Litecoin founder Charlie Lee provided some details about recent acquisition of Litecoin Foundation, and stated that he expects to receive a board position at the German WEG bank, which will positively influence further adoption of cryptocurrencies in the bank’s operations.
Last week, Litecoin Foundation purchased a 9.9% stake in Germany’s WEG Bank as part of the partnership with TokenPay, a cryptocurrency payments company based in Switzerland. Following the acquisition, Charlie Lee, Litecoin founder, managing director of the Litecoin Foundation, and outstanding media figure, clarified his position on the deal.
Lee published a post on Reddit, where he distinguished Litecoin and Litecoin Foundation, provided some details about the partnership, and mentioned the possibility of the bank offering crypto services. According to Lee, Litecoin Foundation did not pay any money for the stake in the bank, and the stake came “in exchange for technical work and marketing support for TokenPay, eFin decentralized exchange, and integration with the bank.”
As a result of the acquisition, Litecoin creator would become a board member at the German 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. He said:
“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.”
Lee is famous for criticizing ICOs, however, he has frequently championed the potential behind Bitcoin and Litecoin. Recently, Lee made a direct appeal to cryptocurrency investors by reminding them of the scarcity involved in Bitcoin. In a Twitter post, the LTC founder recommended all investors secure a full Bitcoin before looking to other currencies.
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 Ⓜ️🕸️ (@SatoshiLite) July 17, 2018
Nonetheless, Lee defended the latest Bitcoin statement from comments of those surprised by an apparent snub of Litecoin by its own developer. “…Do sell your shitcoins for BTC and LTC,” responded Lee to other Litecoin investors.
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