This is an opinion editorial by Robert Hall, a Bitcoin pleb.
Is it OK for Dox scammers?
This question became relevant after the spectacular collapse of Terra/LUNA, Three Arrows Capital and Celsius. On a fundamental level, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to dox these people into the broader “crypto” industry because they’re scamming middle-income people out of their hard-earned money.
It doesn’t matter that the industry is new and lacks significant regulation in the space. Fraud is fraud regardless of industry. Bad actors in the fiat world get the book thrown at them; the same standard should also apply to bad cryptocurrency actors.
Fraudsters in the broader cryptocurrency industry are making Bitcoiners look bad. The average retail consumer does not know the difference between bitcoin, ether, dogecoin or the thousands of other shitcoins.
The only thing people curious about Bitcoin will hear in the media is that these neighboring Bitcoin companies bet their customers’ money on high-risk tokens and hid what they were doing from the general public. They will take this information and be deactivated for bitcoin even if it has nothing to do with it. It’s not fair, but that’s how people are going to react.
If we want Bitcoin to succeed, it is imperative to dox the crooks in order to preserve the mission at hand, which is the global adoption of bitcoin as a global reserve currency.
Self-monitoring should be encouraged as it reinforces good behaviors and chases away bad ones. If scammers know they can’t make a quick buck and get away unscathed, they’re less likely to enter space in the first place. Self-policing also takes the heavy hand of government away from an industry still in its infancy. Government regulations kill innovations before they take off. It’s the last thing we need right now.
Like it or not, every Bitcoiner is a soldier in this culture war. On one side you have fiat values of lies, deceit, greed and desperation. On the other side, Bitcoiners represent truth, honesty, hope, and love. These are the values we want to defend and present to the world as an alternative to the dystopian hell caused by fiduciary values.
If we let fiat values into what Bitcoin represents, what is the point of this whole experiment in creating a new monetary system? We might as well give up now. Never before had the plebs had the opportunity to establish the rules of the financial game.
We shouldn’t lose the chance we have to change the world for the better.
Bitcoiners were right all along
I think a round of applause should be given to the Bitcoin Maximalists who warned people about Celsius and Terra’s troubles before the house of cards came crashing down. I’ve seen countless tweets in my feed of people thanking Bitcoiners for telling them to withdraw their bitcoin. They saved countless people from getting shot. It was an act of love and kindness.
Bitcoiners didn’t have to. They could have sat and said nothing.
Bitcoiners did it out of a sense of duty and honor. It’s like seeing someone drown in a swimming pool: a reasonable person doesn’t sit around and let the person drown, they act to help the person in need.
Bitcoiners knew these companies were in trouble and sprang into action to save as many people as possible. Where were the altcoiners during this debacle? Did they speak?
There is no other community like the Bitcoin community. They are some of the smartest and most thoughtful people you can engage with on the internet or in real life.
Proudly wear the Bitcoin Maximalist label. We are the tip of the spear of this revolution.
This is a guest post by Robert Hall. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.