Kraken’s crackin’ up

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The Kraken cryptocurrency exchange is having a difficult time adjusting to the Bitcoin BCH hard fork. The exchange, which is backed by Bitcoin.com’s Roger Ver, called out BCHSV after the network upgrade, accusing it of not being a viable option, as it had no known replay protection and no support from major block explorers. Despite BCHSV apparently being a very bad idea and “an extremely high risk investment,” the exchange is moving forward with plans to support it.

Kraken’s own statement on BCHSV even says that “Some large holders have indicated they’d be dumping everything ASAP.” The exchange has repeatedly tried to push BCHSV under the bus for not being legitimate, which is surprising given that it admits, “Kraken has done only very minimal code review.”

Kevin Pham – crypto fan, Ethereum investor and outspoken voice of reason, decided to call out Kraken over its decision. When Kraken announced, “Kraken will credit client accounts with BSV and launch BSV trading at approximately 15:30 PST today, November 18th, 2018. The BSV order books will come online first, then accounts will be credited with BSV a short time later,” Pham wasted no time in reacting. He said on Twitter, “So you’re going to steal from BSV fork hodlers who are prudently waiting for the war to end before making an investment decision?”

Pham wasn’t done. He later targeted the exchange’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, directly, tweeting, “And Brian, Didn’t the ETC clusterfuck teach you to not listen to cult leaders and prematurely pick sides?

How are you still CEO?”

Kraken has already (erroneously) said that BCHSV is going to fail. If it believes that this could happen, it certainly doesn’t seem like a wise business decision to launch support of the cryptocurrency.

Pham, who is attributed with being a key figure in the ousting of Wells Fargo’s former CEO, John Stumpf, wasn’t done showing Kraken for what it truly is. He said in a recent Twitter post, “Coinbase has always been a political exchange. Sadly, Kraken now falls into that category now. Bullish on @binance, @Poloniex, @Gemini, @bitfinex? & @bitFlyer. Let me know of any other non-political exchanges that put user’s interests first.”

The California native knows his stuff and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. He is able to see through the fog and understand the bigger picture in a way that most people can’t. This is probably what led him to tweet yesterday, “ETH & ABC support cult leaders, short-sighted behavior (checkpoints/bailouts) & shitcoinery. BTC & SV support sound money & strict adherence to consensus rules. Bitcoin is ultimately an idea based in economic reality, not a ticker symbol. Not choosing a side is choosing a side.”