No, not that house of mouse. Chuck E. Cheese has riled up Bitcoin fans after calling the world’s foremost cryptocurrency “fake currency” on Twitter.

Bitcoin has suffered the slings and arrows of detractors since it was first created. The very notion of a decentralized virtual currency that is not backed by a national government or central bank is something that many in the business and financial world had trouble getting their heads around. Today, more and more entities in the financial sphere are taking blockchain and cryptocurrency seriously, but then there’s always someone willing to throw shade at BTC. This time it’s a big rat.

Pizza Rat Not Nibbling on Bitcoin

The rat in question is Chuck E. Cheese, the famous pizza and arcade chain with the rodent mascot that several generations of children have celebrated birthdays at. The whole kerfuffle began when Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt, a website that curates new products for consumers, tweeted, “Chuck E Cheese tokens are cool and all but I’d rather earn Bitcoin.”

The tweet by Hoover also linked to a gaming platform that allows players to earn BTC by playing games. However, it appears that the kid-friendly pizza chain was not amused by Hoover’s observation.

To each his own fake currency… — Chuck E. Cheese (@ChuckECheese) July 2, 2019

The pizza rat clapped back with a tweet of its own that threw some shade at Bitcoin by saying, “To each his own fake currency…”

Needless to say, quite a few cryptocurrency enthusiasts were not happy with Chuck E. Cheese denigrating Bitcoin. Some said they would no longer patronize the restaurant, and one person wrote that the so-called “fake currency is worth $10,000, Mr. Cheese.” My favorite response is that one that read, “Chuck E. Cheese closes at 9pm. Bitcoin never closes.”

However, a number of people rushed to the defense of Chuck E. Cheese. My favorite pro-pizza joint response is one that reads, “At least the value of Chuck E. Cheese tokens is stable.”

An Amusing Diversion

While amusing to watch both sides throw insults and memes at each other, the reality is that a pizza/arcade franchise throwing shade at Bitcoin amounts to a hill of beans. The opinions of the person controlling Chuck E. Cheese’s Twitter account has no real impact on the value of BTC.

The restaurant chain was bought back in 2014 for about $950 million by Apollo Global Management. There are currently 600 restaurants spread across 15 countries, with the bulk of them located in the United States. The company plans on launching an IPO in the near future.

As for Bitcoin, it is currently trading at $11,659. The cryptocurrency had been threatening $14,000 towards the end of June, but the price dropped about $3,000 overnight on June 27th and dipped as low as just under $10,000 before bouncing back to its current price.

Images courtesy of Flickr/@Mike Mozart, Pixabay, and Twitter/@ChuckECheese.