Crypto Tycoons Spar Over Alleged 30,000 Bitcoin Debt

Chen Weixing made a number of accusations in a WeChat post on June 9, taking aim at Li Xiaolai, a successful Chinese cryptocurrency investor and an early bitcoin evangelist in the country.

The reason, Chen alleged, was that Li had spent all the raised bitcoins on Just-Dice, a bitcoin gambling site.

"Everyone who's been in blockchain industry long enough knows this. I'm not lying," Chen wrote.

Having offered no proof to back his claim, Chen's accusation of a 30,000 BTC debt - an amount worth nearly $200 million at press time - immediately stirred up heated discussion in the Chinese crypto community.

As the allegation emerged, Li originally said he did not care to comment on the accusation and it was Chen's responsibility to present evidence to back up his claim.

On Wednesday, Chen took another shot at Li, publishing 11 further allegations against Li, which also accused him of luring retail investors during the bull market in order to liquidate his profits.

"Once again, it's not true. The fund was a private equity 'equivalent to 20 million yuan.' And I never promised to guarantee the fund's value using bitcoin. My quote was 'We hope can outrun the bitcoin market.' As for the 'due in September' part, the fund was set up in a '4+1' model, so it ought to due in September this year. Chen is just muddying the water."

Li went further, saying that Chen has no evidence to back up the claims, which are "Blunt defamation."

In a response to CoinDesk, Li said he is "Definitely" mulling the option of taking proper legal measures against Chen.

Chen has not yet publically responded to Li's article and could not be reached by CoinDesk for comment.