By CCN: Self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright, just took his ongoing Bitcoin takeover gambit to the next level. Speaking at a CoinGeek conference in Toronto, Wright claimed that money from major cryptocurrency institutions like Binance, Bitfinex and Tether was being used to fund slavery and prostitution.
Despite the severity of the claims, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) dismissed them out of hand, refusing to give Wright the limelight he apparently craves.
Bitcoin SV’s ‘Satoshi’ Makes Criminal Claims
Despite often claiming to be a lawyer (something the real Satoshi said he wasn’t), Craig Wright didn’t seem too worried about causing libel damages in Toronto. Wright said:
“Right now, 30% of Binance money funds women in prostitution; 30% of Binance and Tether funds women in slavery…”
The comments didn’t appear to have the desired effect – landing with a whimper rather than a bang. Binance founder and CEO took to Twitter to reply to the claims, and his response was muted. CZ wrote:
giving attention is probably what he wants… We ignore stupid stuff, and focus on things that matter. #BUIDL
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) May 31, 2019
CZ and Wright have hostile history between them, after the Binance chief delisted Wright’s beloved Bitcoin SV (BSV) on a whim back in April. After ‘Little CZar’ gave the thumbs down on BSV (which wasn’t appreciated by everyone), other major exchanges soon followed.
By the end of that 24-48 hour period in April, Bitcoin SV’s presence had been wiped out from several of the largest platforms in crypto. Those included Kraken, Shapeshift, and Blockchain.com.
Cryptocurrency juggernauts like Binance should be viewed with extreme caution. First of all, Binance’s base in Malta means it is unregulated by U.S law. Furthermore, it has a long record of inflating volume figures.
Produce Proof or Shut Up
But unless Craig Wright can produce some evidence that backs up his outlandish claims, he’d probably be best keeping quiet. Both of those things have proven difficult for the Australian in the past. Despite running with his Satoshi Nakamoto roleplay for almost five years now, he has yet to show any proof that he his who he says he is. But that hasn’t stopped him talking.
Despite the whirlwind of controversy whipped up by Wright in recent times, his associated coin, Bitcoin SV, continues to pump. On May 21st BSV went on a 125% pump after Wright announced his registration of the Bitcoin trademark with U.S officials. Of course, as is often the case with Wright, the truth of the matter was less it appeared.
Earlier this week BSV went on another 67% pump after a misleading screenshot did the rounds in Chinese crypto-media. The fake news claimed Bitcoin SV was being re-listed on Binance, after Craig Wright proved he was Satoshi Nakamoto to Changpeng Zhao.
Bitcoin SV Price Sinks After Strong Growth
By Friday morning, in the wake of Wright’s comments and a broad plunge by the cryptocurrency market, BSV had given up 29% of its recent growth. One unit of BSV fell from a price of $250.38 down to $177.06 in just over 24 hours.
