Leo Liu- Cofounder Bvnex response to defamatory attacks by BitcoinVN
The blockchain industry is known for its ambitious vision of creating an open, community-based, and more decentralized new world. Most of the participants in this ecosystem are committed to this great goal and are vigorously working towards that vision by Satoshi Nakamoto and many pioneers before us. As a veteran who has been in this field for years, I would love to see the extraordinary growth of the crypto asset adoption and appreciate every single friendship and partnership we had that brings us closer to that goal. Unfortunately, not everyone is sharing this consensus. Recently, Bvnex’s former co-founder, Mr Dominik Weil, groundlessly attacked Bvnex’s current CEO, Ms Trang Phung, and me, in an attempt to forge a negative image of Bvnex. This article is the clarification in response to Mr Dominik’s non-sense.
Dominik and I were connected by Trang back in 2018 for the matter of establishing a full-function crypto asset exchange for Dominik’s BitcoinVN. My previous venture, Expread, was an all-in-one technology solution for establishing and maintaining a crypto asset exchange commenced in 2017, the first of its kind in China. Back then, Dominik told me that he was losing market share to Binance and Okex, the now global industry leaders which had increasing influence in the Vietnamese market. I was impressed by Dominik’s history of BitcoinVN and in the hope of creating something big in Vietnam, I agreed to help and made a proposal to customize BitcoinVN OTC platform and transform it into a full function exchange that can potentially rival its global competitors. Dominik suggested this cooperation being done in a joint venture manner: he would be in charge of local operation and my Expread would exchange the crypto exchange technology and my personal resources across the whole Chinese crypto market for 30% of the equity and potential profit in the new BitcoinVN (hereinafter ‘New BitcoinVN’). Considering that New BitcoinVN lacked cash flow but had an ambition, I concurred — for your information, just to deliver such a customized solution that was used on New BitcoinVN would have costed over 100k USD back then, without taking into account the ongoing maintenance, server, and labor cost. As the previous domain Bitcoin.vn was stripped by the government for some unknown reason, I even contributed the BitcoinVN.cloud domain name to the new venture too. I was expecting an exciting journey to overturn. Over the total 10 months lifespan of New BitcoinVN (1 month development, 1 month waiting for Dominik’s team to standby, 8 months of operation) my Expread team made a huge effort to ensure the venture stay on the right track, including connecting Dominik with Tron, Jinse Finance (biggest blockchain media in China), Fenbushi Capital (leading investment firm in blockchain space) and securing the listing of Ontology and Dai. Ms Trang Phung was the COO of this venture and had become the most active part of the team. Unfortunately, as the biggest profit gainer and shareholder of New BitcoinVN, Dominik was incapable of delivering what he promised, including:
- proposing or executing any operation strategy or plan.
- investing in any marketing or community budget which was supposed to be their duty.
- sharing the 30% of profit, either fiat or crypto, my Expread was entitled to before withdrawing from the business.
Throughout the whole operation, Dominik did not seem to take this business seriously or perform his duty, not to mention fulfill his initial ‘ambition’ of beating Binance and OKEX in Vietnam, and Expread had been the only party bearing all the burden and losses. In an effort to turn the tide, I suggested Dominik establishing another exchange brand to operate parallel to BitcoinVN, which is now Bvnex, and putting Trang in charge as she was the only one on the team who were willing to work wholeheartedly, and Dominik fully agreed. As the proposal went, Dominik would take a back seat in the daily management and contribute in an indirect way to stay on the board and let Trang Phung become the CEO of Bvnex. So I was shocked that Dominik would have denied this fact which can be proven by many SOLID, WRITTEN evidence.
And apart from these Mr Dominik, do you still remember that you even wrote an open letter to explain the change to the public. You may have forgotten, but Google wouldn’t.
The screenshot of the public letter by Dominik himself on Google search (original copy deleted)
And who is the clown now?
Months after Bvnex’s commencement, Dominik never offered anything productive and acted as if he disappeared. In October, Dominik unilaterally called off BitcoinVN.cloud. I was astounded by his decision and requested him to give a proposal on how to end this business while Dominik only wants to slip away without any proper explanation.
Then after that, everyone knew the story: An invisible, self-claimed ‘business owner’ who never cared about his business and business partners, suddenly jumped out from nowhere to point his finger on those who worked and saved the sinking boat.
It is understandable that Dominik would envy the achievements of Bvnex as within just months without him, Bvnex has now:
- being supported by multiple top blockchain funds
- secured over 40k users
- built a community alliance in both Vietnam and China covering over 300k people
- resumed the partnership with previous projects that was disrupted by Dominik’s careless decision
- secured a stable fiat gateway to allow Vietnamese Dong transactions against crypto currencies
As a member of the Bvnex team, I really don’t mind that Dominik being unhelpful, but the defamatory and false statements of Bvnex he made was beyond toleration. By spreading articles that contain nothing productive but personal attacks against Ms Trang Phung and me, the people who worked so hard alongside him to help achieving what he said he wanted, Dominik has revealed his true color: he refused to withdraw the his false articles unless we pay the ‘ransom’: a ridiculous share of Bvnex revenue that’s way beyond what he deserves. So, in order to protect Bvnex.com and the reputation of Trang Phung as an individual, I hereby make the following statement:
- Dominik had been a part of Bvnex since day 1. His accusation of “history stealing” part is therefore a false statement
- Trang Phung had been the most effort giving person on the BitcoinVN team. Dominik had the full knowledge of Trang’s operation in BitcoinVN and had given full approval to her. Her title as the COO of BitcoinVN was true and legitimate
- Mr. Dominik Weil’s accusation of Bvnex’s operation of being highly risky lacks any evidence. Bvnex applies strict compliance framework of KYC/AML policies, which has always been a questionable part of BitcoinVN’s products, to ensure a safe and sound trading environment
- Due to his serious violation of our agreement, Mr. Dominik Weil is no longer associated with Bvnex.com brand nor with the Bvnex.com team by any means.
And hereby I request the following:
- All media shall cease to spreading the false and defamatory articles by Dominik Weil and his BitcoinVN.io team. Bvnex reserves all rights to take further legal actions against infringements.
- BitcoinVN team shall remove all defamatory materials from their public channels, including but not limited to the website, social media, and blog. We demand a public apology towards Trang Phung as an individual and Bvnex company, through both online and offline channels, by BitcoinVN.io and Mr. Dominik Weil
Bvnex.com is committed to bringing better services and opportunities to crypto asset traders in Vietnam and making the voice of Vietnamese blockchain industry heard by the world. We will keep striving to realizing our vision and we are always grateful to our users and the local communities. If you are willing to contribute to the Vietnamese and Asian blockchain scene, we will always keep the welcoming door open.
