Barry Silbert Used ‘Biased’ Strategy to Pump ETC, Says Reporter

Huffington Post journalist David Seaman, who we interviewed last month, has a bone to pick with the Digital Currency Group’s Barry Silbert. The article in question written by Seaman claims Silbert is behind the Ethereum Classic chain pump, and the whole ETC project is a blatant scam in his opinion.

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David Seaman Slams Barry Silbert’s ETC ‘Pump’

The very opinionated editorial published on the Huffington Post on August 6, which was titled “In Bitcoin’s Barry Silbert, A Prosecution Waiting To Happen.” Seaman claims that Silbert has pumped the ETC project, and it wouldn’t have made it this far if it wasn’t for a “wealthy guy in New York” bolstering its activity. The writer says that if Ethereum were a publicly traded company or commodity what Silbert has done would be deemed illegal. Seaman explains his opinion:

Especially in light of Mr. Silbert’s prior cryptocurrency run-in with the S.E.C., my source suggests a second look from authorities might result in more than a slap on the wrist this time, especially since CoinDesk – a leading cryptocurrency media outlet wholly acquired by Mr. Silbert’s Digital Currency Group recently – has shifted to a “discernible” and “biased” promotional strategy for Classic since the acquisition.

Bitcoin.com reported on the rise of Ethereum Classic since the day it started gaining traction on the Poloniex exchange. At the time, Silbert wrote his first tweet concerning the cryptocurrency fork saying, “bought my first non-bitcoin digital currency…Ethereum Classic (ETC) At $0.50, risk/return felt right. And I’m philosophically on board.”

Been out of the loop. Glad I haven't lost a single friend over calling @barrysilbert out. Simple scammer. Save that smile for prison. ????

— D.G. Seaman (@d_seaman) August 8, 2016

Following Silbert’s tweet, Poloniex was pushing over 100,000 BTC in Ethereum Classic trade volume the very next day. As well as the initial tweet of purchasing his first altcoin Silbert has been talking about investing in ETC over Twitter for the past few weeks. He has noted when exchanges have added the currency to their platforms and has shared articles on the subject multiple times as well. In one instance, Silbert claims over Twitter:

Quadrupled down on my initial ETC investment. Moved ~5% of my personal bitcoin holdings to ETC this afternoon.—Given number of people calling me an idiot for buying ETC, I’m feeling real good right now. Reminds me of ’12 when I started buying BTC <$10

When Seaman attended an Ethereum developer presentation in San Francisco, he said that no one seemed to be threatened by the ETC chain. However, when the reporter asked if there was any real money behind the project the name he heard was Barry Silbert. If he was truly philosophically on board with ETC, Seaman, and other “industry watchers” believe the DCG owner should keep this kind of talk to himself.

1/ Setting the record straight:1) I've sold 0 ETC2) I've bought and am buying more3) I do not intend to personally sell until ETC>ETH

— Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) August 7, 2016

The investor finally responded to Seaman over Twitter, writing “@d_seaman yeah, I care what you think,” to which Seaman responded by saying Silbert’s arrogance is not becoming.

In Seaman’s last article, he states that he couldn’t “care less” about what Silbert thinks about the his opinion. However, it is people like Kathryn Haun, who leads the digital currency crimes office for the United States Dept. of Justice, the investor should be concerned with, according to Seaman, as well as the Ethereum investors, developers, and corporations that are using the Ethereum protocol.

What do you think about David Seaman saying Barry Silbert is pumping a scam? Do you agree with his opinion? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Pixabay, Twitter

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