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CoinDesk suddenly delists article, author accuses parent company DCG and Chainalysis of having investment interests.

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CoinDesk suddenly delists article, author accuses parent company DCG and Chainalysis of having investment interests.

CoinDesk recently took down two articles in succession. The anonymous author had previously reported that Chainalysis investigators could not prove the accuracy of their software, but the articles have since been removed by CoinDesk. The author alleges that this is because CoinDesk's parent company DCG had invested in Chainalysis, leading to the removal of her articles.

Accusations against Justin Sun: Will He Be the Next Do Kwon or SBF

CoinDesk published an article on August 25 by an anonymous author named awbvious titled "Justin Sun: The Next Do Kwon or Sam Bankman-Fried?"

The article makes several claims and accusations:

  • Justin Sun shares similarities in personality with Do Kwon and SBF.

  • TRON, founded by Justin Sun, is likened to Terra by Do Kwon and Solana by SBF.

  • Alameda allegedly had a near-monopoly on TRC20 USDT in its early days, and doubts remain about its current reserves.

The main concern raised by the author is that the reserves backing TRC20 USDT cannot be verified, and if a collapse were to occur, it would be catastrophic for the crypto market.

awbvious is described by CoinDesk as an anonymous DeFi user and artist. CoinDesk revealed his Discord ID awbvious#9957, Twitter handle, among other information, all of which are anonymous as well.

CoinDesk Retracts Article

CoinDesk's editor-in-chief Kevin Reynolds retracted the article on August 26 here.

He mentioned that CoinDesk rarely retracts articles, but this one, which was anonymously authored and contained personal attacks against Justin Sun, should not have been published.

In addition, CoinDesk also retracted an article about Chainalysis here. The article referenced Chainalysis' involvement in the investigation of the Bitcoin Fog mixing service, where Chainalysis' lead investigator Elizabeth Bisbee could not provide scientific evidence of the accuracy of their data analysis in court.

The retraction was announced on July 25. The author also protested against this decision on Twitter.

Author Counters CoinDesk: Alleges DCG and Chainalysis Have Investment Interests

Privacy advocate and author of the Chainalysis report, L0la L33tz, accused CoinDesk on Twitter.

She stated that the article detailed the testimony of Chainalysis' lead investigator Elizabeth Bisbee in court, where Bisbee admitted the inability to prove the effectiveness of Chainalysis' tracking software using scientific evidence.

She claimed that CoinDesk never informed her of the article being retracted and did not disclose that CoinDesk's parent company DCG had significant investments in Chainalysis.

She criticized CoinDesk for not upholding the standards expected of a media outlet and prioritizing the interests of shareholders and the parent company over reporting facts.

L0la L33tz's article was republished on Bitcoin Magazine.

CoinDesk responded to blockchain media outlet BeInCrypto, stating that DCG's investments do not affect the fairness of their reporting, as it is clearly outlined in CoinDesk's ethical policies.