Vitalik Buterin Calls Craig Wright a “Fraud”

The cryptocurrency industry is home to a fair few controversial individuals. Some of these people are often referred to as “frauds”, even though one should be rather cautious when throwing such terms around. At this week’s Deconomy 2018 event, Vitalik Buterin made his stance on Craig Wright more than clear.

Vitalik Goes on the Offensive

In a way, it is more than time that cryptocurrency community leaders questioned the position of Craig Wright in the Bitcoin industry. The self-professed Satoshi Nakamoto has made quite an impact on this industry, although not necessarily in a positive manner. In fact, Wright has always failed to provide the world with irrefutable evidence that he is indeed the creator of Bitcoin.

When push came to shove a while ago, Wright suddenly disappeared after failing to move funds belonging to one of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin addresses. It is evident that development will continue to tarnish his reputation, and some may even call him a fraud because of it. Since then, Wright has jumped on the Bitcoin Cash bandwagon, but in far less of a spectacular fashion.

It seems Vitalik Buterin is getting quite fed up with all of the attention Craig Wright has been getting. Wright is a very popular panelist during events which touch on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. Given his list of patent filings associated with these technologies, it is only normal that people want to hear what he has to say. At the same time, his previous escapades are still fresh in people’s minds.

At Deconomy 2018, Buterin asked why this “fraud” was even on a panel in the first place. It was a very surprising opinion from someone as soft-spoken as Vitalik, but he did ask a question which most of the community was afraid to ask. Even so, it is only normal that people are getting fed up with Wright’s presence in this industry after his failed stunts.

Whether or not this incident will have any long-term consequences remains to be seen. It seems nothing came of the question itself, even though the recorded reply’s volume is quite low. It seems doubtful we will see and hear less of Craig Wright in the future, as he is actually a very popular person in the industry, if not necessarily a well-respected one.

This was by far one of the more remarkable panel-related Q&As in the history of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The community can only hope to see more tough questions being asked rather than questions which were addressed during panels themselves. It’s a remarkable trend worth keeping an eye on, although it is still unclear how the fake Satoshi feels about Buterin’s outburst.