There are certain misconceptions making the rounds following my recent decision to distance myself from the toxic soup that is social media. The fact that this decision was announced following Craig Wright’s recent court loss in the civil suit brought against him by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) has led some to conclude that I’m throwing in the towel on all things BSV.
Let me state honestly, unambiguously and for the record, nothing could be further from the truth. I remain as excited about the possibilities of Enterprise Blockchain technology as I was the first day its promise was described to me by Craig in 2015. The opinion of the court obviously has significant impact on Craig but it changes nothing whatsoever in terms of my commitment to BSV or how my venture capital arm Ayre Ventures chooses to invest.
This will likely annoy some people, but I personally believe the court case did not get to the core of the claim—the numerous eyewitnesses who know that Craig is Satoshi Nakamoto
but were trolled into not wanting to give evidence. My personal view was further shaped by Craig’s crystal clear understanding of how to build on his original white paper and take it to the next stage.
All that said, at the end of the day, the U.K. court verdict on Craig’s identity was not mine to render. Regardless of whether I agree with the outcome, I must respect the outcome. Faced with the choice of living in a society with respect for the law and living in an anarchic free-for-all, I choose the law every time. Every sensible investor would.
BSV wasn’t on trial in London but that hasn’t stopped BSV’s antagonists from trying to conflate Craig’s setback as having done irreparable damage to BSV. I find that to be a serious serving of ‘hopium’ (as the kids say). The other networks can’t compete with BSV’s transaction processing and data handling abilities, so they’re hoping ‘guilt by association’ with Craig will do the trick.
This ignores the fact that the BSV Blockchain Platform and its non-profit Swiss-based governance association have always been independent of Craig. BSV is a phenomenon, bigger than any individual—Craig, myself or anyone else. It has a locked protocol to make sure this is always the case.
In the beginning, there was an idea
I’ve been an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist for decades now, involved in everything from gaming to resort development to coffee distribution. I’ve had some fantastic successes and some complete wastes of time and money. The successes were largely due to the usual combination of factors: hard work, timing and a little luck.
But the single biggest factor in my successes was the strength of the idea. Without a great idea, you’ve got nothing. You can spend all your money and work until you drop, but it won’t matter. So when you identify one of these game-changing ideas, you grab that ball and you run with it. Because if you don’t, someone else will.
I was a very early adopter of Bitcoin but it wasn’t until Craig alerted me to the technology’s full capabilities that I got involved in a VC capacity. It was from these discussions that I came to understand the unique role that Bitcoin—in the original, unadulterated form that is BSV—would play in the blockchain sector, which was really coming into mainstream awareness at the time.
The BSV Blockchain remains the only network that resembles the Bitcoin described in the original white paper. All other versions have long since deviated from that original path to serve the interests of a handful of developers rather than the masses who were supposed to reap the benefits of this amazing technology.
BSV is the only network that sought to utilize all that this technology has to offer. BSV made a mission of restoring the op-codes that were stripped from the original Bitcoin protocol by the BTC Core developers. BSV never focused on token value, instead aiming its message at enterprises and governments with big data needs.
Big data was BSV’s big idea. It’s a damn good idea. It’s also an idea that no other network is chasing, primarily because their technology can’t even promise what BSV can already deliver.
BSV is already capable of processing transactions at a level that other blockchains can’t hope to match, and that’s before the full implementation of the new Teranode scaling solution, which will leave the likes of Visa and Mastercard in the dust. This is the ONLY technology in the world that makes AI, Web3 and the Internet of Things all one thing.
In the end, the question of whether Craig is Satoshi is irrelevant, at least in terms of what it means for BSV. It was irrelevant when I first made the decision to invest in BSV and it remains irrelevant going forward. BSV, in the form of the original, multi-faceted Bitcoin, was simply the best idea I’d heard in a very long time.
Teranode-enabled BSV is best of breed technology. Ayre Ventures will continue to invest in applications that build the best technology in their field. And none of that is dependent on the presence, input or reputation of any one individual.
Unsocial media
Getting back to my social media holiday, the decision to hand control of my X/Twitter account to a dedicated team was something I’ve been mulling for over a year, long before Craig’s court dates were set. For years, I’ve used my online presence to fly the BSV flag, trumpeting its successes and highlighting new developments.
But I’ve also spent an inordinate amount of time dealing with BSV-bashing trolls, usually the 12-follower kind. I know I shouldn’t bother—I grew up on a pig farm in northern Saskatchewan and understand all too well the adage that you should never wrestle with pigs because “you both get dirty but only the pig likes it.”
My feeling at the time was that someone has to push back against misinformation, particularly the pointlessly malicious kind. Besides, I cut my teeth in the online gambling forums of the late-1990s—which operated on a level of nastiness that makes ‘Crypto Twitter’ look like a garden party—and I guess old habits die hard.
But I’ve come to the conclusion that the hour-plus I spent every day tweeting could be put to far better use. There are my business concerns, obviously, including many irons in the BSV fire. But on a personal level, I want to travel, be present and fully appreciate the experience.
I’ll still keep a keen eye out for ways our blockchain can make a real difference, which will be far easier if I’m not constantly being distracted by paid trolls trying to hit their BSV-trash talk daily targets of messages, likes and shares.
In my heart, I still believe Craig is Satoshi. Whether or not he’ll ever be able to prove that to the world’s satisfaction is anyone’s guess. I believe history will eventually get it ‘Wright.’ But BSV remains unaffected, undaunted and still the best idea out there. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that history?
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