Nassim Taleb, the notable author of several non-fiction books which are related to the management of risk and uncertainty, recently accused Coinbase of getting rich by unreasonable and unethical selling of their COIN shares. Taleb has been vocal about his criticism for cryptocurrency and blockchain for at least two years now, making remarks on Bitcoin being a ‘tumor'.

On a Bloomberg podcast, Taleb argued that Bitcoin is non-malleable and fragile, and is strongly managed by a minority of people - this means book entry must be maintained in order to keep the system standing.

In response to a tweet by analyst Ed Elson, Taleb expressed his criticism on the people listed that sold off their COIN shares shortly after the IPO of the American crypto exchange in April 2021. He denounced the activity, calling it an "inverse 'Skin in the Game' ", suggesting it completely goes against the title of his book. Taleb believes that Coinbase misled their investors, using a legal process that allowed their insiders to cash out quickly compared to a regular IPO.

The accusation is a follow-up to his infamous tweet in which he insulted the "neuro something" blockchain industry. He was clear he was referring to fraudulent activities when he illustrated the term with a caricature that showed a man in a suit, laughing hysterically and with the message "Bloke Chain, Hedge" next to it.

Overall, it is clear that Taleb is not a fan of the utilization of blockchain technology, nor of the inner workings of the cryptocurrency industry which involve many getting rich off of the unsustainable action of selling COIN shares. He also alludes to particular areas in the blockchain community who do not have the interest of their investors first as a primary consideration, and instead, look for ways to quickly make a profit for themselves at the expense of others.



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