams, where he wasn't exactly sure what coin would be the one to take the game over. He usually speaks about his shitty project with full confidence, but suddenly took a few steps backs where even Ethereum was mentioned as potential main crypto. His words were; never put your eggs in one basket. At some point he will drop his support for BCrash, it's just a matter of time.

[Qartersa]

Now we see why this is all happening. There certainly is politics behind namely, vested interests, business endeavors, conflict of interests, among others. Hence, we should not be so surprised about this. While I am all for Bitcoin and the futuristic features I bet on it, I am in support for the cancellation of the @Bitcoin on Twitter mainly because it majorly influences Bitcoin users' stance on Bitcoin regarding the market when it should not be because such account is not all for Bitcoin. It is in a way misleading the public as to what and how Bitcoin really is at the moment. Having said this, I know people will come crashing, saying it is just a username and having it cancelled disenfranchises the user about his choice of username but hello, we all know Bitcoin is a hot topic nowadays. That username should not be used lightly because many people depend on it for sustenance. Thus, it is but right to put that username to end. 

[veleten]

in this case I'm on Twitter's side,actually
if you have @Bitcoin account name,you shouldn't be a direct opposite coin promoter
Roger Ver should have renamed to @Bitcoin no more or @Bitcoin Cash
social media is a very powerful tool nowadays,you would not want newbies stumble upon his account
and get suckered into what is clearly not bitcoin anymore

[vit05]

I think what Roger was doing was very bad. But what twitter did is even worse. It is quite controversial the idea about what and who is entitled on the bitcoin brand. There is no clear consensus. And a considerable portion really believe that Bcash is the true continuation of the project initiated by Satoshi. The biggest lesson we could draw from this is that it does not matter who owns certain addresses or brands. What really matters is that each individual must read and study to reach their individual conclusions. Trust no one.

[kevoh]

It is quite funny that Roger Ver is screaming Freedom of Speech due to twitter's action. Well, you can not misbehave and peddle false information on another person's platform and still be screaming Freedom of speech!