Update: Waltonchain addresses the controversy

(March 1st, 2018) Today, Waltonchain addressed the controversy surrounding the tweet, offering an apology and an explanation.

The team provided a video alongside its the explanation, which aimed to show that the Waltonchain team used a script to select winners at random, and happened to randomly select an employee. According to this explanation, the employee then proceeded to thank the Waltonchain team, but accidently logged into the official account instead of his own.

In the statement, Waltonchain promised to “deal with the matter in a serious and responsible way,” and stated that the team member’s winnings were void, adding that employees can no longer participate in their contests.

While the explanation pointed out that the team member won 2.14 WTC (currently valued at less than $60 CAD), it did not do much to explain the team member’s response to his considerably low winnings, or why he praised the platform in the third person.

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(February 28th, 2018) With a market cap currently exceeding $500 million CAD, it’s safe to say that Waltonchain is a significant player in the digital currency landscape. Today, however, Waltonchain finds itself the subject of widespread criticism from the community, as a deleted tweet seemed to announce that Waltonchain won its own competition.

Sent to over 45,000 followers, Waltonchain took to Twitter to announce the winners of a previous “#ValentinesDay” campaign, which promised WTC to lucky contestants.

@Waltonchain: “Thank you Walton team!”

The tweet has since been deleted from Waltonchain’s official Twitter account, but many were quick to screenshot the unusual post.

In an attempt to interpret the tweet, a sizeable portion of the digital currency community theorize that Waltonchain posted their praise from the wrong account in an attempt to congratulate themselves. Further, many have gone as far as to call the contest “rigged,” with some questioning the team’s integrity altogether.

WaltonChain ran a contest, and accidentally tweeted out on their own account on accepting the prize. Wrong on so many levels.#bitcoin #crypto #ethereum $eth $btc https://t.co/t0Cp3Gxnou — Justin Wu – BTC Miami (@hackapreneur) February 28, 2018

Users across both Twitter and Reddit are currently trying to comprehend Waltonchain’s actions. It would appear that the market is not far behind. While digital currencies are known for being speculative, Waltonchain’s value experienced an unusually noticeable dip since the tweet.

While it’s not certain the Twitter mishap caused the price dip, it seems likely given the timing of both events.

Drama as the community awaits a reasonable explanation

As of 7PM (EST), the company’s official twitter account is yet to provide a follow-up to the now deleted Tweet, or offer an explanation of any kind.

In an attempt to offer an explanation, the team posted a video. The @WaltonTraveler account suggested the team used a script to select winners at random. Unfortunately, they said, the script selected an employee. According to this explanation, the employee proceeded to thank the Waltonchain team. However, he accidentally logged into the official account instead of his own.

However, this video has done little to ease tension. Many point out that without supplying the source code, the video could be faked. Additionally, many question why the company allowed an employee to enter the competition in the first place.

Overall, the community feel that they are owed an official explanation. Then they will determine whether or not the apparent mistake from the Waltonchain team is indicative of something nefarious.

Image credit: Waltonchain logo

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