Antonopoulos Warns of Fraudulent Projects In The Blockchain Space

In a talk given at the Africa Blockchain Conference on March 2 called “Blockchain vs. Bullshit: Thoughts on the Future of Money,” Andreas Antonopoulos provided clarity in regards to new “blockchain” projects that are emerging in the space that might be fraudulent. The purpose of his talk was to give insight on what constitutes the real deal and also clarify the motives of the fraudsters.

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He said, “How can you tell…blockchain or bullshit? They both start with a ”B,” what’s the difference? If you can replace the word blockchain with database and the brochure reads the same, it is business as usual. It is not decentralized. It is not borderless, neutral, censorship-resistant, open. It reestablishes trust in intermediaries. It’s just a database, and that is not disruptive.”

Frauds Will Be Naked on the Beach

In his typical eloquent fashion, Antonopoulos said when the tide recedes, these charlatans and frauds will be left standing naked on the beach. They will have left their bathing suits at home, along with their integrity and dignity. They will be disrobed for all to witness. Of course, this is what happens when nonsense is gift-wrapped and pawned off as blockchain technology.

He clarified, ““There is a lot of bullshit being peddled to VC’s to investors, to initial coin offering buyers, to uneducated investors. There are a lot of Ponzi schemes, there are a lot of pyramid schemes, and a lot of empty promises. There is also a lot of business as usual disguised as innovation, disguised as disruptive technology.”

Antonopoulos said the bankers, central planners, and other parties will especially attempt to defraud people and claim their pseudo-innovations are amazing blockchain revelations.

In other words, these are the vultures who want people to trust them rather than trust the real decentralized, peer-2-peer trustless networks. In an impassioned and explosive statement, Antonopoulos decimated these hucksters:

“Trust us? These banks. Where were you in 2008. Where were you when Libor was fixed. Where were you when the gold markets were fixed? Where were you when front-running and high frequency trading was creating these monsters of crony capitalism? Trust us? Hell no. Removing the clearinghouse and replacing it with…what’s the word? It’s not consortium…CARTEL, that’s the word. With a cartel of the same market makers who have manipulated and compromised every market in history. And doing that in a way that closes it from transparency. That is not a recipe for efficiency, mutability, and transparency. That is not a blockchain. It is bullshit.

Lesson of the Day

What Antonopoulos said to beware of is people promising *currently* impossible things with Blockchain technology, such as massive retail sales, and other forms of fully functional markets or banks on the blockchain.

He did not specify any of the fraudsters or make any specifics claims about who may be a culprit. His point was not to level attacks against anyone specific. It was merely to testify that the forces of evil are everywhere, and they will do anything to thwart decentralization, financial independence, and ultimately, the blockchain.

Do you believe there a lot of fraudulent projects already in the blockchain space? Can you name them? Tell us in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Bitcoinx

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