Skycoin is the real Skycoin and the only Skycoin. There is no Skycoin Cash.
Skycoin Cash was an attempt to fork the Skycoin project. The short-lived coup was led by ex-community manager Sudo and developer Steve Leonard. Sudo and Steve worked together in an effort to split the Skycoin community while hijacking Skycoin accounts and attempting to extort and blackmail Skycoin founder Synth. The events transpired as described below.
Timetable of Events
1. In mid-2019, Skycoin leaders grew increasingly concerned about the negative influence of community manager Sudo, whose short temper, frequent racist and homophobic language, and penchant for banning Telegram users was driving community members away. Sudo's outbursts were responsible for several wealthy investors and advisors leaving the project. In addition, it was suspected that Sudo and some elements of his six-man 'Shill Team' were responsible for fudding Skycoin on 4chan and other social media sites to drive down the price, before buying up coins and then shilling to pump the price so they could sell higher. At the same time, there were also concerns about developer Steve Leonard, whose vision for Skycoin no longer aligned with that of founder Synth. Steve appeared reluctant to work on key elements of the project, and was spending a substantial amount of time on vacation.
2. In August 2019, Synth confronted Sudo and Steve. He asked them to change their ways and behave in a manner more befitting their roles. Synth has always been Skycoin's leader, and he is the person who pays employees/contractors/freelancers like Sudo and Steve for their work. As such, Synth should have the final say in how employees operate. Unfortunately, Sudo and Steve refused to comply, and instead embarked on a damaging and self-destructive crusade to sabotage the Skycoin project.
3. Due to their high-profile and previously trusted positions, Sudo and Steve held the credentials to many critical Skycoin accounts including the official Twitter account, Facebook account, YouTube, the Skycoin.net website, and multiple Telegram groups. They immediately hijacked these accounts, locked out the legitimate Skycoin owners, and used these accounts to split the community and spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. They also created a new Skycoin Cash Telegram group, claiming they were planning to fork the Skycoin project and dump the price to zero. This caused many community members and investors to sell their coins and join sides with Sudo and Steve.
4. Sudo and Steve then moved on to extortion and blackmail. They threatened to release compromising information about Synth unless Synth paid them one million dollars in Bitcoin. Naturally, Synth refused, so over the following week Sudo and Steve gradually dumped all the 'compromising' information they could find. But as expected, none of this was in any way compromising at all. It mostly consisted of voice messages from unknown parties ranting about Synth, as well as a series of obviously doctored or out-of-context Telegram screencaps designed to defame Synth.
5. By early September, it was back to business as usual at Skycoin. The Skycoin team had recovered the hijacked accounts, Sudo and Steve had run out of blackmail material to release, and the community members who had believed their fud were beginning to regret dumping their coins at the bottom as the price quickly recovered. As for Skycoin Cash, it was never a realistic fork. Skycoin is designed to be unforkable. To fork Skycoin would essentially mean starting a new project from scratch, without the existing coin distribution, and without the integral elements like Skywire, CX, and the hardware projects (wallets, antennas, Skyminers, PCBs etc.) that make the Skycoin ecosystem so valuable.
6. As a result of their deliberate efforts to destroy the Skycoin project, blackmail the founder, and crash the coin price, Sudo and Steve lost the support of many Skycoin community members who had previously backed them during prior internal disagreements. This time, they went too far and burned their bridges. Sadly, some community members believed the fud spread by Sudo and Steve, and even sided with them in their pretense to fork the project.
7. In the wake of these events, Skycoin emerged stronger than ever. The negative, toxic, and destructive employees and community members were purged, and the Skycoin team bounced back with a renewed drive and focus. The experience brought loyal community members closer together, and development of Skycoin's key ecosystem components actually accelerated with the disruptive individuals removed.
The official incident report can be found here.
1. In mid-2019, Skycoin leaders grew increasingly concerned about the negative influence of community manager Sudo, whose short temper, frequent racist and homophobic language, and penchant for banning Telegram users was driving community members away. Sudo's outbursts were responsible for several wealthy investors and advisors leaving the project. In addition, it was suspected that Sudo and some elements of his six-man 'Shill Team' were responsible for fudding Skycoin on 4chan and other social media sites to drive down the price, before buying up coins and then shilling to pump the price so they could sell higher. At the same time, there were also concerns about developer Steve Leonard, whose vision for Skycoin no longer aligned with that of founder Synth. Steve appeared reluctant to work on key elements of the project, and was spending a substantial amount of time on vacation.
2. In August 2019, Synth confronted Sudo and Steve. He asked them to change their ways and behave in a manner more befitting their roles. Synth has always been Skycoin's leader, and he is the person who pays employees/contractors/freelancers like Sudo and Steve for their work. As such, Synth should have the final say in how employees operate. Unfortunately, Sudo and Steve refused to comply, and instead embarked on a damaging and self-destructive crusade to sabotage the Skycoin project.
3. Due to their high-profile and previously trusted positions, Sudo and Steve held the credentials to many critical Skycoin accounts including the official Twitter account, Facebook account, YouTube, the Skycoin.net website, and multiple Telegram groups. They immediately hijacked these accounts, locked out the legitimate Skycoin owners, and used these accounts to split the community and spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. They also created a new Skycoin Cash Telegram group, claiming they were planning to fork the Skycoin project and dump the price to zero. This caused many community members and investors to sell their coins and join sides with Sudo and Steve.
4. Sudo and Steve then moved on to extortion and blackmail. They threatened to release compromising information about Synth unless Synth paid them one million dollars in Bitcoin. Naturally, Synth refused, so over the following week Sudo and Steve gradually dumped all the 'compromising' information they could find. But as expected, none of this was in any way compromising at all. It mostly consisted of voice messages from unknown parties ranting about Synth, as well as a series of obviously doctored or out-of-context Telegram screencaps designed to defame Synth.
5. By early September, it was back to business as usual at Skycoin. The Skycoin team had recovered the hijacked accounts, Sudo and Steve had run out of blackmail material to release, and the community members who had believed their fud were beginning to regret dumping their coins at the bottom as the price quickly recovered. As for Skycoin Cash, it was never a realistic fork. Skycoin is designed to be unforkable. To fork Skycoin would essentially mean starting a new project from scratch, without the existing coin distribution, and without the integral elements like Skywire, CX, and the hardware projects (wallets, antennas, Skyminers, PCBs etc.) that make the Skycoin ecosystem so valuable.
6. As a result of their deliberate efforts to destroy the Skycoin project, blackmail the founder, and crash the coin price, Sudo and Steve lost the support of many Skycoin community members who had previously backed them during prior internal disagreements. This time, they went too far and burned their bridges. Sadly, some community members believed the fud spread by Sudo and Steve, and even sided with them in their pretense to fork the project.
7. In the wake of these events, Skycoin emerged stronger than ever. The negative, toxic, and destructive employees and community members were purged, and the Skycoin team bounced back with a renewed drive and focus. The experience brought loyal community members closer together, and development of Skycoin's key ecosystem components actually accelerated with the disruptive individuals removed.
The official incident report can be found here.