Oyster Pearl, the cryptocurrency that suffered a hack at the hands of its anonymous founder Bruno Block last week, endured more distraction this week when Block defended his theft. This was before sacking the entire PRL team and labeling cryptocurrency a “giant Ponzi scheme”. In a heated conversation with the now former CEO William Cordes, Block admitted to the theft, claiming the world was on the verge of an economic meltdown and he was preparing for it.
The Case for the Defense
In an astonishing outburst on Telegram, Block claimed Cordes “did next to nothing” despite being paid one million PRL tokens, the equivalent of half a million dollars at the time. In defense of his actions, Block then claimed to PRL holders that he sold his stolen tokens in one go because Cordes was planning the same thing when the price hit a certain point, meaning he had, apparently, stopped Cordes “dumping on you”.
In a private exchange with Cordes, he further defended the theft by stating that he had “a mission to protect myself and my family” from an imminent economic collapse. Block also launched into an attack on cryptocurrency in general, calling it a “giant Ponzi scheme”, claiming that Ethereum and Bitcoin will drop to $5 and $20 respectively and citing the recent Tether troubles as reasons why everyone should “get out of crypto”. Somewhat against his own advice he then announced that he would program PRL himself, before firing Cordes who he finally claimed “can’t comprehend what is right and wrong”.
Moving Forward
Cordes, who called the drama at PRL “some of the most challenging times of my personal and professional life”, said that Block had “pushed Oyster into a state of complete chaos”. He confirmed that he is working with an attorney to vindicate the team and investigate what action they can take against Block, stating that they are confident they now have his true identity. Excitingly for fans of the project, he then announced that a “New Oyster” will fork from the existing protocol to form PRL2, a project that he and the team will work on.
Whatever happens from here, it is doubtful that we have heard the last about the matter, and certainly not the last from the outspoken Block. It will be fascinating to see how, or indeed if, these two projects can coexist together.
