The reasons cited by Binance are “officious” in nature, but the community is fully aware this is related to Chenpeng Zhao’s annoyance at the antics of Craig Wright and Calvin Ayre, the most notable proponents of Bitcoin SV. Officially, the exchange lists several possible factors:
- Commitment of team to project
- Level and quality of development activity
- Network / smart contract stability
- Level of public communication
- Responsiveness to our periodic due diligence requests
- Evidence of unethical / fraudulent conduct
- Contribution to a healthy and sustainable crypto ecosystem
The last part is probably where Craig Wright’s wild west-style pursuit of the identity of @Hodlonaut fails the most. Some on Twitter have pointed out that Calvin Ayre and Craig Wright’s antics on the social network amount to unethical behavior. In a concise tweet, this user identified the ways that Bitcoin SV personalities have violated Binance’s code of conduct:
Binance will delist Bitcoin SV, $BCHSV. @cz_binance’s judgement:
• “unethical” — affectionately known as, The Calvin Ayre Rule.
• “fraudulent” — affectionately known as, The Craig Wright Rule.
• “healthy and sustainable” — affectionately known as, The Kevin Pham Rule. pic.twitter.com/GdL6HOnDYV
— Nakamoteaux. ₿. (@NakamoteauxSt) April 15, 2019
ShapeShift Delists BSV – Kraken Next?
ShapeShift.io’s Erik Voorhees has also announced that his instant coin exchange will no longer support Bitcoin SV effective within 48 hours of the post (so in less than two days.)
We stand with @binance and CZ’s sentiments. We’ve decided to delist Bitcoin SV #BSV from @ShapeShift_io within 48 hrs.
— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) April 15, 2019
Erik Voorhees is an old-school cryptonaught and a libertarian. The pursuit and potential prosecution of a Twitter Bitcoin maximalist for speaking his mind about Craig Wright doesn’t sit well with many. Voorhees has previously made philosophical decisions as regards ShapeShift, like when the company chose to exit New York rather than attempt to comply with the BitLicense regulations.
Kraken also left New York in 2015, and the exchange is currently polling as to whether it should delist Bitcoin SV in solidarity with @hodlonaut and Binance. Thus far the “yes” option has received over 70% support:
Should Kraken delist Bitcoin SV (BSV)? #delistbsv
— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) April 15, 2019
The poll is not limited to Kraken users, unfortunately, making it a decidedly less accurate measure to use in decision making. However, the volume of Bitcoin SV across exchanges is statistically insignificant by comparison to several other cryptocurrencies, therefore the perceived lost revenue will be offset by the boost to optics. Overwhelmingly, Crypto Twitter wants justice for @Hodlonaut, and delisting is seen as a means of free market justice.
Other Exchanges, Including Huobi and OkEx, Feel the Pressure
Looking at other major markets who list BSV, their recent tweets are flooded with calls to delist BSV as well. Huobi, a long-time leader in crypto exchanges, is no exception. Seemingly, its recent tweets are more popular as a result:
?Price Alert: [ $BCH / $USDT] $BCH goes up 13.26% to 315.69 $USDT.
Chart here:https://t.co/kDkOoMfE0B pic.twitter.com/RXA6EkCdre— HuobiGlobal (@HuobiGlobal) April 15, 2019
Here’s a Tweet from last Friday, which only received four responses:
Want a 100% makers fee rebate?
Huobi DM launches #Bitcoin #Cash ($BCH) contract trading today!
For a limited time you can receive a 100% makers fee rebate.
Details: https://t.co/C6QHLH9aR0 @rogerkver @BitcoinCom @crypto_goat_ @BitcoinCashFans pic.twitter.com/75J7i2RweW— HuobiGlobal (@HuobiGlobal) April 12, 2019
Crypto Twitter didn’t forget about OKEx, either. “Speaking of fraud…” says one user:
Speaking of Fraud… when are you going to #DelistBSV? What’s this partnership with @CalvinAyre all about? @OKEx is a pro-doxxing exchange now? #WeAreAllHodlonaut #WeAreAllPeter
— Ganesh ? (@litecoinUSA) April 13, 2019
BitForex, which conducted most of Bitcoin SV’s volume over the past 24 hours at press time, posted a retweet about the Binance delisting recently, which may be foreboding for Bitcoin SV holders:
Craig is not Satoshi. Everyone is Satoshi.
It’s funny that when Craig is unhappy that people don’t believe his claim, he runs to his lawyer crying for help. pic.twitter.com/RuRCxkBujV
— Garrett BitForex (@GarrettBitForex) April 12, 2019
The company hasn’t officially announced a delisting, but it seems obvious where the exchange stands on the issue.
Some Exchanges Busy Fielding More Pressing Complaints
HitBTC, a popular altcoin exchange with many outstanding support requests and allegations against it, is so far quiet on the issue. They were the #10 exchange for BSV in the 24 hour period.
Bit-Z, the #8 exchange for BSV over the past 24 hours, has not made an announcement.
Another top exchange for BSV, CoinBene, hasn’t been pressured regarding BSV, but it’s facing other issues:
1 buy coin with @CoinBene
2 They go into ‘maintenance’
3 Your coins sell to Dex exchanges
4 @CoinBene pretend everything is just fine even though all your coins lost
— _KITAETS_ (@_KITAETS_) April 12, 2019
Overall, the social momentum in the crypto space seems to be moving toward a mass delisting campaign against Bitcoin SV.
Craig Wright Widens Legal Expedition
yup….this is a good time to open a Bitcoin SV exchange…just when one of the largest in Asia has kicked all the BSV customers to the curb over petulance. Business in a box 🙂 https://t.co/PgTE9jqtHg
— Calvin Ayre (@CalvinAyre) April 15, 2019
Calvin Ayre seems calm, as does Craig Wright, who recently announced an actual lawsuit against Vitalik Buterin and other entities. The beef between Buterin and Wright stems from Buterin’s outburst at last year’s Deconomy conference, in which he was the perhaps to loudly declare Wright a “fraud.”
Buterin has not publicly commented on the legal action, although he has voiced support for delisting BSV:
It’s possible to agree fully and strongly with this and at the same time fully consistently support #DelistBSV
Maybe I should write a blog post soon on free speech ethics… it’s a topic that seems to confuse pretty much everyone.
— Vitalik Non-giver of Ether (@VitalikButerin) April 15, 2019
He also indicated that he won’t be launching any counter-suits:
Nah, I’m too (libertarian | lazy) to do that at the moment.
— Vitalik Non-giver of Ether (@VitalikButerin) April 12, 2019
Buterin made that statement before the announcement that he’d been hit with some legal work similar to that leveled @Hodlonaut, however. The story of Ethereum’s actual creator and Bitcoin’s self-proclaimed creator seems to be just beginning, it seems.