Charlie Lee is one of the best known individuals in the world of Crypto. Not only is this Google Alum the ex-head of engineering at Coinbase, but he is also the founder of Litecoin.
Today, however, Charlie has sold all the rest of his Litecoin portfolio in order to avoid any conflicts of interest. In a post on the Litecoin subreddit, Charlie explained his rationale and said that:
For the first time in 6+ years, I no longer own a single LTC that’s not stored in a physical Litecoin
This announcement of course had mixed reactions in the community. Some saw it as an example of a captain jumping ship and extricating themselves from the product they created.
However, most in the Litecoin community saw this as a noble step by Charlie to remove any doubt that he could be profiting from his own actions from Litecoin swings.
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Why Charlie Did It
According to Charlie, he found it difficult to have discussions around the price of Litecoin so he would try to avoid it. However, as price is such an important factor for the crypto user, it was becoming impossible.
It would be difficult for Charlie to tweet about the price of LTC without having some effect on the price of the coins. Hence, he would try to restrict himself from trading before or after a tweet.
Of course, this was only something Charlie could effectively monitor. Hence, it always left him open to possible accusations of market manipulation.
Why This Should be Positive for LTC
While there are many who may think that the lack of “skin in the game” is a bad sign for the future of a cryptocoin, the long term effects could indeed be positive for Litecoin.
For those that are mostly in cryptocurrencies to make money, see it go “to the moon” and buy a “Lambo”, Charlie's actions may seem bizarre.
Yet for Charlie, Litecoin is his creation. It will forever be attached to him. Although he may forego future gains in the price of Litecoin, no one wants to see the cryptocurrency succeed as much as him.
If one were to think of a range of other cryptocoins where the creators are actively singing its virtues, whatever they say is taken with more than a pinch of salt.
Freed from these perceptions, Charlie can now actively focus on improving the Litecoin image and pushing for mass adoption without the strictures of preconceived notions.
Focus on The Technology
Cryptocurrencies work because of their decentralised structure that is governed by protocol rather than people.
Yes, Charlie Lee is the creator and a large driving force, but the Litecoin technology does a lot of the selling.
Unlike most of the infighting that has plagued the Bitcoin community, Litecoin has moved along steadily improving its protocol by adopting new technology.
For example, Litecoin implemented SegWit transactions with ease in May this year and has already completed a range of cross chain atomic swaps.
Litecoin is being accepted by hundreds of merchants on a daily basis and transaction fees are still really small with fast transaction times.
What's Next for Charlie
Charlie Lee has been one of the most important voices of reason in the cryptocurrency space. He has advocated for caution and constantly railed at attempts to control Bitcoin.
Now that Charlie has cleared all conflicts of interest that may exist with Litecoin, he is likely to advocate it with much more vigour on the global stage.
Only time will tell whether this will instil great confidence in the “Silver Bitcoin”.
Featured Image Source via YouTube
