A Bitcoin (BTC)-supporting community movement has evidently galvanized, alleging that Bitcoin.com is misleading buyers into purchasing Bitcoin Cash (BCH) instead of Bitcoin, with outraged users launching a website bitcoincomlawsuit.info to gather claimants and donations Friday, April 27.
The group has also established a Telegram channel, created by Twitter user @MoneyTrigz, which has amassed 911 members as of press time. One of the supports of the community-led movement posted an explanation of the claim on Twitter today, April 28:
If you've lost bitcoin because of misleading language, ticker symbols, graphics, or photos on any Roger Ver website or wallet (like Bitcoin .com) please submit your report to: https://t.co/Tvk2YG4bju we also have a Telegram group.
— Ragnar Lifthrasir ⚑ (@Ragnarly) April 28, 2018
The newly launched website will soon be accepting Bitcoin donations in support of levelling a promised lawsuit against Bitcoin.com, which outraged users claim has recently modified its interface so as to blur the distinction between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, a coin that hard-forked from the Bitcoin blockchain in August, 2017 and has since been competing with Bitcoin for brand recognition.
As the aggrieved users point out, Bitcoin.com, which provides a BTC and BCH-supporting wallet, shows buyers both cryptocurrencies’ logos in the same color (unlike, for example, wallet and exchange service Coinbase), as well as unusually referring to Bitcoin as ‘Bitcoin Core’, the name of its software client, rather than the more widely recognizable ‘Bitcoin’.
Many indignant users have gone so far as to suggest these practices amount to “fraud”. The ongoing controversy is forcing a rift between Bitcoin.com's creator and major BCH-proponent Roger Ver and crypto industry heavyweights, such as Erik Voorhees, CEO of ShapeShift:
stop fraud @rogerkver pic.twitter.com/1DTcRiI0yd
— MoneyTrigz (@moneytrigz) April 27, 2018
Earlier this year, a US government institute itself misstepped into the muddy waters, publishing an official research paper that mistakenly claimed that Bitcoin Cash was the “original” Bitcoin, while Bitcoin was its “fork”.