Since becoming a newly-elected member of the Bitcoin Foundation, child actor turned entrepreneur Brock Pierce has received a hefty dose of criticism coming from the bitcoin community.
One of the major talking points among critics make reference to allegations that go back fourteen years — in which Pierce, along with two others, were accused of sexual abuse.
In a letter addressed to the Bitcoin Foundation (and obtained by the Wall Street Journal), Pierce has declared his innocence.
“Despite a full investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office, the FBI and the State of California into the allegations, I was never charged with anything whatsoever by anyone and was cleared of any wrongdoing,” he wrote.
The lawsuits from 2000 against Pierce were ultimately dismissed, but that hasn’t stopped a number of annual members of the board from canceling their membership in protest.
“I am sorry that 10 of 1,500 members chose to resign, but I am at a loss to explain why they would do so now and not after Mr. Karpeles allowed Mt. Gox to implode or Mr. Shrem was indicted. I am saddened and angered by this,” he added.
Mark Karpeles and Charlie Shrem both held seats on the Bitcoin Foundation board, of which are replaced by Brock Pierce and BTC China CEO Bobby Lee.
Piere, who’s working in part on a deal to acquire and re-establish Mt. Gox via Sunlot Holdings, says he’s making no plans to resign from his post.
“Stepping down from the board in response to hateful and uninformed chatter on bitcoin forums or because of these resignations is not rational, prudent or warranted. It would set a bad precedent for the Foundation, rewarding those who make scurrilous accusations and engage in character assassination, often anonymously.”
In a NEWSBTC poll from last week, we asked our visitors whether or not Bobby Lee and Brock Pierce were good choices for the Bitcoin Foundation board.
64.4 percent of respondents said they were not good choices, with the other 35.6 percent agreeing they were.
[textmarker color=”C24000″]Source[/textmarker] Wall Street Journal