bitcoin_twitter

The @Bitcoin Twitter Account Is at the Heart of Bitcoin's Big Schism

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash’s most fervent supporters are at it again and Twitter has become a bitter battlefield.

The latest victim? The @Bitcoin Twitter account was suspended.

@Bitcoin carries the name of the largest cryptocurrency but, just like Bitcoin.com, frequently issued statements supporting Bitcoin Cash, which split from Bitcoin last year over a disagreement on how the technology should scale. These posts don’t sit well with supporters of the original Bitcoin blockchain, including a group of developers called Bitcoin Core.

The fight between the two groups prompted prominent blockchain developer Jeff Garzik and others, to attribute the suspension to the endless complaints about @Bitcoin that Twitter was likely getting from Bitcoin Core supporters. Twitter didn’t state reasons for the suspension.

Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin evangelist whose work earned him the nick-name of Bitcoin Jesus, has now become a vocal supporter of Bitcoin Cash. Ver, who owns the Bitcoin.com website, tweeted:

The latest skirmish in the war which started with the so-called Bitcoin Cash fork in August, highlights the downside of decentralized organizations and technologies. The lack of a management team means contributors globally can work on improving the technology, which will be implemented only if a majority agrees, but it’s also cause for disagreements and splits.

“The cryptocurrency development is open source, which means disagreements get aired publicly with the additional angle of the forking of a blockchain, where you have to take the entire network with you, and that creates much more tension," said Neeraj Agrawal, a spokesman at blockchain research advocacy Coin Center. “I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.”

Litecoin creator Charlie Lee, a well-known Bitcoin Core supporter, was likely one of the first to alert to the suspension with this tweet on Sunday:

The account now seems to be under new control. The bio now reads "My name is Andrei from Moscow Russia." The private account, which means Tweets aren’t visible to those @Bitcoin doesn’t give permission to follow, has less than 2,000 followers and a background picture that reads "I love you."

— With assistance by Luke Kawa, and Andrew Dunn

20 top bitcoin twitterers

As interest in bitcoin grows, so too does the number of Twitter accounts related to the digital currency. Among the members of Twitter's burgeoning bitcoin community are entrepreneurs, computer engineers, writers, merchants and more.

Some of the most active bitcoin-related Twitter accounts include:

@BitcoinByte is the Twitter account for Michael Parsons, who runs the blog Bitcoin Bytes and describes himself as a "bitcoin advisor, shaper, educators and presenter". A banking industry veteran, Parson has more than 10,000 tweets and 3,000-plus followers.

@BitcoinEconomy posts stats on the bitcoin economy from BitcoinWatch.com. It has around 4,200 followers.

@BitcoinMagazine This is the official account for Bitcoin Magazine, "the world's first magazine dedicated to the cryptocurrency." The account has close to 3,200 followers.

@BitcoinMoney is the account for the site of the same name. It's devoted to tweets about "bitcoin digital currency – decentralized and open source. Exchanged person-to-person over the internet." The account has over 4,100 followers.

@BitcoinNews is the account for the site of the same name, which offers coverage on what's happening with bitcoin. The account has over 4,180 followers

@BitcoinOz is the account for the Australian website Bitcoin Oz, which covers bitcoin and cryptocurrencies and also provides public relations for bitcoin businesses. The Twitter account has over 15,300 followers and has posted over 17,200 tweets.

@Bitrific tweets about bitcoin insights and ideas. With more than 1,000 followers, this account covers discussions about general economics, YouTube videos, hacker news and updates from the Mt. Gox exchange.

@Blockchain is the account for Blockchain.info, which provides a bitcoin block explorer, online wallet service and currency statistics. The Twitter account has over 2,700 followers.

@BTCNews247 is the handle for Bitcoin News, which reports on news related to the digital currency. It has over 1,000 followers and over 11,400 tweets.

@Btcprice tweets real-time bitcoin price updates from the Mt. Gox exchange every 15 minutes. A complement to @Bitrific, it currently has 172 followers.

@CharlieShrem is the handle for the CEO of Bitinstant, a payment processor for bitcoin exchanges and merchants. A self-identified "bitcoin evangelist," Shrem is also co-chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation. In addition, he's one of the owners of EVR, a bar in Manhattan that accepts bitcoins for payment. Shrem has over 5,800 followers on Twitter.

@dgcmagazine is the Twitter account for DGC, which covers digital currencies, precious metals, online payments and all alternatives to fiat money. Run by Julia Dixon, DGC features both a blog and a wiki. Dixon's Twitter account has more than 6,000 followers.

@ErikVoorhees is the handle for writer, entrepreneur and armchair economist Erik Voorhees, who is the CEO of Coinapult, a business that enables bitcoin users to send the currency to any cell phone number in the US or Canada, or to any email address. Voorhees also owns the site OnLifeandLiberty.com, where he notes that bitcoin has become his hobby, his activism and his career. The digital currency, he believes, is "the greatest tool for global liberty since the internet itself." Members of the Bitcoin Forum community forum can find Voorhees under the screen name evoorhees. His Twitter account has over 1,600 followers.

@gavinandresen is the handle for Gavin Andresen, lead developer for bitcoin and chief scientist of the Bitcoin Foundation. He blogs at gavinthink.blogspot.com, and has more than 3,300 followers on Twitter.

@jonmatonis is the Twitter account for Jon Matonis, an e-money researcher and author of "The Monetary Future" at Forbes. He's also a board advisor to startups in bitcoin, gaming, mobile & prepaid. His account has over 6,400 followers and more than 14,500 tweets.

@MtGox is where you can find Tweets from the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange in Tokyo. The world's largest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox has some 8,800 followers on its Twitter account.

@rogerkver is the handle used by Roger Ver, CEO of Memorydealers.com (an online store for transceivers, memory and cables) and an angel investor in several bitcoin startups. He describes himself as a "Silicon Valley computer lover" who's "very interested in Voluntaryism." Ver's Twitter account has 1,370 followers.

@torproject is the Twitter account for – of course – the Tor Project. Tor is anonymizing software that lets people access the deep web without revealing their identities. Tor has close to 38,500 followers on Twitter.

@TylerWinklevoss is the Twitter account for one-half of the Winklevoss twins (made famous – or infamous – by their lawsuit (eventually settled) against Mark Zuckerberg over the Facebook concept). Tyler Winklevoss currently describes himself as "an angel accelerator and bitcoiner." He has over 8,900 followers.

@winklevoss is where you'll find tweets from Tyler's twin, Cameron Winklevoss. A self-described "Olympian, entrepreneur (and) investor," Cameron shares his brother's devotion to bitcoin. (The two together reportedly own around 1 percent of all bitcoins currently in circulation.) Cameron Winklevoss has more than 8,850 followers.

Finally, a bonus Twitter account to follow -- while not specifically bitcoin-related -- is @Ripple. This is where you can follow tweets from OpenCoin's ripple open, internet-based payment network. Ripple allows people to send money in any form they wish (including bitcoins) to any location without incurring charges for foreign currency or foreign transactions. Over 660 people now follow ripple on Twitter.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

US Search Mobile Web

Welcome to the Yahoo Search forum! We’d love to hear your ideas on how to improve Yahoo Search.

The Yahoo product feedback forum now requires a valid Yahoo ID and password to participate.

You are now required to sign-in using your Yahoo email account in order to provide us with feedback and to submit votes and comments to existing ideas. If you do not have a Yahoo ID or the password to your Yahoo ID, please sign-up for a new account.

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Improve your services

Your search engine does not find any satisfactory results for searches. It is too weak. Also, the server of bing is often off

I created a yahoo/email account long ago but I lost access to it; can y'all delete all my yahoo/yahoo account except for my newest YaAccount

I want all my lost access yahoo account 'delete'; Requesting supporter for these old account deletion; 'except' my Newest yahoo account this Account don't delete! Because I don't want it interfering my online 'gamble' /games/business/data/ Activity , because the computer/security program might 'scure' my Information and detect theres other account; then secure online activities/ business securing from my suspicion because of my other account existing will make the security program be 'Suspicious' until I'm 'secure'; and if I'm gambling online 'Depositing' then I need those account 'delete' because the insecurity 'Suspicioun' will program the casino game 'Programs' securities' to be 'secure' then it'll be 'unfair' gaming and I'll lose because of the insecurity can be a 'Excuse'. Hope y'all understand my explanation!

I want all my lost access yahoo account 'delete'; Requesting supporter for these old account deletion; 'except' my Newest yahoo account this Account don't delete! Because I don't want it interfering my online 'gamble' /games/business/data/ Activity , because the computer/security program might 'scure' my Information and detect theres other account; then secure online activities/ business securing from my suspicion because of my other account existing will make the security program be 'Suspicious' until I'm 'secure'; and if I'm gambling online 'Depositing' then I need those account 'delete' because the insecurity 'Suspicioun' will program the casino game 'Programs' securities' to be… more

chithidio@Yahoo.com

i dont know what happened but i can not search anything.

Golf handicap tracker, why can't I get to it?

Why do I get redirected on pc and mobile device?

Rahyaftco@yahoo.com

RYAN RAHSAD BELL literally means

Question on a link

In the search for Anaïs Nin, one of the first few links shows a picture of a man. Why? Since Nin is a woman, I can’t figure out why. Can you show some reason for this? Who is he? If you click on the picture a group of pictures of Nin and no mention of that man. Is it an error?

Repair the Yahoo Search App.

Yahoo Search App from the Google Play Store on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone stopped working on May 18, 2018.

I went to the Yahoo Troubleshooting page but the article that said to do a certain 8 steps to fix the problem with Yahoo Services not working and how to fix the problem. Of course they didn't work.

I contacted Samsung thru their Samsung Tutor app on my phone. I gave their Technican access to my phone to see if there was a problem with my phone that stopped the Yahoo Search App from working. He went to Yahoo and I signed in so he could try to fix the Yahoo Search App not working. He also used another phone, installed the app from the Google Play Store to see if the app would do any kind of search thru the app. The Yahoo Search App just wasn't working.

I also had At&t try to help me because I have UVERSE for my internet service. My internet was working perfectly. Their Technical Support team member checked the Yahoo Search App and it wouldn't work for him either.

We can go to www.yahoo.com and search for any topic or website. It's just the Yahoo Search App that won't allow anyone to do web searches at all.

I let Google know that the Yahoo Search App installed from their Google Play Store had completely stopped working on May 18, 2018.

I told them that Yahoo has made sure that their Yahoo members can't contact them about anything.

I noticed that right after I accepted the agreement that said Oath had joined with Verizon I started having the problem with the Yahoo Search App.
No matter what I search for or website thru the Yahoo Search App it says the following after I searched for
www.att.com.

WEBPAGE NOT AVAILABLE
This webpage at gttp://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geJGq8BbkrgALEMMITE5jylu=X3oDMTEzcTjdWsyBGNvbG8DYmyxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDTkFQUEMwxzEEc2VjA3NylRo=10/Ru=https%3a%2f%2fwww.att.att.com%2f/Rk=2/Es=plkGNRAB61_XKqFjTEN7J8cXA-
could not be loaded because:
net::ERR_CLEARTEXT_NOT_PERMITTED

I tried to search for things like www.homedepot.com. The same thing happened. It would say WEBPAGE NOT AVAILABLE. The only thing that changed were all the upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
Then it would again say
could not be loaded because:
net::ERR_CLEARTEXT_NOT_PERMITTED

This is the same thing that happened when Samsung and At&t tried to do any kind of searches thru the Yahoo Search App.

Yahoo needs to fix the problem with their app.

Yahoo Search App from the Google Play Store on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone stopped working on May 18, 2018.

I went to the Yahoo Troubleshooting page but the article that said to do a certain 8 steps to fix the problem with Yahoo Services not working and how to fix the problem. Of course they didn't work.

I contacted Samsung thru their Samsung Tutor app on my phone. I gave their Technican access to my phone to see if there was a problem with my phone that stopped the Yahoo Search App from working. He went to Yahoo and… more

Real time prices
"vires in numeris."

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Misleading Twitter Account @Bitcoin Banned (Again)

Once again, the misleading Twitter account @Bitcoin has been banned from the social media platform.

Bye-Bye @Bitcoin

The intentionally misleading Twitter account @Bitcoin has once again been penalized by the popular social media network — this time, in the form of a suspension.

Users on Twitter may report accounts for, among other things, tweeting spam and/or pretending to be someone else — both of which one may argue @Bitcoin is guilty of. Thus, one may presume these are the overarching reasons for the account’s ban.

— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) April 8, 2018

For those who are unaware, the @Bitcoin account actually has nothing to do with Bitcoin (BTC), the dominant cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Rather, the account commandeers Bitcoin’s recognizable brand while pumping out anti-BTC propaganda and shilling the most valuable cryptocurrency’s largely-unwanted step-brother, Bitcoin Cash (BCH). As noted by Badbitcoin.org:

The Bitcoin account on Twitter @Bitcoin has been hijacked or bought by those scoundrels promoting the Bcash (Bitcoin Cash) Scam. Mail Order Explosives, Bitcoin, Scams – They do the lot! 1/8/18.

@Bitcoin is notorious for pumping out Bitcoin Cash propaganda while failing to remain openly transparent about the fact that the account is actually run by alleged BCH shills.

In March, Bitcoinist reported on @Bitcoin’s propaganda-laced social media poll that blew up in the account’s face. Asked the intentionally-misleading account:

The Bitcoin Core (BTC) community relies on internet hate mobs, trolls, sockpuppets, censorship, DDoS attacks, vote manipulation, harassment and character assassinations.

The Bitcoin (BCH) community is welcoming, supportive, and appreciates freedom.

Which do you prefer?

— Bitcoin (@Bitcoin) March 8, 2018

Bitcoin (BTC) proved to be the overwhelming favorite, despite the BCH scammers’ best efforts to undermine the dominant cryptocurrency. At the time of that story’s publication, 74% of the total 17,437 votes preferred the real Bitcoin (BTC) to Bitcoin Cash (BCH) — not exactly the results @Bitcoin was going for.

Today’s suspension of @Bitcoin is not the first time the controversial account has received punishments from Twitter. The social media website previously restricted the account only days before the aforementioned poll.

Despite all the scammers and shadow banning, something positive happened on Twitter… Can you imagine paying a lot of money for a Twitter account to push your false narrative and that ends up like this: pic.twitter.com/0FWJg6d1d5

At press time, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is currently trading at $647.11, while continuing to lose ground when compared to Bitcoin (BTC).

Bitcoin Cash’s decrease in price is largely being driven by its lack of utility, with increased SegWit adoption and Lightning Network advancements rendering BCH increasingly unimportant.

What do you think about @Bitcoin being suspended on Twitter? Do you think the account violated the social media website’s rules? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Bitcoinist archives, Twitter/@SatoshiLite, Twitter/@WhalePanda, and Pixabay.

Twitter, Backed by Bitcoin Fan Jack Dorsey, to Bar Some Cryptocurrency Ads Starting Tuesday

Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey’s belief in Bitcoin doesn’t seem to extend to all crypto. At least for now.

Joining Google parent company Alphabet and Facebook, Twitter revealed Monday its plans to ban some cryptocurrency-related ads in a bid to decrease fraud and deception on the site. Namely, the social media company plans to prohibit initial coin offerings and token sales, and it plans to only show ads of exchanges or wallets provided by companies listed on major stock exchanges.

Curiously, that would bar firms such as the largest U.S.-based exchange Coinbase from advertising on the platform, while presumably still allowing Twitter’s sister company, Square, to advertise its young Bitcoin buying and selling function on its Cash app.

And that’s where the differences come in. Google made no such provision regarding exchanges or wallets by publicly traded companies in its version of the ban, saying it would bar ads of ICOs, trading advice, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency exchanges. Facebook also bans ads promoting cryptocurrency exchanges, a spokesperson told Fortune, making no distinction between those backed by private, or public firms.

There is a logic to focusing on exchanges from public firms. Companies on a major stock exchange are often subject to tougher transparency rules, giving more insight into the workings of a company they are putting their faith in.

The ban will roll out Tuesday, and become fully enforceable for all advertisers within a month.

“We are committed to ensuring the safety of the Twitter community. As such, we have added a new policy for Twitter Ads relating to cryptocurrency. Under this new policy, the advertisement of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and token sales will be prohibited globally,” a Twitter spokesperson said. “We will continue to iterate and improve upon this policy as the industry evolves.”

The change for Twitter, meanwhile, comes amid comments from Dorsey that the poster child of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, will be the world’s universal currency in 10 years or so.

Still, the self regulation for social media giants likely won’t stop there. Aside from ads, social media firms like Twitter will have the difficult task of addressing fake cryptocurrency news on their own platforms. And in a space as young as this, there is no shortage. Earlier this year, an account claiming to be Elon Musk, for instance, managed scamming users out of thousands of dollars worth of Ethereum. Last year, news that Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin had died led to a brief crash—only for investors to find that the news was false. In January, Litecoin founder Charlie Lee found the need to warn follows away from an an account pretending to be none other than Lee himself.

On the same day as Twitter’s new ban, the price of Bitcoin fell 6% to $7,950.

Bitcoin twitter

On Sunday, the @bitcoin Twitter account was suspended, only to be restarted by a random user, before it was handed back to the original owner with hundreds of thousands fewer followers. Now, bitcoin.com has concocted a theory involving CEO Jack Dorsey to explain why their account was suspended.

That's some bullshit if you ask me. I'd like to know why my account was given to someone else, and then when it's reinstated I'm missing 750,000 of my followers. Any word, @jack?

It Starts With A Feud Between Bitcoin Core And Bitcoin Cash

Before you put all your coins in one conspiracy theory's basket, you should know that @Bitcoin and Bitcoin.com are both actually controlled by supporters of Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash is the result of a fued in the Bitcoin community over the ability of the currency to scale. The Bitcoin Cash faction wants to increase transaction speed and scale Bitcoin through a different technological process than other members of the Bitcoin community, so in August, Bitcoin Cash forked from the original, which is now typically referred to as Bitcoin Core or just Bitcoin (click here for an 18-minute video explanation).

After the split, Bitcoin.com and @bitcoin began posting pro-Bitcoin Cash content. A good example was this recent poll, which made no mistake about which faction the account supported (Bitcoin Cash lost the poll, however):

The Bitcoin Core (BTC) community relies on internet hate mobs, trolls, sockpuppets, censorship, DDoS attacks, vote manipulation, harassment and character assassinations.

On Sunday, @Bitcoin Was Suspended, Then Taken Over, Then Reinstated

Early Sunday, Litecoin creator Charlie Lee posted a screenshot showing that the @bitcoin account was suspended.

— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) April 8, 2018

After the suspension, the account was seemingly taken over by a Turk lucky enough to snag the username:

This random that took over the @bitcoin account must think twitter is the coolest thing ever. He logs on and within an hour has 2500 followers, says hello and gets 1000 likes. pic.twitter.com/Zfjllxc1WU

— Ran NeuNer (@cryptomanran) April 8, 2018

On Monday, the account was reinstated to its original owner, who has remained anonymous. Twitter hasn't commented on why it suspended the account.

No One Really Knows Why The Account Was Suspended, But @Bitcoin Has A Theory

Jeff Garzik, a core developer of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, suggested that the suspension was a result Bitcoin Core devotees trolling Bitcoin-Cash-affiliated accounts:

Twitter is rewarding bad behavior. To review, #Core fans
- Reported @Bitcoin acct for abuse
- Reported my Reddit and GitHub accounts for abuse
- Drowned Bitpay and Xapo apps with one star reviews and votes
etc.
This is how they "debate" with those who disagree.

But @Bitcoin and Bitcoin.com owner Roger Ver are now theorizing that the incident is a form of censorship — an attempt by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to interfere in the Bitcoin Cash market:

In any case, I'd love to hear a public explanation from @twittersupport about why #bitcoin competitor #LightningNetwork investor @jack disabled this account, gave it to someone else, only to return it in the face of public backlash with 750,000 fewer followers. #censorship

Dorsey is a personal investor in Lightning Labs, a startup that aims to increase transaction speeds (the same goal as Bitcoin Cash) by placing another layer of transaction over the bitcoin network. If successful, the technology has the potential to return Bitcoin Cash users to Bitcoin Core.

Bitcoin Cash fans on Reddit have also expressed suspicion about the suspension. BeijingBitcoins wrote in r/btc: "Welcome to the new Silicon Valley. All these guys who thought they were being disruptive to the old ways of doing things have instead amplified the censorship, information control, and social manipulation to levels that would have Orwell turning in his grave."

In the same thread, a user writes: "Power corrupts. These tech firms. especially the social media ones have way too much power. It was inevitable."

Despite the account being restored, some users have suggested that the account suspension "phantom-unfollowed" people from the @bitcoin account. Subz10 wrote: "With 750k less followers. The damage is already done."

In late March, Twitter announced that it was banning cryptocurrency ads (along with Facebook and Google) to prevent large investor losses or fraud. Earlier, Twitter had said it would attempt to prevent crypto accounts from "engaging with others in a deceptive manner," but apparently went further following Facebook's and Google's decisions. Judging by the original statement, Twitter seemed to think there were crypto accounts acting badly.

Benjamin Goggin is the News Editor at Digg.

Bitcoin Twitter Account Reinstated; Owner Alleges Twitter CEO Misused Authority

After its suspension sparked debates on the freedom of speech, identity theft and whether Bitcoin Cash is the real Bitcoin, the @Bitcoin Twitter handle has been restored amid controversy and allegations surrounding abuse of power.

Earlier, when the account was suspended, it was believed to be because of complaints from Bitcoin supporters, unhappy with the account’s advocacy of Bitcoin Cash.

While some in the community, including Litecoin creator Charlie Lee and Bitcoin evangelist Andreas M. Antonopoulos supported the suspension, the controversial Bitcoin Jesus, Roger Ver, termed it an attack on freedom of speech.

So this is how free speech dies. with thunderous applause.@bitcoinhttps://t.co/TMZc0EWoIx

What followed, however, was unusual, as the @Bitcoin handle was not only suspended, but was also apparently put up for grabs, and exchanged hands, moving to someone from Turkey to someone in Russia, before it was returned to the original owner a couple of hours ago.

Now, back in control of the account, albeit having lost over 700,000 of the original followers, the owner has alleged that Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, suspended the @Bitcoin handle because of his investment in the Lightning Network which supports ‘Bitcoin Core’ (as Bitcoin Cash proponents like to call it).

This is a huge allegation, to say the least, and received mixed reactions from the community as expected. It is unlikely, however, that Twitter will respond to the allegations officially.

In any case, I'd love to hear a public explanation from @twittersupport about why #bitcoin competitor #LightningNetwork investor @jack disabled this account, gave it to someone else, only to return it in the face of public backlash with 750,000 fewer followers. #censorship

Twitter accounts can be suspended for various reasons, ranging from inappropriate content to impersonation and the buying and selling of Twitter handles. It is not clear why the @Bitcoin handle was suspended in the first place, but many suspect that the account was bought by Bitcoin Cash advocate Roger Ver, in order to push his agenda to pump the Bitcoin fork.

Roger Ver, however, has repeatedly denied these claims, and Tweeted about it earlier today as well, stating that the owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, is an active Bitcoin community member and a supporter of Bitcoin Cash.

I've never owned the @Bitcoin account. It is owned by someone involved in Bitcoin since 2009. He supports #BCH, is well known in the Bitcoin ecosystem, but doesn't want to deal with incessant trolling so he has chosen not to make his identity public.

At the time of writing, the @Bitcoin handle has begun recovering its followers, and it appears that the account is being restored by Twitter. We will update our readers as the story developers further.

Controversial Bitcoin Twitter Account Suspended After Users Reported It

Earlier today the controversial Bitcoin Twitter account (@Bitcoin) was suspended by the network, much to the joy of several community members, including Litecoin creator Charlie Lee.

Poking fun at the account’s suspension, Charlie Lee Tweeted:

— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) April 8, 2018

Comments under Charlie’s Tweet supported the move, mainly because the Twitter account was known to be pushing the Bitcoin Cash agenda and bringing down Bitcoin, or as Bitcoin Cash proponents like to call it “Bitcoin Core”.

“Amazing! So many people reported this account, twitter took time but finally they did what they should have done months ago!

@rogerkver should understand, they cant pump price hacking an account.”

According to BadBitcoin.org, a website dedicated to listing Bitcoin scams and fake/fraudulent websites:

“The Bitcoin account on twitter @Bitcoin has been hijacked or bought by those scoundrels promoting the Bcash (Bitcoin Cash) Scam. Mail Order Explosives, Bitcoin, Scams - They do the lot! 1/8/18”

Bitcoin Cash, which was created as a result of a fork last year, is advocated by Roger Ver, who was nicknamed Bitcoin Jesus for his initial support for Bitcoin adoption. However, since the creation of Bitcoin Cash, Roger has claimed that the original Bitcoin no longer satisfies the requirements of being called ‘Bitcoin’ and Bitcoin Cash is the ‘real Bitcoin’.

Roger found some support in his claims, notably from Calvin Ayre Media Group:

"The Calvin Ayre Media Group intends to work with Roger Ver and his Bitcoin.com group to educate the world on why the Bitcoin public blockchain (BCC) is the only one that can do it all," read an earlier statement.

According to Roger Ver, Bitcoin’s core developers have intentionally damaged Bitcoin, preventing it from scaling by increasing its block size and allowing for lower fees and faster transactions.

Bitcoin proponents however, disagree with Roger’s claims that Bitcoin Cash is the ‘real Bitcoin’, and point towards ongoing development and innovations which are improving network performance and lowering fees.

Regardless of the debate, many in the community believe Roger Ver uses his influence unfairly to increase Bitcoin Cash price for his own benefit, and the Twitter account now suspended was one of the ways for him to push the controversial fork as the real deal.

Twitter Says Bye-Bye to @Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s rogue Twitter account @Bitcoin has been once again banned, re-igniting the relentless BTC/BCH debate. As of Sunday, April the 8th, the infamously free-spirited Bitcoin handle @Bitcoin has been reprimanded by Twitter, the social media giant suspending its account indefinitely.

The account has long been renown for its pro-Bitcoin Cash stance, being blasted by Bitcoin advocates on numerous occasions for defaming its more popular predecessor.

A delighted Charlie Lee quickly trumpeted the news of the closure, along with some equally-enthused community members.

— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) April 8, 2018

Twitter accounts may be suspended for suspicions of impersonation, spamming, or abuse; @Bitcoin is arguably guilty of all but the latter. While Twitter did not specify the reason for the ban, it comes following a string of complaints from the platform’s users- invariably for its covertly pro-Bitcoin Cash agenda.

Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The fork occurred on August 1, 2017.

The suspension highlights the remarkably strained relationship between Bitcoin (BTC) and its errant lovechild, Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The two protocols have amassed cult-like followings, of which both appear to believe only one can survive in the race for scalability.

At the center of the controversy lies Roger Ver, a.k.a. ‘Bitcoin Jesus’, who’s pro-BCH stance is no secret in an increasingly divided competition. Once one of the most influential proponents of Bitcoin, Ver has steadily become a vocal critic of Bitcoin’s costly, slow transactions- instead of pointing to BCH as the superior cryptocurrency.

I’m sure that formula will continue to work for BCH into the future, and it will surpass BTC in usage, popularity, and market cap in the near future.- Roger Ver

Roger Ver, a.k.a. “Bitcoin Jesus” is now technically “Bitcoin Cash Jesus” and no longer owns the @bitcoin handle on Twitter.

Ver’s conspiratorial position is that the BTC core team have sabotaged the original blockchain by deliberately retarding the growth of block size- preventing the network from experiencing faster, more affordable transactions.

Naturally, Bitcoin advocates have met these mostly unsubstantiated claims with vitriol, accusing Ver of spreading anti-BTC propaganda for his financial gain; with the serial entrepreneur having a dubious relationship with both BTC and BCH.

Unsurprisingly, Ver quickly pitched in to lament the loss of the controversial account, heralding the loss of “free speech.”

So this is how free speech dies…with thunderous applause.@bitcoinhttps://t.co/TMZc0EWoIx

While Ver lamented the account’s closure, a bulk of community members met the news with joy, going as far to suggest Ver himself was behind the outlawed @Bitcoin account.

A Twitter poll quickly surfaced shortly after Twitter’s decree, a pointed show of support for Bitcoin; poll results numbers are affirming the public’s favor towards the original P2P cryptocurrency.

I just realized Roger won't block me now for asking a simple poll!

Which one do you like better?

In spite of all criticism, the integrity of the account has been supported by some. Pro-Bitcoin writer and developer David Shares stepped in to defend @Bitcoin, lashing out at both Twitter Support and “Core trolls” – ultimately backing the authenticity of the reprimanded account.

The @Bitcoin account has been suspended (again) by @TwitterSupport only because Core trolls constantly submit fake reports about it. @Jack why do you guys keep letting this happen? Instead of suspending all the fake scammer accounts you suspend the real ones. WTF. pic.twitter.com/Z6yWR0y81N

— David Shares (@DavidShares) April 8, 2018

Related Story: On the Verge of Controversy

Embroiled in controversy, the suspension highlights not only the growing BTC/BCH divide but crucially the question of ulterior motives.

Hidden agendas are becoming a common occurrence in the responsive world of cryptocurrency, where a single tweet can shift an asset’s price profoundly – whether it be Charlie Lee toying with Litecoin, or McAfee patently pushing Verge.

Whether @Bitcoin is, in fact, a subverted attempt to de-throne Bitcoin or merely misunderstood, perhaps it marks a desperate plea for transparency in an increasingly opaque industry.

Cover Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

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Jonnie Emsley

Jonnie Emsley is a freelance writer and blockchain enthusiast based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Discovering new corners of Southeast Asia and emerging cryptocurrencies give him a buzz like none other.

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A Bitcoin Twitter War Is Raging And No Account Is Safe

"Paging @Bitcoin. These tweets don't help anyone."

At first glance, the tweet, from investor and entrepreneur Nick Tomaino, might not be distinguishable in the all-out flame war that crypto Twitter – and all crypto social media – has become.

But while the situation has long been simmering, Tomaino's tweet comes at what might be a new boiling point, following what was arguably the account's most controversial message in history.

The Bitcoin Core (BTC) community relies on internet hate mobs, trolls, sockpuppets, censorship, DDoS attacks, vote manipulation, harassment and character assassinations.

The Bitcoin (BCH) community is welcoming, supportive, and appreciates freedom.

Which do you prefer?

Issued Wednesday, the tweet found @bitcoin sending a message to its more than 800,000 followers that, as Tomaino's tweet shows, even impartial observers would admit was incendiary, attacking the group that maintains the cryptocurrency's most widely used software and promoting an alternative cryptocurrency that split off last year.

But for some, the tweet was merely a confirmation of what was already clear – the account has passed over to new ownership that appears to have the intent of pushing a controversial view.

Indeed, for several months, the current @bitcoin administrator has arguably been promoting bitcoin cash instead of the original cryptocurrency, posting content that, at the very least, seems subversive to today's mainstream view of technical development.

And this has marked a sharp change from years past.

Launched in 2011, @bitcoin has long been tweeting basic cryptocurrency tips and news, and the anonymous account has had several administrators over the years.

CoinDesk itself even leased the handle from 2013 to 2016, but amidst leadership changes, any agreements with any individual that may have been in place have long since gone missing. (Emails to CoinDesk's former ownership and executives have gone unreturned.)

Still, the recent tweets aren't just happening in isolation, coming at a time when Twitter has seen a dramatic uptick in cryptocurrency scams across the platform broadly, from fraudulent verified accounts to a general increase in copycat accounts.

Escalating the situation, dozens of crypto accounts were suddenly suspended or "shadowbanned" this week, meaning their posts have in some cases disappeared from searches and followers' feeds.

RoBhat Labs co-founder Ash Bhat, who makes social media tools to identify bots and propaganda, told CoinDesk that he believes the social media giant is failing to protect its user experience from manipulative campaigns and bots.

"You essentially have voices and opinions being amplified that don't represent the human user base. From Twitter's bottomline perspective, this is horrendous."

Message received

Adding interest to the story is that, far from ignoring the problem, Twitter's leadership has been outspoken about the role it's now playing in cryptocurrency discourse.

In a blog post in November, Twitter touted its place in the conversation, highlighting the notable individuals that have tweeted about bitcoin, while pointing to charts and data that indicated the size of the conversation was among its fastest-growing.

"We're seeing Bitcoin ($BTC) conversation volume alone exceeding that of the FANG stocks (Facebook $FB, Apple $AAPL, Netflix $NFLX, Google $GOOG) on a daily basis," the company wrote.

Against this backdrop, Twitter appears to be taking steps to defend its position amidst the recent controversies.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted a series of tweets last week expressing concerns about the platform's ability to offer a beneficial service. On Thursday, he appeared on video suggesting one way to curtail digital coin scams would be to verify all user accounts, or at least open the option to all accounts.

Creating a norm where people need to verify facts about themselves would almost be reminiscent of Facebook's "real name" policy, which is controversial and widely criticized.

Still, Twitter's formal statement about cryptocurrency scams was less clear about what might be ahead.

"We're aware of this form of manipulation and are proactively implementing a number of signals to prevent these types of accounts from engaging with others in a deceptive manner," the company told CoinDesk in a press statement.

But both comments provide evidence that, in shutting down and shadowbanning multiple crypto-related accounts, the company acknowledges it finds itself in the middle of determining just what accounts for malicious behavior when discussing emerging technology.

Some bitcoin traditionalists, like Bitcoin Core advocate Peter Todd, for example, are reporting @bitcoin for allegedly misrepresenting bitcoin, and Twitter's automated, generic response to Todd has been that @bitcoin's tone violated the platform's policies.

Moderation or censorship

But as the exchange between Todd and Twitter shows, when it comes to cryptocurrency, it can be tricky to distinguish moderation from censorship.

Eliminating bots is almost a universal goal. However, restricting people, organizations and anonymous educational accounts like @bitcoin are a different matter entirely. How should Twitter define deception or manipulation when discussing amorphous ideas?

Todd believes the line between shilling and spreading misinformation is elusive at best.

"Suppose I'm a IOTA supporter. I can silence my critics by falsely reporting them, and hoping Twitter's AI interprets that as a reason to shadowban someone . The @bitcoin account is a great example: knowing if that should be banned is a seriously tricky problem that requires a lot of industry-specific knowledge," he said.

Cryptocurrency analyst and investor Brad Mills is another Twitter user who discovered the dangers of algorithmic moderation firsthand.

For months, he has played an active role in the debate about what defines bitcoin as an idea, but shortly after Dorsey tweeted Twitter will curb cryptocurrency scams, Mills' account was abruptly suspended for two days.

Still, as his comments showcase, determining well-intentioned and malicious behavior can be difficult, especially when from an outside perspective, both appear the same.

He told CoinDesk:

"The people who seem to have been banned were heavily in the debate about bitcoin versus bitcoin cash. But the other interesting thing is we've all been reporting those phishing accounts like crazy. So, we probably have both received reports, blocked by people on the other side of the debate and we've been giving an access of reports and blocks to all those phishing accounts."

The result is that Bhat believes Twitter needs to be more active about getting user feedback to help algorithms distinguish bots from opinionated people.

However, Kat Lo, a PhD student researching online moderation at the University of California Irvine, agreed, going so far as to argue that deploying both software and a team of human moderators with industry-specific knowledge could provide a better solution.

"A major obstacle in many of these cases is that a lot of moderation judgement relies on context, and most moderation systems intended for large-scale platforms don't incorporate significant context into their review process," she said.

Splitting along party lines

But the problem isn't unique to bitcoin.

Other cryptocurrency communities, such as those that have formed around ETH, XRP, NEO and other large cryptocurrencies, voluntarily promote the products and services of investable assets, often in a way that borders on outright spam.

But Todd went on to showcase just how difficult it would be for even humans hired by Twitter to moderate the ongoing debate. To an outspoken bitcoin maximalist, any and all crypto assets that aren't based on bitcoin's pioneering proof-of-work are likely scams.

In this way, Todd doesn't mind some level of shadowbanning, just as long as it favors his preference, and that means having a lot less people constantly promoting specific tokens.

"Those accounts are annoying and detract from my Twitter experience," Todd said. "Hiding their tweets to me would be a benefit, and something I'd like."

One Twitter user who experienced a temporary shadowban on Tuesday, @Joebwankanobee, told CoinDesk subjective moderation doesn't help cryptocurrency communities.

In fact, the lack of censorship is precisely why he prefers Twitter over other platforms.

"While I understand that's frustrating, I also firmly believe that someone should be doing their own research on something and that they alone are responsible for the moves they make with their money," @Joebwankanobee said.

And there is reason to support his belief that Facebook has been perhaps too restrictive – in January, the social media giant announced a new policy banning advertisements for bitcoin, initial coin offerings and other types of cryptocurrency.

Decentralizing communication

But Twitter's specific problem might go a bit further than Facebook's.

After all, in some cases, the specific messages that are falling afoul of users may amount to advertisements, but they're also statements supposedly being made by individuals.

As such, some cryptocurrency fans have come to believe the problem lies with centralized media infrastructures in which management and moderation falls to a central authority, in this case Twitter and Facebook.

Muneeb Ali, co-founder of the decentralized internet project Blockstack, told CoinDesk:

"Twitter's response to banning bots has been to ban real accounts, some with tens of thousands of followers, leaving innocent people defenseless against imitators and ultimately stifling freedom of speech . Twitter is a public utility that is too precious to remain centralized."

Already, Ali said, developers are working to build decentralized versions of social media that would run on the open-source technology it is developing.

As the situation with crypto Twitter shows, decentralization may be able to offer benefits. The main "defense" Twitter users have against censorship today is to get verified and reactively appeal restrictions, but these options favor celebrities and brands over regular individuals.

But such solutions might not help any problems today.

With Twitter yet to clarify how it finds and defines abusive behavior related to cryptocurrency, many users will be left with the fear of losing their brand platforms by participating in a game without clear rules or referees.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.