Anatomy of Justin Sun’s Hostile Takeover of the Steem Blockchain
The only thing more stunning was the lies he told to explain the takeover
It was a pretty ordinary Monday until I turned my attention to what was going on at Steem. News was just starting to break about a hostile takeover of the Steem chain by Justin Sun of the @tronfoundation and the new owner of Steemit Inc. and steemit.com.
It was a stunning counter-attack in response to a defensive step the chain’s governance had taken a week earlier.
What set all this in motion?
Getting Through the Cryptowinter
In the midst of a lengthy cryptowinter, Steemit Inc had been forced to lay off 70% of their development team in November 2018. The move caused considerable concern on Steem as Steemit Inc was the primary block development firm.
Out of the uncertainty came a greater awareness that while Steemit Inc was an integral part of the platform, the level and pace of development happening with the various dapps would mean the chain would continue even if Steemit Inc didn’t. Confidence as a community grew.
Steemit Inc didn’t go away though.
