- Calvin Ayre’s annual seasonal message to the BSV community focused on Bitcoin almost as much as BSV
- Ayre propagated a number of lies in his short video, ranging from Bitcoin mining to Wright’s legal battles
- Ayre didn’t predict much but did say that he expected Wright to beat COPA in his 2022 case
Calvin Ayre’s seasonal message is always something to look forward to, and this year has proved to be no different. In his six and a half minute video, Ayre attacks Bitcoin, its developers, and Craig Wright’s legal combatants, offering little in the way of actual positivity about BSV in favor of denigrating his opponents, which clearly shows that they are getting under his skin. Let’s take our annual look at Ayre’s reminiscences, claims, and complaints and check them against the facts.
BSV is “World’s Most Energy Efficient Blockchain”
Ayre celebrated BSV setting a record for the most number of transactions in a block and the biggest block ever mined on a blockchain. These are, indeed, worthy achievements, but they come at a cost. The race for bigger and bigger blocks has led to regular node operators running out of space on their drives to cope with the blockchain, which is a major reason why the number of nodes has dropped from 650 in 2018 to just 52 today. Also, the large number of transactions masks the truth that these figures are never sustained:
Ayre also praised the BSV blockchain as being “the world’s most energy efficient blockchain”, alluding to a BSV-funded report by chartered professional accountancy and business advisory MNP LLP. This is not true – the MNP report compared BSV with Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash alone and found that it was more energy efficient than those two, but there is no mention of any other blockchain and no comparison to any other consensus mechanisms, all of which are, by nature, more energy efficient than proof-of-work blockchains like BSV.
“Criminal” Exchanges Keeping BSV Price Down
Ayre then went on a rant about “criminal” exchanges delisting BSV, and claimed that others have “lopsided short positions aimed at artificially depressing BSV’s value”. In fact, the big delisting event took place in 2019 when Wright began suing everyone who criticized him, and almost all recent delistings have come because of a plethora of 51% attacks that led to the coins being unsafe to transfer and custody.
As for the criminal exchange conspiracy? Ayre’s evidence was as fictional as the theory itself.
Taproot Draws Ayre’s Ire
Ayre next took aim at Bitcoin’s Taproot implementation which he said “moves BTC further away from the original Bitcoin protocol, the Bitcoin economic model, and legal infrastructure”. This is compared to, oh I don’t know, BSV developers’ creation of a tool that will allow them to freeze addresses on the BSV blockchain and allow Craig Wright to take control of the BSV version of the ‘Satoshi’ coins:
What if I told you that nChain already build *and released* the code in the BSV node software that will re-appoint 1 million BSV tokens to Craig Wright, and Craig will then sell those 1 million BSV tokens to pay Ira Kleiman $100,000,000… would you believe me? 🤔
— Arthur van Pelt 🔥 ∞/21M ⚡ (@MyLegacyKit) December 11, 2021
Satoshi would have been so proud.
Ayre also opened up about the decision by the island nation of Tuvalu to digitize its public records on the BSV blockchain, claiming that the “first fruits” of this will “debut in 2022”. Let’s not forget however that in 2020 he said he expected the long-awaited Teranode upgrade to hit BSV in 2021, an upgrade which has been incessantly delayed and is now barely mentioned by the BSV propaganda arm Coingeek.
COPA Will Get “Comeuppance” in 2022
Ayre next tackled Craig Wright’s legal battles, noting the “costly lessons” that Wright’s legal combatants have supposedly learnt this year, stating that “no matter how much they don’t like Craig Wright, defamation is still a crime.” A reminder – these cases are ongoing and have in no way been settled yet.
Ayre also referenced the Cøbra case, saying that the verdict “doesn’t bode well for COPA”. However, the ‘victory’ over Cøbra was a default judgement after Cøbra chose not to reveal his identity – no evidence was put forward or debated. COPA, on the other hand, most certainly has put forward evidence – evidence Wright tried to get thrown out, but failed. Ayre’s claim that “we expect to be celebrating COPA’s comeuppance this time next year” could turn out to be nothing but massive overconfidence.
Ayre, of course, touched on the Kleiman case, with the awarding of $100 million to W&K naturally called a “major victory for Craig” and praised the jury for “confirming Craig as the sole individual behind the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym”. Of course, they did no such thing.
Focus on BSV Enemies Telling
It is perhaps telling that, with little talk about from the BSV perspective, Ayre spent most of the time talking about Bitcoin and Craig Wright, rather than anything the protocol he bankrolls has achieved this year. Sometimes it’s in what you don’t say, not what you do.
Ayre ends the piece with a very confusing statement that is correct at its core:
…However bumpy the past few years have proved, I remain wildly optimistic that the future, both for Bitcoin and for humanity.
Erm, yeah, Merry Christmas and a Happy New.
