Craig Wright’s week at CC Forum, Angelina Lazar and Pumpkin Mania

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Craig Wright’s week at CC Forum, Angelina Lazar and Pumpkin mania

Editorial

Derek Tonin

Dr. Craig Wright attended the CC Forum on blockchain, AI and digital innovations between October 14 and 16, speaking on panels and dueling other panelists. It was a big event if you enjoy differing point of views debating the hot technological topics of our time, and one we’d like to take a look back on, with special attention to the viral moment of the week—Dr. Wright’s pumpkin farming.

Finding common ground with a crypto skeptic

The first item on the agenda to feature Dr. Wright, the inventor of Bitcoin, was the panel named “The Global Centralised Financial System: What are the flaws & challenges and what are the possible solutions?” This panel featured top speakers from every corner of the digital asset world. Dr. Craig Wright spoke for Bitcoin SV (BSV), Tone Vays argued exclusively for BTC, Bobby Lee and Brock Pierce were on the side of cryptocurrency in general, while Nouriel Roubini was the crypto skeptic.

Compared to other events on the agenda, this panel went fairly well. Wright and Vays clashed lightly on BTC’s development strategy and the real Bitcoin and Nouriel criticized shitcoins, finding a lot of common ground with Wright while irritating Lee.

YouTube video

Explaining nChain’s patent strategy

Wright’s next turn at the conference came during a fireside chat with CEO of the Frontier Network, Eric Van Der Kleij. The two covered a wide range of topics, but spending a lot of time discussing nChain’s strategy of patenting Dr. Wright’s Bitcoin innovations, regulation in the crypto industry, and the perception of Wright in the wider cryptocurrency world.

Particularly when Wright’s integrity came into question, the chat got slightly antagonistic. Van Der Kleij chose to end on a question of Dr. Wright’s farming habits; a topic that would come up in the next item on the conference agenda. Wright responded:

My tomatoes, they keep bursting and things like that, because I’m not there to do things. And the gardener sucks, because the last time, he actually mowed by pumpkins.

YouTube video

A duel on Bitcoin’s value

As that event ended, Van Der Kleij immediately invited Mike Beaver on stage for a duel with Dr. Craig Wright on “Bitcoin does not have any real value, or does it?” The two immediately proved to have problems seeing eye to eye, not finding common ground on the definition of what real value is, what the real Bitcoin is, and how much nChain’s patents will protect BSV from future threats. Wright bristled at that notion, saying:

I don’t care. That simple. I’ve got a great company, with a great team, we’re expanding, we’re setting up new offices. Investment wise, I don’t need to do anything. People throw money at us if we want it. We’re not actually taking any and they keep offering it. People want us to do an IPO at nChain. Why? Because we have fucking patents.

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The debate totally unraveled when the audience was invited to question the duelists, as Angelina Lazar lost her composure after Wright suggested BTC would be doomed to fail.

Who is Angelina Lazar?

Most coverage of Angelina Lazar you can find online refers to a past of running a Ponzi scheme through the Charismatic Exchange company between 2005 and 2007, which took minimum deposits of $20,000 and promised 20% returns. She pleaded guilty to running a fraudulent investment scheme and was deported to her home country of Canada for her trouble.

More recently, she was a promoter of OneCoin for a period of time, calling it “the single most lucrative business and investment opportunity of a lifetime and in all history.” At some point, that opinion changed and she turned against the outfit, accusing them of being a scam and attempting to have her arrested for speaking out.

She now appears to be firmly in the camp of BTC, writing on Twitter “PEOPLE OF THE WORLD: BITCOIN TO THE END OF TIME! They’re tryin’ to CRASH & REPLACE IT with THEIR ONE WORLD CURRENCY! ARE SO THREATNED [sic] BY BTC!”

Since gaining viral fame, she hasn’t been shy to spar with BSV supporters, often going into capslock rants about rabbit-hole conspiracy theories, “ROGUE FBI agents,” and pointing out Satan’s work where she sees it.

This appears to be just a passing moment for her though, as once she’s free of the deep state and globalist conspiracy’s clutches, she plans to continue her crusade against OneCoin.

Pumpkin Mania

As fascinating as Angelina Lazar is, her lasting legacy from the CC Forum will likely be for inspiring the current pumpkin fascination in the BSV community.

Her message to Dr. Wright to go back to his pumpkins has been fully embraced by everyone in the BSV industry, with everyone giving their best effort to get in on the fun.

Some prefer to go right at the woman who inspired the moment:

https://twitter.com/sleepless117/status/1184589513038974986

Others have tried their hand at photoshopping:

It wouldn’t be a viral moment without a great gif:

And demonstrating he’s not above having some fun with the moment, Dr. Wright has joined in too.

If you want to see some of the best memes of the moment, check out Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen’s Twitter thread on the topic. If you want to relive Dr. Craig Wright’s week at the CC Forum, check out our YouTube playlist.

New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.