An Australian bitcoin buying site is great, but CoinJar?  Hmmm. What's wrong with that? Is it because of our funny name? |
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Hi Bitcointalk, I'm Ryan Zhou (aka zhoutong). I recently joined a Melbourne-based Bitcoin startup with two other co-founders Asher (Australian economist and business writer) and Jerrold (Enterprise software engineer with 10 years of experience). I think it's great to give bitcointalk forum members a quick update and overview about what we are doing and how we are improving the Bitcoin economy. CoinJar: https://coinjar.io/"CoinJar is a Melbourne-based startup bridging the divide between digital currency and the dollars in your wallet. Bitcoin was naturally the best place to start, being the world's leading digital currency. Founded in 2013, we quickly caught the eye of early start-up investor AngelCube who have generously provided us seed funding and mentorship." Currently we offer three Bitcoin services: CoinJar CoinJar is a hosted Bitcoin wallet ("hosted" means "store just enough for transactional purposes and NEVER use it for savings") that integrates well with other parts of the platform. To be honest, there's nothing too much we can innovate on Bitcoin hosted wallets because they are so simple. However, we aim to deliver the best possible user experience. Aside from the web, we are also building an iPhone app for CoinJar wallet with great mobile experience (finally). Please note that CoinJar wallet is a full-reserve platform with automated sweep to cold storage and we will never use customer funds for our business expenses. That said, be aware with any hosted wallet service. We recommend against our users to use CoinJar for Bitcoin savings. Always use cold storage! CoinJar CheckoutCoinJar Checkout is the best Bitcoin merchant solution. We provide a PayPal-compatible API (in addition to our standard RESTful API) to help any online merchant to integrate. On top of that, industry-standard features: 1% fee, daily settlement in local currency (Australia only for now) and exchange rate guaranteed for 15 minutes. CoinJar FillerThis is our killer app. Most other Australian Bitcoin buying sites charge excessive fees (usually 8-10%) and we really HATE to see that. A high fee will severely limit adoption and result in bad consumer confidence. Even though Australia has a well-developed financial system, when it comes to anything related retail foreign exchange services, it's a straight-up nightmare (even major banks in Australia all charge ridiculous ~4% spread each side for AUD/USD TT rate). As a full-service Bitcoin startup, we have sufficient liquidity available from our merchant solution and arrangements with institutional forex brokers (who give us wholesale rates), we want to pass on the savings to consumers by charging a just 2% flat fee. Both Checkout and Filler are Australia-only for now, but we are definitely interested in expanding overseas. (Contact us at info@coinjar.io if you're interested in partnerships. Please reference this post when you contact us.) We also have a by-product: Melbourne Bitcoin Euthusiasts meetup! ( http://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Bitcoin/) I attended yesterday's first meet-up session with 17 other Bitcoiners. It was really a great event and CoinJar plans to do it approximately every two months. So please join the meetup group if you're located in Melbourne! Let me know if you have any feedback with our service offerings. Feel free to comment in the forum post. We are in the process of setting up a company bitcointalk account. |
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ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....
If it helps, I'm looking to buy BTC for Australian dollars, I'm always in or close to Melbourne, Victoria and happy to trade in-person. Now you can buy Bitcoin at CoinJar ( https://coinjar.io) using AUD, a Melbourne-based startup I co-founded with two other guys. CoinJar Filler charges only 2% fee. |
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I'll travel to the United States in July. But this event is in May. So I can't attend. |
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I didn't (carefully  ) make any specific wagers, but Ok, $5 worth of bitcoins are coming your way, just for posting this video. It was worth it Thanks for the coins. I really appreciate it and I promise will put it into good use, for Bitcoin. I did it mostly for entertainment though. I just don't have the habit of recording myself and sharing with everyone. If I ever launch another Bitcoin product, I will definitely be happy to do a Skype video interview with Bitcoin Magazine or whatever Bitcoin-related media. |
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I think you are quite egocentristic, you believe you deserve TWO threads for yourself personally in Bitcoin Discussion? Nobody knows/cares who you are.
I really hope no one knows. LOL. I had a bad time in this community but I'm not giving up and just create a new account. I love Bitcoin and I will continue doing business with my real name. |
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So let's see. My bet is that he will continue to either ignore any such requests or come up with more and more ridiculous excuses not to do it. Either way, it will be entertaining to observe Neither. You just lost your bet. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=186261.0Wait... What was your wager? |
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There is an increased speculation that my identity is questionable. As almost no other Bitcoiners know me personally, I think a video introduction may be of great help to clarify some of the issues. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNVeuwxbqb0This video was shot just now using my iPhone. I included today's ASX All Ordinaries index in the video to prove the date. I also showed my credit card issued by Commonwealth Bank of Australia recently with my full name. I hope the speculation of whether I'm really 18 or not can come to an end. After all it's not at all important. I won't accept any requests for similar entertainment in the near future and I will focus on my work. |
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I contributed 5,000 BTC and talked to the creditors regularly exactly because I wanted to avoid any lawsuits against me. I'd like to remind you ; That 5000BTC !,,, You've thrown it out of the window, You haven't verified claims other than maybe glancing over them for a minute. That is an irresponsible move only someone with too many illegitimately acquired BTCs would pull while seeking both repentance and praises from the public. You're a wise ass, but time will get it back to you. At least I sent the largest portion of the compensation to Roger Ver, whom I know and trust very much. I believe I have also verified all claims above 1000 BTC. There may be some rough claims of 10 BTC or 50 BTC, but they represent a tiny proportion. Again, it's my money and you have no right over the allocation of the sum. EDIT: Trace the coins all you can. Aside from the 100 BTC donated by hacker I'm pretty sure the rest are legitimate coins once stored in either Mt. Gox or Bitcoinica. |
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Zhou,
Don't be discouraged by all of the negative posts you see here. There are plenty of people watching this from the sidelines just to see how this plays out that are really on your side here. You have a lot more potential than you imagine.
Thanks Maged. I did receive a few PMs and many more emails. Some people are still happy to invite to join their startups despite all this drama. I'm here much more prepared this time, with two fairly successful businesses and frequent contacts with my best friends on a daily basis. I have also spoken to a counsellor last year. So it's not really that easy to be discouraged, to be honest. |
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Sorry ninjarobot. I was really annoyed and depressed at that time so I didn't give a response to you. However, I have replied your email with his bank account and address information that I currently have. Hope it'll be helpful to whatever you plan to do.
Thanks Zhou. I have received it and will pass it on to the Bitcoinica Liquidator. I'm a little disturbed by the fact that you posted my email reply publicly without my permission. My apologies. I realize it was a bit of a d*ck move. However I do feel it is important that the whole truth is revealed and there were no disclaimers on the email. I should have asked for your permission though. I appreciate your understanding. I said those words because I trusted you not to use any of the information against me (not strictly legal context, but rather more applicably, social context). I wanted to show some good faith and integrity but the community's blame had hurt all my confidence. |
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Some of you are right. I shouldn't really start this thread. It will just bring back all the arguments all over again.
I have posted conclusive evidence that I was traveling during the Bitcoinica hack and it's consistent with my claim that I was dealing with a Singapore friend (in-person) for the LR transfer.
I was trying to give as many details as possible regarding CJH's involvement. That's pretty much all the available information I have. He returned almost all funds but in the wrong asset combination, and Bitcoinica failed to adjust the recovered funds to the right combination, as a result BTC liability has rocketed before the liquidation has shown any progress.
There are good reasons for the forum to not label me a Scammer. One of them is the fact that I'm not. The other is the lack of conclusive evidence. I trust forum admin's rational consideration and our community will be more harmonious if there can be less finger-pointing and heartless accusations. I'm still a teenager and it was really not easy to have gone through this.
It's perhaps better for me to silently focus on my work and deliver something good for Bitcoin that doesn't require much trust. My reputation is pretty much ruined in this community regardless of how much evidence I bring to the table. (It's easy to blame people.)
Again, just want to say that I'm back, for the good. You always need to choose who to trust carefully and I'm well aware that any project I create in the future will only gain as much credibility as a Newbie with 5 posts.
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I agreed and waited for Zhou to return to Melbourne. However upon his return Zhou ignored all my follow up emails. I have never been able to obtains any details about Chen from Zhou nor have I been able to file an actionable report. In the mean time Bitcoinica creditors are still smack in the middle of what must be the largest clusterf*ck in bitcoin history with the MtGox account orphaned and frozen. The AurumXchange funds still missing and an ongoing lawsuit against the Bitcoin Consultancy by the largest creditors. Considering that Bitcoinica had around 1M USD in deposits when it got hacked, and conservatively estimating 50% of that to be in BTC, at current valuations we are talking in excess of 15,000,000 USD still pending liquidation. Or what is left of it.
Now, Zhou returns 1 year later, hoping the dust has settled with his "Hero member" tag still in tact. Well played sir!
I suggest that at the very least Zhou receives an "Untrustworthy" tag. Although I do realize that might be an insult to MNW whom I regard much more highly.
Sorry ninjarobot. I was really annoyed and depressed at that time so I didn't give a response to you. However, I have replied your email with his bank account and address information that I currently have. Hope it'll be helpful to whatever you plan to do. I'm a little disturbed by the fact that you posted my email reply publicly without my permission. It's not a big deal but I was really emotional at that time (and I wouldn't have said those words if it's not private communication). It'll be great if you can treat it as strictly personal rather than public announcement. |
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The code may be bad (a lot better now), but that's not the direct cause of the hacks. The infrastructure is a bigger problem. As I was the only guy building infrastructure, I will take the responsibility.
Objectives for my next project:
- Test code ratio: 1.5 : 1
- LOC/M: 5-6
- Leave infrastructure to a more experienced sysadmin/security professional that I personally know
I don't think you've figured it out yet zhoutong. The problem you have is figuring out who to trust and who to work with. 1.) You chose to work with Bitcoin Consultancy (genjix). FAIL. 2.) One of your partners stole stole your password. You trusted his computer. FAIL. 3.) You prefer the one-man-team where you code and do everything, trusting little to no one. FAIL. 4.) You hosted Bitcoinica in the cloud and trusted them, and put the wallet in the cloud losing tens of thousands of BTCs. FAIL. So in your objectives you need, " Learn who to trust". I didn't choose my partners. I sold Bitcoinica in 2011. I can take only advisory responsibility for anything happened in 2012. |
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I know very little about you, but I have read all of your responses in the thread and I can say with the utmost certainty that you are NOT 18 years of age. With that said, if you're lying about that simple fact, then I have significant doubts about everything else you're saying.
Unless he has excellent counterfeit ID, he's 18. He was able to incorporate NameTerrific as a company on his 18th birthday and that requires producing valid ID here. Saw that you posted a plane ticket from when you were 16? or 17? Are minors allowed to fly internationally by themselves and go through singapore and aussie customs? Yes. More interesting is that fact that the stamps are on PAGE 20 of his alleged passport. That's a heck of a lot of traveling for someone under 18. It's amazing that some of you folks actually believe this perps story. Chinese ports stamp near the visa page. Other ports stamp near other stamps. There are a few empty pages before Page 20. |
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I know very little about you, but I have read all of your responses in the thread and I can say with the utmost certainty that you are NOT 18 years of age. With that said, if you're lying about that simple fact, then I have significant doubts about everything else you're saying.
Unless he has excellent counterfeit ID, he's 18. He was able to incorporate NameTerrific as a company on his 18th birthday and that requires producing valid ID here. I didn't produce ID when I incorporate the company. ASIC doesn't require that nowadays. But directorship is always linked to my credit file, so there's no benefit to lie. |
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Let me say a few things, Zhou Tong. I don't know if Bitcoinica was properly registered and where, but if it was, then CJH should be a member of the company and we should be able to see his name on some documents, or otherwise he shouldn't get access to the password, which is the company's assets, right? If you are not careful with that, then you have to prepare for the consequences, which is what you're experiencing now:you are unable to prove your innocence. For another, providing that you told the truth about the hacking incident, you were still being irresponsible for not properly storing the company's funds in cold wallets.
Whatever maybe the case, try to stay low key, your return will not be something worth celebrating about as many people, especially victims of the hacking incident, will remain suspicious about you.
Read the old thread in which Zhou trots out the Chinese relic collector story and how that person just happened to have access to Zhou's password. It's pretty amusing. I explained it 11 months ago and no one read. Plenty of people read it. It sounded like a crock of shit then and it still sounds like a crock of shit now. No. It was a confusion. The "password" in the reply to Goat referred to the password of the sock puppet account. It had nothing to do with Bitcoinica. |
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Welcome back Zhou.
Look forward to seeing your contributions.
I will raise hell though if you are ever in a position of receiving funds.
But then again, I'm sure you know better and are or would be using another
name and invented identity to run a "bitcon" business
Good Luck! I really do hope the best for you. I'll give you a second chance on
everything except trust.
Thanks. I have been using my real name to do business for my whole life and it's really inconvenient to invent a new identity. So I won't do it. Trust is not a problem. If I make something that accepts deposits I will most likely impose a small "balance upper limit" (e.g. 10 BTC) that's sufficient to enjoy the services. Since it won't be another exchange, there should be no reason to leave a large amount of balance for a long period of time. |
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Seems like it, right? But no, he's still 18 for a few more months.
Well, that's maybe what it says on his profile, but he sure sounds like an adult. If he worked for Microsoft, they probably wouldn't hire a 17-years old, would they? And for pictures he could use his son. Did anybody actually met him in person? Melbourne is a big city, there should be plenty of bitcoiners there. That's a lie told by AurumXchange. I've never worked for Microsoft. (I didn't even use any Microsoft product at that time.) Very few people have met me so far, but I'm going to be more open as part of the "comeback". I'll try to attend as many Bitcoiner events as possible. |
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