Bitcoin [BTC]: Bitrefill CCO lashes out at Coinbase; claims the exchange is polluting the coin

The Bitcoin [BTC] versus altcoins debate has held the collective cryptocurrency community’s interest for a long time.  A recent Twitter interaction involving John Carvalho added another episode and fault line to this ongoing debate.

John Carvalho, the CCO of Bitrefill and a massive Bitcoin [BTC] proponent, carried on his tirade against the American cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, after he accused the exchange of “polluting Bitcoin.”

In a series of tweets launched between February 22 and February 24, Carvalho, better known within the community as Bitcoin Error Log, did not hold his tongue back against Coinbase. The first in the series of Coinbase-bashing tweets was a proposal to the exchange, stating that if Coinbase began to batch BTC transactions correctly and supported the Lightning Network [LN], Carvalho would give up his desire for smaller blocks.

Previously, Bitcoin Error Log had agreed with a BTC developer Luke Dashjr to cut the BTC block size cap to 300KB. Carvalho added that he would be running the “soft fork” for the same, a move that was called, “contentious” by Cobra, the co-owner of Bitcoin.org, who was one of the many who attacked Carvalho for this proposition.

Following Coinbase’s recent announcement that Bitcoin can be converted to Ethereum [ETH], Ethereum Classic [ETC], Litecoin [LTC], 0x [ZRX], or Bitcoin Cash [BCH], Carvalho implied that those who align with Bitcoin should sever ties with the other virtual currencies too. He replied to the Coinbase tweet stating,

“If you love Bitcoin, you don’t use Coinbase.”

Later, Carvalho retweeted a thread from Block Digest’s Janine. In the tweets, Janine documented a series of misgivings against Coinbase. She highlighted the fact that Kathryn Haun, a new member on the exchange’s Board of Directors, was one of the federal prosecutors in the Silk Road case.

Janine also stated that Haun wanted the blockchain to be so open that it could float birth-certificates on it, providing an article attesting her opinion. She even accused Coinbase of surveillance in a reply to the exchange’s acquisition of Chain Analysis start-up Neutrino, whose CEO Giancarlo Russo was the ex-COO of Hacking Team. Her tweet stated,

“If you use Coinbase, now you are not only paying for your own surveillance but the salary of a person who contributed to the murder of journalists, targeting of minority populations, and spouse-ware around the world.”

Furthermore, Carvalho asked users to screenshot his proposition and send the same to the CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong so that he could “help Bitcoin and improve his brand.”

Carvalho followed up his proposition stating,

“If @coinbase adds proper batching of #Bitcoin transactions and commits to supporting #LightningNetwork, I’ll give up my crusade for smaller blocks. Please make sure @brian_armstrong gets this message, he has me blocked. They are polluting Bitcoin. #f*ckcoinbase #clownbase”

In yet another recent tweet, Carvalho compared Coinbase’s improper batching of BTC transactions to, “killing babies by inflating the blockchain,” and asked users to tag Balaji S. Srinivasan, the CTO at Coinbase in the tweet, to further seek answers to his concerns.

Twitter users were in the cross-hairs regarding this proposition, with some saying that the battle is already lost. Omar Shibli stated,

“Too short, too late, this is bitcoin, the graveyard is huge.”

[email protected] made a bold prediction,

“Better options are coming. I believe If companies aren’t batching and passing the savings onto customers by 2020 they won’t be around much longer, no matter how big they get. This should not only save on blockspace, but also increase usability on-chain as well.”

Some users pacified themselves into continuing to use Coinbase, with one user stating:

“As soon as @Gemini allows automatic recurring buys I’ll switch. Until then, Coinbase is the only legitimate option to quietly and passively accumulate.”