The BitClout Drama Continues: Enter Robert Breedlove And Naval

The Bitcoin community hates BitClout with a passion. One of the space’s thought leaders, author and podcaster Robert Breedlove, just mentioned he’ll “be taking a look at it over the next week” and everyone lost their minds. Some thought he was kidnapped, or at least hacked. Others were more cautious and thought the BitClout people paid Breedlove to make that tweet. And in their defense, the wording seems strangely promotional.

This is the tweet in question:

Among the drama, some new facts about the controversial project came to light. As a reminder, Bitcoinist did a preliminary analysis, investigated if it was a scam, and tried to figure out if notorious billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya was behind the whole thing. And now, it’s Robert Breedlove’s time. This one nobody saw coming.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Price Dips After Trump Says Bitcoin ‘Seems Like A Scam’

Did Someone Pay Robert Breedlove To Tweet About BitClout?

Let’s be clear here, one of the highly controversial and frankly scammy characteristics of the project is that people have to tweet a link to their BitClout profile in order to claim it. Was Breedlove just doing that? Is that a punishable offense? With that being said, and this is highly suspicious, these accounts tweeted something similar at roughly the same time.  

When questioned about it, professional investor Ari Paul answered, “My tweet was pretty clearly stated, no?  I’ve been an outspoken critic of bitclout. Have literally never mentioned it except in a critical light, including very clearly in the screenshot above.” The suspicious thing here is, Breedlove’s tweet has the same tone to it. Maybe it’s a coincidence?

In any case, Breedlove denied that they paid him to do so in the following tweet:

But half of the Bitcoin community isn’t buying it and is demanding for him to confess his transgressions. The other half gives Breedlove the benefit of the doubt and is anxiously waiting for his BitClout report. Are the Bitcoin maximalists making too much out of this or are they right in their indignation? That’s for you to decide, but consider:

• This is not a blue chip cryptocurrency Breedlove is stealthily promoting among his user base. There are genuine concerns about BitClout. 
• Those concerns were ubiquitous on crypto-Twitter, and Breedlove lives there. He knows what he’s tweeting about, where he’s shining his light to. This is almost as egregious as Elon’s stance on Bitcoin’s mining after investing a gazillion Dollars in the asset. 

Nevertheless, we’ll wait for Breedlove’s report. He earned that much with his phenomenal work for and about Bitcoin. 

Chamath's Social Capital price chart | Source: TradingView.com

Is Naval Involved In BitClout?

Now, one thing this whole incident revealed is this. Among this very informed crowd, everyone is pretty sure that Nader Al-Naji is Diamondhands. And they take as a fact that Chamath is the money behind the project. Not only that, they’ve uncovered – admittedly circumstantial – evidence that Naval is also involved. Let’s get into that.

There were already rumors circulating that Naval was behind one of BitClout’s main characters, Da5id. We didn’t report on them because we couldn’t find confirmation. Naval’s “creator coin” is suspiciously high in BitClout’s ranking, but his profile is still unclaimed. And he seemed like a nice person in that Joe Rogan interview. However, new information came to light.

First, prominent investor and Twitter personality Crypto Cobain revealed crucial information about BitClout’s strategy. 

https://twitter.com/CryptoCobain/status/1385634711070982146

Days later, a mysterious force banned him from Naval’s AngelList.

https://twitter.com/CryptoCobain/status/1387037765821374474

When asked about it, by Nic Carter of all people, Cobain answered: “Yes. I haven’t used AngelList in over a year so I doubt I violated the ToS in any other way.”

Is this undeniable proof that Naval is involved in BitClout? Not even close. But, as with everything around this project, it’s all very suspicious.

Featured Image by Michal Matlon on Unsplash - Charts by TradingView