Reply from Blockchain.io on Blockchain.com Accusations

Reply from Blockchain.io on Blockchain.com Accusations

Dear Btynews Team,

I am Anne, Head of Communications at Blockchain.io. I write with reference to the article you’ve recently published about us : https://btynews.com/crypto-wallet-blockchain-com-accuses-blockchain-io-that-has-intentionally-created-brand-confusion/. In accordance with the law, we demand today a right to reply. Please find below our answer to the charges that were pressed against us.

“Paymium, that has been successfully operating a BTC/EUR exchange since 2013 and serving 170,000 customers, is currently closing its private ICO to accelerate the rollout of Blockchain.io. The public sale for this complementary cryptocurrency exchange service will start on September 27.

The domain name Blockchain.io was registered by Paymium way back in April 2012 (https://www.whois.com/whois/blockchain.io), and the Blockchain.io project launch was publicly advertised in the press months ago. 3 days before the beginning of the sale, and a few weeks away from the official release of our platform, it thus comes as no surprise that we are challenged by some potential competitors, for obvious reasons. We condemn this approach that surely doesn’t comply with the crypto-community values.

Moreover, Blockchain.io disputes the accusation of making false and misleading statements. What is at stake is, at first, the protection of our name, our reputation, and our loyal investors and customers. For these reasons, our lawyers will answer point by point the claims that have been made.

As for our ICO, we already provided early investors with the alpha version of our platform that is ready to be launched right after the public sale in November. The name blockchain.io is the legal property of Paymium and the public sale will start as planned on September 27.”

I’d also like to let you know that the following statement : “Paymium used to offer a crypto wallet service called “InstaWallet”, which was reportedly hacked in 2013. According to several threads posted on bitcointalk.org, Paymium closed its claims process soon after claiming they were hacked.” is misleading.

Indeed, there were no such Instawallet “customers”, but only users, since Instawallet was a service provided for free (no fees) to people to allow them to try out their first bitcoin transactions. It was only a spinner and was never meant to be a secure wallet for storing any significant amount of money. There was no login nor password to protect the wallet or identify its user.

Instawallet were to be used at your own risks with no guarantee whatsoever since bitcoin was and still is an experiment. This experimental service was discontinued on March 31, 2013 when bitcoin prices increased suddenly (from 30 USD/BTC to 184 USD/BTC in one month) because it was prone to hacks, money laundering and fraud attempts. After the service was discontinued in 2013, there was a several months period that allowed users to file a claim online. A large number of people filed a claim and got their refund at the time.

I ask you to immediately delete the misleading statements from your article.

Should you want to learn more, I can also arrange an interview with our CEO Pierre Noizat. Please let me know when you’ve published our answer.

Kind Regards,
Anne Bezet, Head of Communications at Blockchain.io

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