Private crypto island published through widespread backlash

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Over the past few days, Cryptoland, the moonshot project to turn a private island in Fidjan into a crypto-utopia, has started posting through a PR slump following widespread mockery of its animated marketing video and a wave of criticism about the project.

On Saturday, Molly White, a software engineer whose viral dive into the island’s seemingly half-baked blueprints sparked a wave of scrutiny, announced she had received a legal threat from Cryptoland.

“It has been brought to our attention that you have made statements about Cryptoland which are both false and misleading. These statements constitute libel because they defame both Cryptoland and its founders,” it reads. email posted to Twitter by White. “We call on you to immediately stop making these false and defamatory statements, remove them from any platform, and issue a public apology on all platforms where the defamatory statements have been placed.”

Since then, the company appears to have started publishing through the backlash of the legal letter and other aspects of the project.

“We will not impersonate anyone,” Cryptoland said in a tweet after being accused of “posing as a lawyer” in the letter he sent to White. “Sending a letter of termination and death[sic] is a perfectly legitimate tool to ask someone to stop spreading misinformation. “

Cryptoland has also filed a copyright takedown against White on Youtube for reposting their full marketing presentation, revealed White, who seems indistinguishable from the satire at times. And when asked why he responded to a tweet asking for the island’s age of consent with “Mental maturity should be enough;)”, the project sent another convoluted statement.

“At Cryptoland, we condemn any type of racist, deviant or abusive behavior. Our twitter is managed by several people and not all of them are native English speakers, ”the official account said in a statement. “The person who answered this question clearly did not understand the bad intention behind them and misinterpreted its meaning, naively thinking that they were asking for the age allowed to come to Cryptoland, just like in any other place. , such as a restaurant, resort or amusement park. “

Cryptoland is also accused of both stealing assets to be used for his animated short which went viral because it was indistinguishable from satire. An artist claimed that Cryptoland stole a 3D asset she created – a dancing animated seagull in the video – for unauthorized commercial use. She was stranded shortly after reporting it. Another tweet claims that a photo in the video is actually just a photo taken from the internet and carelessly purchased.

Artist Kamila Bianchi did not immediately respond to Motherboard’s request for comment.

The project team insisted that no assets were stolen. “No assets have been stolen,” Cryptoland said in a tweet responding to the accusations. “We bought them, created them or [sic] brought by the various animators who participated.

Even Carlos Matos, the face of the infamous Bitconnect scam to which Cryptoland presents a memorial and casino in honor, has threatened legal action against Cryptoland for using his image in a tweet. “This is the first time I’ve seen this and anyone who uses my name, brand or image here is using it without my approval and permission,” Matos tweeted on Jan. 5. justice. They might want to get in touch with me before they hear from me.

In response to all of this criticism and more, Project Discord has been in the midst of an ongoing purge. The review is tagged as propagating “FUD” (fear, uncertainty, doubt) or “bullshit,” and a new update posted on Discord warns members should not “engage in negative conversations with trolls who enter into discord. “. Instead, if you “suspect someone is spreading madness or negativity, please report it to any member of the team and we’ll take care of it from there.” Links to the Wayback Machine, where Cryptoland’s age of consent is archived, are blocked in Discord, Motherboard confirmed.

Overall, things are bad in Cryptoland, it seems. It hopes to be the future beating heart of the crypto-economy, but is currently beset by a myriad of questions about how it works, where the funding will come from, and whether its handling of the wave of criticism makes it a viable and responsible business. project.

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