Representatives of the Cryptoverse continue their expeditions to El Salvador on a quest to meet government officials and president Nayib Bukele and share insights on Bitcoin (BTC) and complementary technologies. This time, it was Brock Pierce, an entrepreneur, a former US presidential candidate, and former director of the Bitcoin Foundation, among other positions. Unsurprisingly, many Bitcoiners were not happy about this.
Pierce started the outrage by saying that he is “Very honored to lead this official delegation of Bitcoin ambassadors to El Salvador to educate the government about how Bitcoin, Blockchain and technology can create a brighter future for everyone in their nation.”
Pierce then added that the delegation was “the first to visit El Salvador in an official capacity since the start of Covid lockdowns,” thus prompting further questions.
Almost immediately, many crypto players in the crypto industry started calling him out due to the use of the word “official” and asking who elected Brock Pierce to call himself a Bitcoin representative, to which he responded that he had been elected by many organizations as representative in 2012-2014.
Not what I’m saying here but factually I was elected by a majority of the organizations building the industry in 2012-2014.— Brock Pierce (@brockpierce) June 17, 2021
The Biz podcast host John Carvalho, responded by calling Pierce’s delegation “a traveling shitcoin circus.” He then proceeded to argue that the Bitcoin Foundation legacy “is mostly an embarrassment,” and claimed that most people merely used it for clout.
Following the logic, many in the community proclaimed themselves “official Bitcoin Ambassadors.”
As the one and only “Most Official Bitcoin Ambassador”, I hereby declare you as the “Bitcoin Scambassador”
You will surely live up to the title. I believe in you.— Most Official Bitcoin Ambassador 🇸🇻🌋⚡ (@0x1952msk) June 17, 2021
Other commenters warned the governors of El Salvador to be more careful with the people they meet. Warren Togami, Vice President of Solutions at major blockchain technology firm Blockstream, ‘reminded’ Nayib Bukele that nobody has the right to speak for Bitcoin officially, and that Brock Pierce has been sued for fraud in the past. Some even called Brock Pierce a scammer and a “shitcoiner.”
Dear @nayibbukele, Please be careful.
1) Nobody has the right to speak for Bitcoin “officially”.
2) History should raise severe caution flags:
* Brock raised billions for EOS ICO, later sued for fraud and SEC violations.
* also see: Chinese prison laborhttps://t.co/a3ToNOHRl6 pic.twitter.com/ymp2pK9yB4— Warren Togami (@wtogami) June 17, 2021
Other self-proclaimed Bitcoin Maximalists like Dennis Parker were not holding back either.
Shitcoin creators be like:
“We are the #Bitcoin delegation visiting your country” https://t.co/9GQmo4rULH— Dennis Parker (@Xentagz) June 17, 2021
Later Brock Pierce clarified that he did not aim to deny anyone’s right to be a Bitcoin ambassador by stating that “we can all be evangelists, advocates and ambassadors.” He admitted that using the term “official” was “a poor choice of words.” He then finished his day on Twitter by responding to several critical tweets with: “All good. All love.”
Sounds like it was a poor choice of words due to the reaction of some. All love. All good.— Brock Pierce (@brockpierce) June 17, 2021
