The Cycle of History: Four years later, BSV returns to the embrace of Zhao Changpeng

Author: Jaleel, Joyce, BlockBeats

Editor: Zhang Wen, BlockBeats

The price of the ancient cryptocurrency Bitcoin SV (BSV) has experienced multiple fluctuations this year, reaching its highest point of the year on October 20. The most direct reason for this remarkable increase may come from an announcement made earlier today by Binance regarding the launch of BSV 1-50x USDT perpetual contracts.

It's not new for cryptocurrency prices to surge significantly after being listed on Binance, as Binance has become an undeniable giant among trading platforms. However, when "Binance" is associated with "BSV," the community first thinks of the announcement made four years ago when Binance decided to delist BSV.

At that time, CZ's influence in the crypto community was far less than it is now, and a single digit "4" could generate widespread dissemination. Binance had only been established for two years, and BNB's market cap had just entered the global top ten, not yet qualifying as a trading platform giant. But CZ was often actively involved in community discussions, and when Craig Wright claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, he tweeted angrily denouncing him and delisted BSV from Binance, claiming it was a contribution to the blockchain ecosystem.

From the community's perspective at that time, CZ's decision to delist BSV was seen as "very principled," earning him a wave of goodwill and attention. However, no one expected that four years later, Binance would launch a BSV contract with leverage as high as 50 times.

Craig Wright and BSV: The Controversy Over Satoshi's Identity

Rewind to 2017, when developers supporting large blocks initiated a hard fork from Bitcoin, creating Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and increasing the block size to 8 megabytes. The Bitcoin community officially split into two factions. Those supporting small blocks continued to maintain the original Bitcoin blockchain, while those supporting large blocks created a new Bitcoin Cash blockchain.

After the first fork, BTC and BCH developed separately, but it was clear that "there are either 0 forks or countless forks." A year later, in November 2018, BCH underwent another hard fork into BCH ABC and BSV after experiencing a hash war.

Interestingly, BSV's founder Craig S. Wright has consistently claimed in public that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, and after this fork, he promoted this claim vigorously. During the 2018 Deconomy conference, Craig Wright was invited to participate in a panel titled "Bitcoin, Controversy over Principle," where he was bluntly called a fraud by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin during his speech on the Lightning Network.

To this day, there is no definitive answer to the controversy over whether Craig Wright is indeed Satoshi Nakamoto, as he has not provided conclusive evidence.

From the perspective of most community members, since Craig Wright cannot provide any on-chain actions as evidence to prove he is Satoshi, this appears to be a carefully orchestrated publicity stunt and scam.

However, four years ago, BlockBeats conducted an interview with Craig Wright, during which he stated that he did not care how others mocked and questioned him. He claimed to have 871 patents and 1,500 papers and would continue to strive forward. He also emphasized that Bitcoin is not anonymous but private, revolving around government regulation.

In some interviews, Craig Wright showcased his technical expertise while expressing his views on blockchain technology, leading him to be referred to as "the person technically closest to Satoshi Nakamoto."

CZ Was Also Once Part of "We Are All Hodlonaut"

At the same time that Craig Wright claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the crypto circle was buzzing with the "Bitcoin Lightning Torch Relay" experiment, which involved sending a Bitcoin transaction of 100,000 satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin, equal to 0.001 Bitcoin) via the Lightning Network. The recipient of this transaction would then add 10,000 satoshis and send it to the next participant, and so on. If the amount contained in the torch was larger than the previous year before failing, it indicated that the network had grown.

The "Bitcoin Lightning Torch Relay" attracted many notable figures, including financial giant Fidelity Investments, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Lightning Labs engineer Joost Jager, and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Today's crypto leaders CZ and Justin Sun also participated in this experiment.

Craig Wright's loud claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto naturally sparked resentment and dissatisfaction among participants in the "Bitcoin Lightning Torch Relay," who believed that Craig Wright's actions were undoubtedly damaging Bitcoin's credibility and the precious spirit of cryptocurrency.

Hodlonaut, the initiator of the "Lightning Torch Relay," often mocked or denied CSW, which angered CSW. On April 12, 2019, CSW claimed he would sue Hodlonaut and even publicly offered a reward of 70 BSV (about $5,000) for information about Hodlonaut's personal details.

Under pressure, Hodlonaut deleted his account, but this became a catalyst, igniting anger within the BTC community, and those who opposed CSW spontaneously formed an alliance. Many changed their Twitter usernames to Hodlonaut and their avatars to Hodlonaut's previous avatar, voicing support for "We Are All Hodlonaut." Some members even started fundraising for legal aid for Hodlonaut. CZ was also one of the "We Are All Hodlonaut" supporters.

Delisting BSV Was a Contribution to the Blockchain Ecosystem

At that time, CZ was just emerging, and his influence in the crypto community was far less than it is now, but he expressed his strong stance by publicly criticizing Craig Wright on Twitter and warning that if he continued to claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, Binance would delist BSV. This was CZ's resistance to Craig Wright's threat to sue Hodlonaut.

"Craig Wright is not Satoshi. Anymore of this sh!t, we delist!" CZ made a strong statement. This tweet attracted significant attention, and CZ's actions were described as a "threat to delist BSV."

As the CEO of Binance, CZ's statements would inevitably impact the market on his trading platform. He revealed in multiple interviews that he was unwilling to interfere with market behavior, but regarding this incident, CZ stated, "I am not on the tech side, but I oppose fraud. Before signing, everyone is Satoshi, except for Craig Wright."

Then, on April 15, Binance indeed acted on its previous warning and officially delisted BSV, mentioning several factors considered during the token delisting, one of which was "contribution to the entire blockchain ecosystem."

Unexpectedly, after the announcement, BSV's market price plummeted by 12%, dropping to the 13th position in market cap. However, BCH saw a corresponding increase. Although several trading platforms delisted BSV at the same time, no one anticipated that CZ's clear and strong stance would significantly enhance Binance's influence within the community.

Meanwhile, many members of the BSV community surprisingly felt this was a good thing, as the delisting by Binance brought BSV closer to decentralization.

Binance's Choice: From Firmly Delisting BSV to Launching 50x Leverage Contracts

Four years ago, the driving force behind Binance's decision to delist BSV was their commitment to voicing for the cryptocurrency community and upholding the principle of "Do the right thing."

Fast forward four years, Binance launched a BSV contract with leverage up to 50 times, causing BSV's price to surge nearly 30% within just two hours.

Some commented, "BSV is the real Bitcoin, and CSW is undoubtedly the real Satoshi." Although such views are often made in jest or as a satire, the narrative in today's crypto circle has changed significantly, and CZ is no longer keen on expressing strong opinions.

After All, That Was Four Years Ago

Why has Binance's choice shifted dramatically from firmly delisting BSV to launching 50x leverage contracts?

Many have pointed out that CZ's publicly stated views sometimes do not align with his private actions. For instance, in 2018, a significant disagreement arose during negotiations between Sequoia Capital and Binance regarding financing, leading Sequoia to sue CZ in Hong Kong court for violating an exclusivity agreement. CZ denied these allegations, and the lawsuit lasted for several years.

At that time, CZ tweeted that all projects applying to list on Binance in the future would need to disclose whether they had any direct or indirect ties to Sequoia Capital.

However, a few years later, as the relationship between Binance and Sequoia gradually warmed, this requirement seemed to have disappeared.

In a previous interview, CZ recounted this matter. "The lawsuit lasted for years, and we ultimately achieved a complete victory. Years after the lawsuit ended, at our invitation, this potential investment institution became a limited partner in Binance Labs' second fund. I can happily say that we still maintain a good relationship with them, and most issues can be resolved."

This indicates that Binance's public decisions may not always reflect its ultimate strategy. Some also argue that as time passes and real-world circumstances evolve, people's views and positions may change accordingly. After all, this was four years ago.

Doing the Right Thing at the Right Time

With the trading volume and attention in the market, choosing the right timing to launch contracts is one of Binance's marketing strategies as a trading platform. For example, previously, when DODO was market-making by DWF Labs and surged over 50% in 24 hours, Binance immediately launched a 20x USDT perpetual contract for DODO.

For a long time this year, the biggest narrative in the crypto circle has been the Bitcoin ecosystem. When Ordinals were hot, Binance timed the launch of Ordinal NFTs and services like Ordinals engraving. And we all know that in this past week, the hottest topic has been whether the Bitcoin spot ETF will be approved.

On October 16, news about the SEC approving a Bitcoin ETF was released by the established cryptocurrency media Cointelegraph in an all-caps "shock headline." However, the market quickly sensed something was off, and after multiple sources debunked the news, it was confirmed to be false. BlackRock stated that its Bitcoin spot ETF application was still under SEC review. Cointelegraph also deleted the previous false news tweet and issued an apology.

Although it was confirmed to be false news, the market's reaction was indeed real, with Bitcoin, valued at $550 billion, breaking through multiple round numbers and reaching over $30,000, with everyone shouting, "The bull market is back."

This may also be one of the reasons why Binance chose to relist BSV and launch 50x leverage contracts at this time. After all, as time passes and market conditions change, both CZ and Binance are facing new challenges and pressures, leading to shifts in decisions and positions. This is not just about adapting to the environment but also about survival and development.

Reflecting on CZ's firm statement of "Do the right thing" when he decided to delist BSV, this not only represented CZ's decision at that time but also reflected Binance's values and stance.

In the context of that environment, Binance's firm decision to delist BSV was indeed the right thing to do. Now, as they relist BSV with a 50x leverage contract, isn't CZ also doing the right thing?