Last night I received the attached message from Max Studennikoff, the organizer of CC Forum.
MAX’S WAY OR THE HIGHWAY
I don’t know if there is a real Sheikh or not. I don’t know if Max decided to remove me because of Nick and Obe Ayton who I called out a few months ago (and who are friends with Max), or because of other scammers I’ve called out. IT DOESN’T MATTER.
Whatever the reason, this is morally bankrupt and SO WRONG. When an event does not have any vetting process and embraces scammers and shuns scam hunters, SOMETHING IS WRONG. At a minimum, people should be able to hear both sides of an issue and make their own decision.
I’ve been trying to explain to people this year that scammers aren’t the only problem in this industry. We also have to look at questionable business practices and scam enablers: crypto/blockchain publishers, crypto/blockchain event organisers, ratings websites, influencers and celebs, journalists, YouTube reviewers, podcasters, and in this case CC Forum is the scam enabler.
Max knows he is giving some of the wrong speakers a voice and potentially enabling scammers. His actions make it clear that he has decided that in terms of selling his event, he can make more money and attract more attention by featuring scammers rather than truth-tellers and people adding value to the industry.
THE CASE FOR BOYCOTTING CC FORUM
I’m not the only honest person who was going to speak at this event. If you are signed up to speak at CC Forum and you weren’t also uninvited due to pressure from the Sheikh, I’d like to suggest that you consider whether you still want to be part of CC Forum. Will your truth be heard over the noise of the scammers? Will you find a receptive audience? The best thing to do might be to pull out of the event rather than be associated with scammers and scam-enabers.
Likewise, for anyone who was planning to attend CC Forum as a guest, ask yourself what you would actually get from the event.
Here are just a few of the scammers gracing the CC Forum stage:
John McAfee, who has pumped so many shitcoins (and outright scams such as Karatbars) I don’t even know if I can count them all.
Valentin Preobrazhenskiy, founder and CEO of LATOKEN, one of the scummiest exchanges out there (perhaps you’ve received a few messages about how they can list your token on their exchange?).
Julie Meyer, who has been accused of committing fraud through Ariadne Capital and Taggstar.
Nick Ayton, who we’ve already spoken about at length in our article about Chainstarter and 21Million.
If the senior and respected voices in the industry don’t speak up more against the people that threaten to derail cryptocurrency adoption in the mainstream, then we are simply supporting fraud and helping enable further potentially criminal behaviour.
“The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing” Edmund Burke