2018-10-2 09:56 |
Even after gaining traction, cryptocurrencies are not fully understood by all. It could well be one of the reasons why mainstream publications have a hard time reporting topics related to digital currencies. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently published a story about ShapeShift, a cryptocurrency exchange. The story focused on the exchange’s involvement with money laundering. The post connected the exchange with an $80-million Ponzi scheme. ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees published his defense of the platform on Monday pointing out the factual inaccuracies.
Remarks on “Dirty Money”ShapeShift was called out by the WSJ in an article titled “How Dirty Money Disappears Into the Black Hole of Cryptocurrency.”
The article was written by two reporters who claimed that ShapeShift was a money laundering solution used by a stolen credit card peddler, a Ponzi scheme mastermind, and a North Korean agent. The article targeted ShapeShift specifically, wrongly concluding that $9 million was laundered through the exchange after analyzing two years of blockchain data.
Erik Voorhees wrote in a blog:
“Overall, the article contains factual inaccuracies, omits significant details about how ShapeShift operates and reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how blockchain transactions work.”
He further noted that the WSJ reporters have been in touch with the exchange under false pretense for five months, during which the exchange accommodated their questions and answered their queries. He further noted that the reporters did not include anything from the conversations he had with them for months and picked remarks that were completely out of context.
WSJ Omitted Information and Misrepresented the Story, Claims VoorheesVoorhees goes on to state facts that were omitted by the WSJ reporters from their story. He said that the $9-million money laundering case, even if it were true, is only 0.15 percent of the exchange’s trade volume during the time period that WSJ describes. The exchange, Voorhees said, has a good record of complying with law enforcement requests. It has participated in 30 investigations in 13 countries till date. Moreover, the exchange also blocks criminals and thieves on a daily basis through its robust self-policing group.
The exchange also blocks countries on sanctions lists and has an internal anti-money laundering program that uses “blockchain forensics” to block suspicious addresses once identified. He also blamed WSJ reporters for withholding information about suspicious accounts for months only to build their story instead of communicating with ShapeShift. He added:
“It is likely victims of these thefts lost their chance to recoup some of the funds due to this opportunism.”
He reiterated ShapeShift’s commitment to protecting users and their privacy, claiming that all transactions on the platform are traceable and available publicly. WSJ reporters, he claimed, did not have sufficient understanding of the quickly evolving blockchain and cryptocurrency sector.
Shapeshift CEO Schools the Wall Street Journal on Misleading Story was originally found on [blokt] - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.
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