Bitcoin Forum

List of VIP Donators (50 BTC)
There are a special group of VIPs that donated 50BTC to the forum. This is that club.
It is interesting to see that some profiles are abandoned while others went out to scam.
Some of them changed their names and some were hard to track down...

https://i.imgur.com/f5GOovy.png
Smart1985 – https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=25340 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=25340)
Was the main culprit behind a german investment scam. Suspect account is hacked (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=37320.0;topicseen)

https://i.imgur.com/BODfQGH.png
Canaca - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=40831  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=40831)

https://i.imgur.com/4QRPN8r.png
casascius -  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2676 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2676)
Founder of casascius bitcoins (https://www.casascius.com/)

https://i.imgur.com/LQDSjrp.png
mndrix - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2538  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2538)
 Coinpal founder  (http://coinpal.ndrix.com/)

https://i.imgur.com/3RivmgE.png
Als Pawnshop- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=42277 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=42277)  

https://i.imgur.com/je9a8uG.png
btcx - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=35541 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=35541)
 (kraken founder (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=159974.0)
 maxbtc pool founder (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=68734.0)

https://i.imgur.com/tD0I98J.png
Brian DeLoach- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=33295 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=33295)

https://i.imgur.com/kOlssZw.png
zhoutong - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=38455 2017 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=38455 2017)
coinjar founder (https://www.coinjar.com/)

https://i.imgur.com/dkq2Ml4.png
Metabank.ru - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=14120  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=14120)
Regulators shut down metabank (in russian) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=30861.msg4789402#msg4789402)

https://i.imgur.com/6JVvAGF.png
BTC_Bear - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=18021 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=18021)

https://i.imgur.com/i7P01x9.png
pirateat40 - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=35827  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=35827)
BREAKING: SEC Charges pirateat40 With Running Bitcoin-Denominated Ponzi Scheme (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=261290.0)

https://i.imgur.com/CbtX88V.png
znort987 - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=5218  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=5218)

https://i.imgur.com/a8dt3ME.png
jorgen - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1881 2017 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1881 2017)

https://i.imgur.com/TTRJ70B.png
Graet – (escrow default) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=17548 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=17548)
allegations (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=218324.0)

https://i.imgur.com/iIeKf24.png
gigavps - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=19617 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=19617) jamesg AKA: gigavps

https://i.imgur.com/dvb5Kvn.png
cryptoxchange – (bust) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=40345  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=40345)
CryptoXchange shut down (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=126724.0)

https://i.imgur.com/yrFAeYY.png
BitAvenue - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=54967 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=54967)  

https://i.imgur.com/ZWTYaOD.png
Goat - El Cabron  - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=44233 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=44233)
Allegations (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=62139.0)

https://i.imgur.com/CtqcfDa.png
Btc4Domains - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=55117  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=55117)

https://i.imgur.com/cwliD8f.png
mrbrown - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=57532 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=57532)

https://i.imgur.com/IgjhTzm.png
01BTC10 - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=51328 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=51328)

https://i.imgur.com/ejSrdTS.png
imsaguy - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=37137  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=37137)

https://i.imgur.com/6qNmZxD.png
cablepair - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=10804  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=10804)
BTCFPGA.com/bitcoinasic.net/ failed mining equipment supplier (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=140472.0)

https://i.imgur.com/ULozlRd.png
BitcoinBaltar - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=4214 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=4214)

https://i.imgur.com/XqPYBhP.png
usagi - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=29927 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=29927)

https://i.imgur.com/7EotrAc.png
BCB – https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=54113 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=54113)

https://i.imgur.com/UrPtg7S.png
eb3full - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=64221  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=64221)

https://i.imgur.com/AavSJHX.png
MemoryDealers - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=10310 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=10310) (bitcoin.com owner)
bitcoin.com owner Roger Ver

https://i.imgur.com/5mZ7baA.png
augustocroppo - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=50315 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=50315)

https://i.imgur.com/V5JDWhU.png
buzzdave - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=59574 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=59574)
Mining farm / cloud mining founder (https://www.giga-watt.com/)

https://i.imgur.com/v35fZfx.png
Dustin D. Trammell a.k.a. I)ruid - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=23696 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=23696)

https://i.imgur.com/60nrY5f.png
XMLGold - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=65749 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=65749)
xmlgold founder (https://www.xmlgold.eu/)

https://i.imgur.com/hiVbmTT.png
bitconexfoier - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=78384 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=78384)

https://i.imgur.com/Jxid46K.png
johnascii - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=78443 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=78443)

https://i.imgur.com/dLG8xEt.png
Hexadecibel - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=49517 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=49517)

https://i.imgur.com/bbuYMcv.png
mLiberty - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=102207 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=102207)

https://i.imgur.com/uHMb9C3.png
lixiaolai  - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=36145  (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=36145)

https://i.imgur.com/mtMPpWE.png
TradeFortress - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=67058 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=67058)
CoinLenders, Inputs.io, Tradefortress (HACK) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=328053.0)

https://i.imgur.com/6G4KyB7.png
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=38071.msg3272219#msg3272219

https://i.imgur.com/e5TKKUE.png
Mt.Gox Support https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=42942 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=42942)
Hacked exchange Mt.Gox (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4412667.0)

https://i.imgur.com/2aFk0DI.png
MagicalTux https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2134 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2134)
Mark Karpeles (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4412667.0)

https://i.imgur.com/CNGIHX2.png
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2436 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2436)
Hal Finney - recipient of the first bitcoin transaction. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0)

VIP donors (https://bitcointalk.org/donate.html)

EDIT: Added info.
The Bitcointalk 10 BTC Donators - where are they now ? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4432338.0)

It is funny how many of them have made stupid choices or fuck up someone. I think many of these should still use an altcoin. And some still access the forum with this account, but few comments. This should tell a lot about the current situation of the forum and the difficulty of finding a good topic to discuss a more serious matter.

Nice effort. i have two comments, putting images between [img] is easier than clicking on it one by one but the topic will take much longer to load + we cannot see the full list because not everything can be loaded... I prefer to put the full list in [.code] then you can keep images at the end.
Now, if you want to keep the images, i recommend using default trust.

Does anyone know how much 50 BTC was worth when they donated?

It really depends on exactly when they made the donation. If it was in 2011 it could range from $25 to $800. I remember reading in 2013 that the amount was supposed to be around 1 months server hosting costs. The price range at that time 50 BTC would have been $1,500 to $2,500 until later in the year when the run up to $1,200 for 1 BTC happened. I doubt if anyone purchased after that.

Phishing? I never see thebitcointalk.net url before. Since this forum using bitcointalk.org and not thebitcointalk.net. Maybe you can change it to bitcointalk.org instead of that suspicious site.

Edited.

He has modified the settings of his trust. So trust numbers for some accounts are not correct.

---

Also, there are some posts overlapping with images such as **Please delete it
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=30861.msg4789402#msg4789402 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=30861.msg4789402#msg4789402)

This site seems to work like bitcointalk.to

---

The baffling thing is that the last update for this list is "April 2017", Is it possible for an account to make a donation after the price of the Bitcoin exceeds $ 1,000?
Source ---->https://bitcointalk.org/donate.html (https://bitcointalk.org/donate.html)

In April 2013 the price range for BTC was $50 to $230. All those VIP listed above were registered in 2012 or before. I haven't checked the Donator list but it is possible that there was a 10 BTC ($500 to $2,300) donation at that time.

Edit I misread 2017 for 2013. A $10,000 donation is possible I suppose.

This forum is pretty representative of what the whole crypto ecosystem looks like. It's filled with fools and other money hungry individuals nursing their greed, which we can thank the in-process mainstream adoption for. Every person joining this forum but also the crypto ecosystem in general is less likely going to contribute, and it's only going to become worse.

Plenty of them moved over to Reddit, but even that platform has been nuked by trolls, shills, beggars and other fools. We can only adapt to the situation and make the best out of what is left. At the end of the day, no one is forced to stay at this forum. People have the freedom to create their own forum if they think Bitcointalk isn't the right place for them.

Also, some of the oldies might have sold the majority of their coins later on, which gives them less incentive to be active here. It's not only the state of this forum they try to avoid; there is always more than the obvious.

Please visit this thread. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2813854.0). roslinpl has raised a valid point. I suggest that the OP removed that suspicious link as others might fall for that phishing site. And I remember one user get phished because he complained in his local boards that he/she can get in and his password and email was changed and then we found that the screenshot was not bitcointalk.org but that phishing site.

I just found the link (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2813854.0) as you posted it. I've already removed the links.


It is a suspect site - it was from the google results. Edited and removed it. Thank you for spotting that.


I think I have default trust set. Some of the images were accidentally taken from a clone site (google result) - now changed so it did not show the trust.
At the time it was late and I thought it was just legacy accounts but as another user pointed out it is a suspect site (so I have changed all the links and those images).

I'm not quite sure I understand your [.code] suggestion.

In the early days of the forum it was an extension of the Crypherpunks mailing list. It was a collection of IT savvy crypto enthusiasts. Main discussion was about code development and the eco-system.  Interesting trades were being done.

Now that cypto is more mainstream there are fewer public discussions about code development.

A lot of user on here are "tip lickers" (looking for free tips, airdrops and bounties). That has resulted in a lot more low quality posts and repetitive discussions lacking substance.

This thread was created as an extension of The most iconic bitcointalk threads. History on Bitcointalk. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4322078.0) to document some of the development that this forum has been a catalyst for. Some of the early adapters succeeded while other failed miserably or scammed others.  


+1

OP, your findings make an interesting read. With all sense of responsibility, I think those who donated that huge amount of BTC did so when Bitcoin was worthless or if you like "when it was at pizza level" No sane person can do that now, not even the world's wealthiest. Those donors datelines for account openings on BTT points to that era of bitcoin unawares. And that is why some of the VIP donors attempted scamming later. Perhaps, they wanted to recoup that money having realized the appreciation bitcoin has recorded and of its high price.

It is very interesting that many top donators have the top lowest rating on the forum :). And in general, pirateat40 was implicated in one of the most ambitious bitcoin ponzi scheme.


I think that actually it is a great thing, that forum is flooded with new people, it is no meter how full or money hungry they are, becouse they are helping mass adoption.


Currently for sure they will not contribute, but they will learn something, much likely this forum helps them in it, and some of them may contribute 5 or 10 years from now, I am sure that several years ago things were better on this forum, but everything is changing, and I think that this current changes is also for better.

There are a few missing. For example, where is:

Mt.Gox Support (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=42942)
MagicalTux (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2134)

edit: Forgot Hal Finney :o

Interesting, it seems many of them receive negative trust, not sure if it is a typical ratio of negative trusted accounts though.

Where is Hal (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2436)? One of the most important person in Bitcoin History is missing from this list  ???

Most of the donators have received negative trust since they were scammers and ran ponzi schemes which were exposed lately!

Not on the list for some reason. https://bitcointalk.org/donate.html

Did they change their names after donating?

No they didn't change their names. They may have been omitted from the list by oversight. They don't appear on the later list either.


I've added those.

OK, so another theory. Maybe they didn't donate 50 BTC but were gifted the VIP status because of their contribution to Bitcoin and the forum.

Yeah - I did think that could have been the case. Especially with Hal being a bitcoin icon.

Mark Karpeles (MtGox) provided the hosting and provided technical services to bitcointalk from 2011 onwards. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=42572.0 so probably provided services well in excess of the 2011 50BTC value.

Right. I posted about this somewhere when I did it.

IIRC MagicalTux also got VIP without paying 50 BTC because he contributed significant resources in other ways.

Funny how many of them turned out to be complete criminals--Mt. Gox, pirateat40, and TradeFortress are the first ones I noticed.  I don't recognize many of the other members, so they probably wised up and went elsewhere after realizing that bitcointalk has been infested with spammers and there's not much real discussion going on.  Either that or they're so busy spending their millions that they have no time for discussion forums.  

Who woulda thought that those 50BTC they donated in 2011 (or whenever) would be worth so much in 2018?  That aspect of this still blows my mind.  I try to keep in mind that in 2025 we could be thinking much the same thing about the bitcoin we held in 2018.  Anyway, great thread OP.
You had to quote the whole fucking OP just for that???

Interesting thread. Fun how most of them were at one stage involved with dodgy/dishonest activities.

I think the "dodgy" is a sliding scale.

There are those that are clearly dishonest.

There are those that get into financial trouble due to their own fault  and hide it / try to trade out of it and then become dishonest.

There are those that get into financial trouble due to no fault of their own and hide it / try to trade out of it and then become dishonest.

There are those that get into financial trouble and cannot pay back their creditors.

This is one of the things that I realized with Mark Karpeles - he would have been a multi-millionaire if he had just held onto his original bitcoin and never started MtGox.
Without MtGox - bitcoin may have never reached the peaks it did and without MtGox some people would still have their bitcoins. Without the lessons learned from MtGox it could have been another exchange that ended up the same way. I never lost any bitcoin to MtGox (I wasn't into crypto yet) and I have a bias towards exchanges because I know just how hard they are to run and the amount of attempted attacks they get daily.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=38071.msg3272219#msg3272219

https://i.imgur.com/6G4KyB7.png

Thanks for confirming that. I found the post.

A disproportionate number of VIPs ran a business on the forum -- they likely donated the 50 BTC as a way of giving back to the community -- and many businesses failed for one reason or another, and failed businesses often have similar characteristics of a scam. 

The barriers to entry into most "industries" were very low back then, a lot of community members were more trusting with their coins than they probably should have been, and it took longer than normal for things like poor management and poor security practices to be exposed.

I suspect that some of the VIPs who have only one or two posts likely were involved in some kind of shady dealings and have subsequently deleted their posts to cover their tracks....this may have been the result of outright scams, or it may have been the result of poor management and/or deals that went poorly.

As far as I know, it's only proved that pirateat40 was criminal, but he was caught, and did 18 months in prison, so he probably does not have a millions, although maybe he could get rich after that, because to run such a scheme as he did you need to be at least an intelligent guy.

And as for the rest, Mt. Gox, and TradeFortress has not been proven to be scammers, but they are of course to blame that many people have suffered and lost a lot of money.

I suspect they figured that VIP membership would make them appear more legitimate, so as to lure in more victims. That's actually why I never bought VIP membership: I don't want any guilt by association. :-\

I agree. A failed business is not a "scam". But people who lose money or assets don't see it that way. I agree that most of the VIPs took risks and ran businesses and most of them with a large degree of success.


Hindsight is great for detecting security lapses. Management of chaos is difficult. Startups and pioneering technology has unknown risks that become obvious with hindsight.


I suspect the ones that only made a couple of posts are alts of other accounts or left the scene after an exchange collapsed.

Karpeles has a previous French conviction "https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1227216-karpeles-english.html"

Karpeles has spent time in prison and is currently still facing charges for unauthorized loans and charged with fraud and embezzlement, and manipulating the Mt. Gox computer system (willy bot) to increase the balance in an account (not related to the missing 650000 bitcoins).
MtGox history (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4412667.0)

But the case has not yet been tried so not yet proven.

Despite of the massive catastrophic disaster when MtGox collapsed - MtGox was also responsible for some of the success of bitcoin and Karpeles did many good things.

The willy bot - if proven would have been responsible for artificially inflating the price of bitcoin.


Other than perhaps the exception of a few - I'd disagree. I don't think there was much of an ulterior motive. 50 BTC was about US$250 at the time.

Nice list! This is a trip down the memory lane for me.

wait, you still active?

I think his account has been hacked again. It was actively trolling a year or so back. No way the posts could  seriously be mistaken for actually being him.

Here's an example of a very serious looking loan request.

Lol @ shitcoins daytrading an timtams.

My account isn’t hacked. I’m actually continuing to make repayments to the best of my ability.

Out of curiosity, what is your criteria for repaying what you owe?

When you're handling other people's money, failure due to negligence or incompetence may be considered a crime.
OTOH, I agree that there was usually no or very little criminal intention in many of the failed businesses of the past.
So I don't hold any grudges.

Mark was a kid. Mark was a subpar coder. Mark had too much money at his hands and became cocky about his success.
What could possibly go wrong? ::)

Looking back, I think its worth mentioning that many of the important players in Bitcoin's early ecosystem's development were kids with too much money. Which is probably a good enough explanation for the amount of failure we've seen.

Then again, I'm an old grumpy man and always complain about the young ::)

As if you have the balls to still hang around here.

Unbelievable that you’re not incarcerated.

OK, if that's the case you owe me 0.04 BTC for being in your signature campaign.

Hahaha

I'm an old grumpy man and (with the exception of my limited area of expertise)...am a subpar coder.  ;D

To run an exchange takes big cojones. A lot of the guys with the skills to do it can earn well - doing less risky ventures.

I don't consider CL and Inputs personal obligations. Inputs lost the majority of its funds due to the 4100 BTC hack, and CoinLender's lost its balance sheets with the bitcoin securities implosion that happened; especially ASICMINER. It's really regretful what happened, I'm sorry, and I wish it all turned out differently. I was pretty young (very under 18) at that time and bit off far more than I could chew. I also treated bitcoins, bitcoin securities, and my businesses like a game / hobby, and the financial impact and magnitude took me (and I think everyone in bitcoin at that time) by surprise with the rally of 2013.

At the moment I'm just working through the list of people who did not receive anything from CL or Inputs (and have records of such). I'm also going through people who have settled for low amounts back in 2013, and offering a top-up. The pool of funds that this is coming from is limited (for example, I did manage to get into Ethereum pretty early), so it'll be available until all funds for repayments are gone. I know people have lost money, and unfortunately there's no way I can conjure the lost 4100 BTC or CL's junk assets, but I'm doing my best to have a positive outcome for people with balances from 2013.

If you haven't been contacted yet, feel free to PM me. :) If you're one of the people that I have recently repaid, feel free to chime in here if you'd like.

Sorry for derailing the thread