‘Insider Trading Is a Non-Crime’: Roger Ver Bites Back as GDAX Re-Opens Bitcoin Cash Trading
Outspoken bitcoin cash proponent Roger Ver downplayed accusations that Coinbase employees had engaged in insider trading prior to the public revelation that the company was adding full support for bitcoin cash.
‘Insider Trading Is a Non-Crime’: Roger Ver
Speaking with CNBC on Wednesday, the early cryptocurrency investor and entrepreneur — once known as “Bitcoin Jesus” — said that the answer to the allegations of insider trading is not asking the government to further regulate cryptocurrency exchanges.
“I think insider trading is a non-crime,” Ver said during the interview. “Let’s say a bunch of people had traded in advance, then the price wouldn’t have been so volatile, and the price would already much more closely reflect the price after the news became public.”
As CCN.com reported, the bitcoin cash price rose considerably in advance of the announcement, leading many people to question whether Coinbase employees had, in violation of company policies, traded bitcoin cash before the news was public knowledge. There are also rumors — thus far unconfirmed by CCN.com — that the information had been leaked to at least one cryptocurrency trading group.
Once Coinbase did open bitcoin cash markets, the coin’s price was incredibly volatile, spiking to $9,500 and leading the company to suspend trading just minutes later. The exchange did not re-open the markets until Wednesday.
Coinbase said that it is investigating the allegations of insider trading and will terminate any employee who engaged in the practice, but the company nevertheless incurred significant criticism for the way it handled the rollout.
However, Ver said that the onus is on consumers to look out for themselves, rather relying on the government to protect them from external threats.
“At the end of the day, buyers need to beware of whatever service they’re using, whether it’s a Bitcoin exchange or a coffee shop…be careful, take a look at what you’re doing, and don’t depend on the government to keep you safe from everything out there in the world,” he said.
Bitcoin Core ‘One of the Worst Development Teams’ in Cryptocurrency
Unsurprisingly, Ver also took time in the interview to criticize the approach that Bitcoin developers have taken as they attempt to scale the network to accommodate larger numbers of users and transactions.
“That’s absolutely not true,” Ver protested when a host referred to Bitcoin Core developers as some of the best in the world. “They’ve turned [Bitcoin] into an incredibly congested network that’s been running at 100 percent capacity for months and provides a horrible user experience.
“So by those standards, I think they’re probably one of the worst development teams in the entire crypto coin ecosystem,” he concluded.
This, he concluded,
Write to Josiah Wilmoth at josiah.wilmoth(at)CCN.com.
