A culture war is brewing between bitcoin’s old and new money
A prolonged slump in the price of bitcoin has wiped out more than US$100 billion in wealth this year, which has incited a panic among investors over how to stabilise the cryptocurrency
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin, may be long gone, but his early followers are still around and their identities still unknown. They go by aliases, such as Cobra, and frequently spout unpopular, pseudo-anarchist rhetoric.
As the cryptocurrency’s price soared in recent years, bitcoin’s old money and new money coexisted with only occasional conflict. But this year, a prolonged slump has wiped out more than US$100 billion in wealth, and the ensuing panic over how to stabilise the currency has incited a Gatsby-esque class war.
One point of contention right now involves the ownership of Bitcoin.org. Nakamoto registered the web domain a decade ago and handed it over to some early cryptoheads for safekeeping. The site still exists as a destination to evangelise bitcoin and educate newcomers. The main proprietor is Cobra, with support from another anonymous user, Theymos.
In a recent post on the coder site GitHub that has racked up more than 100 responses, there are calls for the removal of Cobra. People are expressing concern over his views and what it might mean for the digital currency.
“It would be wise for the responsibility to be shared between multiple parties rather than a single individual,” Nicholas Moroz, a consultant on blockchain technology, wrote in an email.
