“Ethereum Classic,” Another Bitcoin Scam

Ethereum Classic is, in my view, a total and absolute scam by any traditional financial definition of the word “scam.”

It doesn’t have the support of the Ethereum developers, nor of Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, making it vaporware and an altcoin created in protest of Ethereum’s hard fork decision.

Now is it valid to “protest” the Ethereum community’s hard fork in such a way? Even after a month of open, intensive, exhaustive community debate about whether or not to fork?

I’d argue that any protest where the aim is to increase exposure and buys of a protest altcoin that enriches the promoters is, inherently, very dubious.

But at a core level, it’s just completely absurd as I outline in today’s live crypto videocast below, which incidentally broke my personal record for most number of concurrent live viewers. I’m thirty; about time I start breaking some personal records, dammit.

Also, the fact that “Ethereum Classic” (in no way Ethereum, in no way Classic as Ethereum itself is not even a year old) is being tirelessly promoted by Bitcoin’s most vocal Ethereum detractors leads me to believe one thing:

Bitcoin is not doing well.

After its recent reward halving, miners get only 50% of what they were previously rewarded per block, yet the price per bitcoin has not skyrocketed in response – so now miners are subsidizing losses, in many cases. Those economics cannot last forever. As more miners drop off the network, network security decreases, making Bitcoin fundamentally less secure as a record of all prior transactions on the network.

Between Coinbase’s blowout acceptance of Ether earlier last week, and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam’s explanation of why Ethereum was added as a fledgling “first class citizen” to Coinbase’s platform, it all becomes clear.

The trolls and narrowminded Bitcoin bagholders pushing Ethereum “Classic” on an unsuspecting public are not the ultimate reason I’m selling off much of my Bitcoin tonight – that’s just another indication to me that Bitcoin is in a weak position.

Ultimately, however, my decision is grounded in economic self-interest. I see optimism and amazing ideas being built out in Ethereum, and I don’t see anything close to this level in Bitcoin at the moment.

Shortly after I file this story, I’ll be selling off 80% of my personal Bitcoin holdings; or more accurately, converting them into Ether, on Coinbase.

For record’s sake, I’m making this conversion while Bitcoin is approximately US $661.28 and Ether is US $12.75.