2018-10-14 19:19 |
Was the Ether premining a “criminal” act, and should Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin be called out for this “scam”? Notable economist and New York University professor Dr. Nouriel Roubini thinks so. Roubini is frequently referred to as Dr. Doom for successfully predicting the 2008 financial meltdown. He is now suggesting that the premine phase of Ether was a fraud.
What Does Roubini Claim?According to the economist, Buterin perpetrated a scam in the name of Ether. He took to Twitter to explain this to his followers and wrote:
@VitalikButerin was the ring-leader – together with Joe Lubin – of the criminal pre-mining sale/scam that created Ether. They stole 75% of the Ether supply and became instant "billionaires" of fake wealth. https://t.co/d3ltYuce4u
— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) October 10, 2018
Roubini is not a cryptocurrency enthusiast, and he recently compared digital coins to North Korea. He noted that Bitcoin wealth is more centralized than North Korea wealth, citing the Gini inequality coefficient, which is worse for Bitcoin than the North Korean dictatorship. Statistically, the Gini coefficient, which shows wealth distribution, is 88 percent for Bitcoin and 86 percent for North Korea. A Gini coefficient of 100 means extreme inequality, while 0 suggests perfect wealth equality.
Roubini has repeatedly called decentralization a myth and said that decentralized applications are Ponzi schemes. At the Senate Banking Committee held on Thursday, Oct. 11, the economist also called Bitcoin the “mother of all scams” and said that blockchain is the most hyped tech ever.
What Did Buterin Say?In response to the tweet, Vitalik Buterin wrote on Twitter:
I never personally held more than ~0.9% of all ETH, and my net worth never came close to $1b. Also, I'm pretty sure there are no criminal laws against pre-mining.
— Vitalik Non-giver of Ether (@VitalikButerin) October 10, 2018
One Twitter user went on to ask Buterin if he would disclose his cryptocurrency trading activity to the public, including the presale. Buterin provided an etherscan link of an address that contains 365,000 ETH. At current values, the 365,000 ETH is worth over $71 million. Buterin also reportedly holds $100,000 worth of OmiseGo (OMG) coins. OmiseGo is an open-source payment network and a decentralized exchange built on the Ethereum blockchain.
Buterin also said that he holds a few other crypto addresses in which he holds small crypto holdings. The etherscan address he provided reportedly holds a majority of his crypto coins.
Ethereum Cofounder Vitalik Buterin Answers Dr Doom’s ‘Ether Scam’ Claim was originally found on [blokt] - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.
Similar to Notcoin - Blum - Airdrops In 2024