Avalanche Creator Emin Gün Sirer and Lawyer Kyle Roche Deny Crypto Leaks Allegations
A newly formed website, Crypto Leaks, has published a dubious article alleging that Avalanche Creator Emin Gün Sirer, as well as his lawyers Kyle Roche and Vel Freedman, have been pursuing legal cases which help defeat competitors to Avalanche, a top 20 cryptocurrency.
Through a series of short, edited videos showing Sirer's lawyers discussing various litigation, the anonymous author(s) claimed that Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer was afraid of his competitors and was using the legal system to win market share. The article features sensationalist dialogue such as:
"In a shocking series of video recordings, shared by this case investigation, Kyle Roche himself now reveals the exact nature of their ongoing operations. The case is highly disturbing in nature."
The author(s) of the article alleged that Roche Freedman sued Solana on behalf of Ava labs on the grounds of it being an illegal security. In addition, the article stated that Ava Labs also gained from Roche Freedman representing Ira Kleiman in the lawsuit against Faketoshi Craig Wright.
Denials in light of highly edited videos
Sirer vehemently denied the allegations on Twitter and argued that the piece was
"self-serving" and "inflammatory."
How could anyone believe something so ridiculous as the conspiracy theory nonsense on Cryptoleaks? We would never engage in the unlawful, unethical and just plain wrong behavior claimed in these self-serving videos and inflammatory article. Our tech & team speak for themselves.
— Emin Gün Sirer🔺 (@el33th4xor) August 28, 2022
Sirer further denied the claims in a comprehensive Medium article, where he explained that Roche and Freedman initiated lawsuits separately from Ava Labs.
In addition, lawyer Kyle Roche of the Roche Freedman law firm, who represents Sirer and Ava Labs on various cases, also categorically denied the accusations. In a Medium article clarifying the situation, he stated:
"A posting on the recently launched anonymous Crypto Leaks website about me, my firm, and Ava Labs contains numerous unsourced false statements and illegally obtained, highly edited video clips that are not presented with accurate context."
Roche also believes that the man who took those recordings was Christen Ager-Hanssen, an associate of Internet Computer creator Dominic Williams, who is a defendant in a securities fraud lawsuit brought on by Roche's firm.
BSVers behind the article?
R/bsv mod, Zectro, an expert on Bitcoin Satoshi Vision, pointed out that the article was likely written by a BSV fan.
BSV is a Bitcoin Cash fork started by Craig Wright. Mr. Wright has claimed to be the inventor of Bitcoin since 2015, but has failed to provide any actual evidence other than sloppy forgeries.
Roche did brag about "bringing down Craig Wright" in the Kleiman v Wright lawsuit, but this was a highly edited clip featured in the article. The author(s) of the article used pro-BSV dialogue, such as:
"Through his attacks on Craig Wright, Kyle Roche boasts how he helped massively devalue the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) blockchain by billions of dollars. This will be of interest to Craig Wright, and every member of the BSV cryptocurrency community who sustained losses."
It is common knowledge at this point that Craig Wright is a massive fraud on the level of Terra creator Do Kwon and Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky. The timing of the Crypto Leaks article is also highly suspicious, given Bitcoin expert Hodlonaut's lawsuit against Craig Wright in Norway for his claims about being Satoshi Nakamoto will begin September 12th.
Given the associations with BSV mentioned in the article, it's hard to rule out that proponents of the coin didn't have some involvement in these new allegations. Regardless, time will tell if this article ever negatively affects Sirer in the future, or if it falls out of the news cycle.
