The man we know as Craig Steven Wright is at it again.
Reports this morning show that the controversial Australian cryptocurrency peddler is all over the place with remarks about not only stablecoins, which peg decentralized values to the values of established fiat currencies, but the practice of decentralized lending itself, which is growing in popularity in mainstream areas of the crypto community as a practical way to gain from digital assets.
For instance, in comments at the recent Reimagine 2020 virtual conference, Wright reportedly called defi operators “common criminal a$$holes” while mincing words elsewhere in his explosive testimony.
“I fight in court, I’m not a cowardly you-know-what who runs away,” Wright said, according to Coindesk reporting by Sebastian Sinclair, who mentioned CSW possibly referring to his axe to grind with Bitcoin investor Roger Ver; Wright is suing Ver for libel.
Why would someone who is supposed to be a blockchain guru throw such generalized criticism at decentralized finance,an up-and-coming part of the fintech market?
To those who know the background, it’s partly because CSW love to court controversy: first of all, Craig Wright has in the past claimed to “be” Satoshi, the anonymous original Bitcoin inventor, although that claim has been knocked down by quite a few people. Wright also contributed to a Bitcoin hard fork, out of which arose the alternative investment Bitcoin Cash.
So he has a history of making divisive remarks.
That doesn’t really explain the hostility toward new crypto services, though, except to say that Wright suggested decentralized exchanges aren’t really decentralized after all.
“The exchanges are still run by a person,” Wright said, somewhat cryptically, according to Sinclair’s coverage.
Regardless of Craig Wright’s skepticism, many defi lending programs are offering investors with assets 10% or more in interest on their collateral. That tends to look and feel a lot like other forms of crypto currency staking, which is in itself getting more prominence as parties move from proof of work models to proof of stake models.
You wouldn’t know this to listen to Craig Wright sounding off – and the remarks have generated some pushback elsewhere in the blockchain world.
“I mean if Satoshi himself says it,” writes ethervescent, with a sarcasm tag, in a u/EthTraderCommunity Reddit thread.
“The biggest scam in the industry calls other things scams,” writes Antana18. “interesting!”
“This c*** will get struck by lightning one day,” writes Badboybubby00. “Surely the universe will oblige.”
The chorus goes on, with others calling CSW a “moron,” and otherwise suggesting a pattern of dishonesty. We’ll see if CSW’s input moves the needle at all on new defi platforms – the hunch is that it won’t.
