- Christen Ager-Hanssen resigns from nChain after his CEO position becomes “untenable”.
- The former CEO levied serious allegations about the financial goings-on at the company.
- Bitcoin SV surged off the back of Ager-Hanssen’s departure.
Bitcoin SV (BSV) emerged in 2018 from a hard fork of Bitcoin Cash, itself a 2017 fork of the original Bitcoin blockchain. The stated goal of BSV was to restore the original Bitcoin protocol and design, increasing block sizes to enable greater transaction throughput capable of supporting enterprise-level scalability.
nChain is a technology firm that offers a range of blockchain-based solutions, including technical consultancy, software development, and incubation services for the BSV chain. However, the sudden resignation of nChain CEO Christen Ager-Hanssen amid accusations of shareholder fraud at the company has thrown the future of nChain’s mission into question
Serious nChain Allegations
Rocking the Bitcoin SV world, nChain CEO Christen Ager-Hanssen abruptly announced his resignation on September 29. The shock didn’t stop there, however, as Ager-Hanssen blew the whistle on an alleged “conspiracy to defraud nChain shareholders” at the hands of an unnamed “significant shareholder”.
Sponsored
Ager-Hanssen also stated that he refused to take orders from mysterious “shadow directors” and raised concerns about opaque offshore investment arrangements to the board, all of which went unheeded.
“The board didn’t take action and my job becomes clearly untenable. One of the things I recommended the Chairman of the board was to sack Dr Craig Wright”, remarked Ager-Hanssen.
In stating his case, the former nChain CEO reignited discussions over Craig Wright’s claim of creating the original Bitcoin protocol, stating that he has evidence that Wright fabricated documents in an attempt to deceive courts into believing he is Satoshi Nakamoto.
Far from letting the matter go unchallenged, Bitcoin SV proponent Calvin Ayre waded in to accuse Ager-Hanssen of being a failure at business.
War of Words Erupts
Ayre wasted no time firing back, claiming the former nChain CEO “has NEVER started or run a successful company”. In attempting to further discredit Ager-Hanssen, Ayre blasted the outgoing CEO for exaggerating his credentials, even accusing him of trying to steal from the company.
Shortly after Ager-Hanssen’s resignation, nChain released a statement on chair Stefan Matthews coming in as acting CEO. The statement did not make any reference to the allegations levied against the company.
On the Flipside
- Bitcoin SV was the biggest top 100 gainer over the last 24 hours, growing 17%. This suggests that the market viewed Ager-Hanssen’s departure positively.
- Ager-Hanssen’s allegations are vague, leading to conjecture on the seriousness of his claims.
- Speculation that the US National Security Agency invented Bitcoin has recently resurfaced.
Why This Matters
Ayre’s ad hominem attack on Ager-Hanssen did not counter the allegations he made against the company, and with nChain also opting to gloss over the allegations, serious doubts about the company’s viability remain unanswered.
Learn more about the Independent Reserve exchange intervening over wranglings about Craig Wright’s claims here:
Australia’s Largest Exchange to Delist Bitcoin SV (BSV) Over ‘Bullying’ Threat to Bitcoin Developers
Find out about Bitcoin’s weekend rally splitting trader sentiment here:
Bitcoin Rally Obliterates Over $40 Million Short Positions
