BAYC Founder's True Identity Exposed! Various Claims Circulate on Social Media, Should Cryptocurrency Tycoons Be Subjected to Identity Verification?

The U.S. online media BuzzFeed revealed the true identities of the two pseudonymous founders, Gordon Goner and Gorgamel, of the well-known NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) in an article last Friday, the 4th. Many prominent figures in the crypto community criticized this action, considering it a blatant violation of privacy, while many individuals outside the crypto world offered some very different perspectives.

The Real Identities of Gordon Goner and Gorgamel

According to a report by the international media outlet BuzzFeed, the identities of two of the four co-founders of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) have been revealed. Gordon Goner and Gorgamel are actually Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano, two men in their 30s from Florida.

The BuzzFeed report briefly introduces the backgrounds of these two individuals without any malicious comments or scandals. However, the act of publicly disclosing their identities has sparked heated discussions on Crypto Twitter, mostly expressing dissatisfaction and condemnation towards this action.

Twitter Reactions

Cryptocurrency trader Cobie used the term "Dox" to describe BuzzFeed's actions, which means releasing detailed personal information about a person to subject them to harassment or punishment. Cobie expressed that this act was quite "trash" for clicks and profits and contemplated ways to short BuzzFeed.

Mike Solana, Vice President of Founders Fund, also stated: "They are just cartoon monkeys, there is no reason to dox them. The heroic tone in which journalists are telling this story is nauseating, as if it's some big exclusive news for the public good."

However, outside the crypto world, Gabe Rivera, the founder of Silicon Valley website Techmeme, described BuzzFeed's article as standard business news and questioned why only certain wealthy or affiliated individuals are entitled to know the identities behind those planning billion-dollar transactions.

Additionally, Twitter user Tatiana Walk-Morris also stated that even if running a private company, one must submit documents to the government to disclose founders' names, locations, company structures, etc. Through this publicly searchable information, revealing the identities of BAYC's two founders is not difficult.

Identity Disclosure Controversy

BAYC is a billion-dollar brand, and the online debate revolves around whether it is reasonable to publicize their identities. Should crypto billionaires be subjected to the same identity scrutiny as politicians and business leaders in a free society? And does this scrutiny help the public hold them accountable?

However, for the two individuals, Gordon Goner and Gorgamel, they seem to face the controversy quite calmly, although the disclosure of their identities was not their preference, they chose to address it with humor.

Both of them posted a "Web2 me vs Web3 me" post on Twitter, along with a real-life photo and their BAYC NFT. This posting style has now become a trend on Twitter.

Undeniably, the emergence of Web3 and its decentralized technologies have made anonymity easier. Whether the demands for celebrity exposure from the Web2 era should be applied in today's crypto industry is worth contemplating.