Freewallet discusses Elon Musk after Dogecoin debacle

The Dogecoin saga continues as Freewallet responds to Musk’s claim that their app “sucks” because they don’t provide users with private keys

Freewallet talks Musk with Invezz

In an interview with Invezz, Freewallet have answered to Musk’s claim that their app “sucks” because they do not provide users with private keys.

Freewallet’s Head of PR, Solomon Brown, claimed that Musk was actually talking about “all hosted services” — which is certainly one way of interpreting the tweet.

On the issue of private keys, Brown said that “When you look at all the money that has been lost forever due to forgotten keys and other human errors, we think that it is pretty clear that there is a need for the convenience and security a service like ours provides”.

There is something to be said for this when you consider all the stories of wallet users accidentally locking themselves out of encrypted devices or losing their private keys, such as the programmer that has two guesses left to access his wallet of 7,000 bitcoins.

Freewallet added that, “It is unfathomable that over 20% of the total Bitcoin supply has been lost due to avoidable things, but that is the reality. Hosted wallets are not for everybody, but that is a decision that users should make for themselves.”

On the other hand,  Musk’s argument stems from the fact that many in the crypto community are skeptical of centralising critical user information, such as private keys. The argument goes that holding your own keys makes you your own bank — and not having exclusive access to these puts this idea in jeopardy.

How it started

The argument began yesterday after Musk responded in his characteristic bluntness to a show of support from the wallet provider on holding Dogecoin, tweeting that their app “sucks”. Following this, Freewallet reportedly received backlash from some of Musk’s followers, prompting them to speak to Invezz on the subject earlier today.

Your app sucks

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2021

Tweets from roughly two hours before appeared to show that Musk is actually a customer with Freewallet after he asked for assistance to unlock his account, showing the world’s richest man has some knowledge of the product.

Freewallet were tight-lipped on the subject of Musk being one of their customers: “Unfortunately we can’t comment on this as our policy is to keep all client information private.”

Some replies to the exchange on Twitter showed that others users had also encountered difficulties with the app. Brown said that this was because, “There aren’t many services in the US that support the purchase of Doge. As a result services like ours have experienced peak activity as more and more people are trying to buy it”

Any crypto wallet that won’t give you your private keys should be avoided at all costs

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2021

The CEO of Tesla was also seen to openly criticise Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev last week after it restricted the trading of GME stock, calling Tenev “Vlad the Stock Impaler.”

Freewallet and Musk’s dispute is not the first time the issue of private keys has been raised in the crypto space, with some arguing for greater individual freedom at the expense of an unforgiving loss of your holdings if you lose your keys, and others trying to prioritise user-friendly features, such as centralised recovery measures.

With this in mind, Freewallet has plans to develop a “Lite” wallet where users can have full control over their keys, which would quell concerns over the perceived flaw.