Litecoin Founder Charlie Lee Clarifies His Position on Recent Acquisition of Stake in German Bank
Litecoin founder Charlie Lee provided some details about recent acquisition of Litecoin Foundation, stating he expects to receive a board position at the German WEG Bank AG, which will positively influence the further adoption of cryptocurrencies in the bank’s operations.
Last week, as part of the partnership with TokenPay, a cryptocurrency payments company based in Switzerland, Litecoin Foundation purchased a 9.9% stake in Germany’s WEG Bank.
Following the acquisition, Charlie Lee, who is also managing director of the Litecoin Foundation, took to Reddit to clarify his position on the deal.
“Please note that there is a difference between Litecoin and the Litecoin Foundation. Litecoin is a decentralized network and currency. Litecoin Foundation (LF) is a centralized non-profit organization whose mission is to advance Litecoin development, adoption, and usage. I am the creator of Litecoin and the Managing Director of the LF. I know this causes quite a bit of confusion, but hopefully I can set the record straight. Litecoin doesn’t need LF or me for that matter, but I’m working hard with LF to make Litecoin a success. If LF is not doing a good job, nothing prevents another organization to step up and do better,” Lee wrote.
On the acquisition, he further explained:
“This partnership is between LF and TP. The deal is that LF receives the 9.9% stake in the bank in exchange for technical work and marketing support for TokenPay, eFin decentralized exchange, and integration with the bank. To be clear, LF did not pay any money for this stake in the bank. The plan is also for me to get a board seat at the bank.”
Speaking of the pros and cons of the deal, Lee wrote:
“Best case is that with this bank, we are able to create and deliver crypto solutions like debit cards, merchant processing, and other innovative solutions. However, even with a stake and influence at the bank, it’s not guaranteed that this will succeed.”
He further explained:
“People have brought up valid concerns that we still need to work with and be approved by players in the current financial systems like Visa and SWIFT, but we definitely have a much higher chance of succeeding now that we own a stake in a bank with bank licenses.”
Worst case, according to Lee, is failure of the partnership for whatever reasons.
“This would of course hurt LF’s reputation, but it would have no material impact on LF and, of course, it would have no effect on the Litecoin network and currency. Just like Bitcoin is not affected by Bitcoin Foundation’s failures, Litecoin is not affected by Litecoin Foundation’s failures. Of course reputation is important to people’s confidence in Litecoin Foundation and Litecoin and we understand that, but nothing successful ever happens without taking some risks. In this case, we believe that the potential gains far outweigh the risks,” he said.
Recently, Lee made a direct appeal to cryptocurrency investors by reminding them of the scarcity involved in Bitcoin. In a Twitter post, the LTC creator recommended all investors secure a full Bitcoin before looking to other altcoins.
There will be at most 21 million bitcoins in existence. There isn’t even enough BTC to go around for EVERY millionaire to own one. So before you buy any other coin (LTC included), try to own at least 1 BTC first. ?
Once you have 1 BTC, buy all the shitcoins you want! ? pic.twitter.com/bc3xKKGB0m
— Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) 17 July 2018
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