What what!? 

Don't make me go digging through old posts 


Paper claims might, but physical cannot go to zero. Not even close. Physical is unbelievably discounted even now.

This is coming back to the situation of real supply. It doesn't matter how many drawings of an apple you give to a starving man: only a real one will feed him. Likewise, the real economy is at a point where it cannot rely upon illusory counter party promises.

You wouldn't argue that Bitcoin will collapse because of Pirate's default. That's the same as saying that gold will collapse because bank-created representations of gold are failing to function.

Gold does win in both situations. Inflation is an immediate win due to debasement. Deflation of the magnitude we're facing means a catastrophic failure of the existing monetary system.

Either way, blind reliance upon fiat is in decline. Nothing else can provide the monetary function of gold and silver except Bitcoin. The latter is still too small to support the world, though.

Bitcoin & gold/silver - accept no substitute.

Which pool(s) will be used instead, and will GPUMAX be utilized again if Pirate makes good on BTCS&T payouts?

Wins what?

I think we all agreed that Bitcoin has far more room to grow than gold or silver, and at a faster rate. If anything, the prognostication that gold (esp. physical) was collapsing is wrong.

It depends on what you think is worthwhile. Either help build something or spend your time trying to explain what Bitcoin is to the police. Building a service that's in demand creates value; the police will have to understand Bitcoin eventually regardless of whether you explain it or not. Your choice.

I have a problem with taking anyone's word on this information. If it doesn't matter now that Pirate has shut down, why not release it? The accusing party demanded that Pirate release information, yet won't share its own discovery? What's so proprietary about this admittedly inconsequential information? The royal 'we' sounds like an excuse.

I believe there's a word for this: hypocrisy.

Another problem I have - if Pirate was running a scam and this information is relevant, then the longer it takes for it to be opened to further scrutiny, the longer Pirate has to obscure his trail. Intervening during a crime in progress depends heavily on information. As far as I'm concerned right now, the information is either fabricated, or the parties involved with it are obstructing community efforts to discover what's going on.

Or maybe Maged is Pirate, spreading more misinformation.

Classic abdication of responsibility. What are you going to tell them - "Someone stole my Monopoly money"?

Crying over spilt milk in an unregulated and barely recognized environment is foolish. Get over it and forge ahead. How about helping to create a more credible savings business to replace BTCS&T? No? Then stay out of the way with your whimpering and tears.

I figured out the moralistic logic. It's all predicated upon the notion that the world's population exists in an infantile intellectual state, virtually incapable of acting independently on anything more complex than inserting food into the mouth hole.

• Anything that generates a return is a scam because the operators could be misrepresenting data, especially when the business model isn't disclosed and/or is incomprehensible to the uninitiated.
  
• Therefore we're all scammers and should kill ourselves, except for those who screamed 'scam' because they're more human than human.
• Pirate and payb.tc should kill themselves twice, just because.
• The suicide pact shall commence during the passing of a famous asteroid.

Problem solved. The moral dictators will then be able to sit around and mentally masturbate for the rest of their lives, even though nobody else will be around to care.

Maybe I can extrapolate this to education.

• Pay thousands for a college education.
• Work at a company.
• Get laid off.
• Vilify the college, burn down the company.

The first and last parts are interchangeable. Makes perfect sense - about as much as the witch hunt. It's about as actionable, too.

I risked and (maybe) lost. That's more than Team Ponzi can say; they need to get over their bad selves. Now it's time to get back to doing something more worthwhile than making a mockery of holier-than-thou Internet dictators.

Right there.

This has one of three outcomes:

• Pirate absconds and cements a position of infamy in Bitcoin history
• He defaults, but continues in the community with a damaged reputation
• Funds are returned, the naysayers are humiliated, and he secures legendary status in Bitcoin lore

None of these have any truly long term effects on Bitcoin as a system; it remains fundamentally sound.

Nothing goes up in a straight line.

Three steps forward, two steps back.

For the entire duration of this debate, I've been of a mind that it's impossible to know one way or the other without concrete evidence. I still hold that stance.


Pirate's operation has been ongoing for barely a year. If Pirate does end up paying out, you won't have any wiggle room to backtrack on what you've said; your reputation here will be shattered beyond repair.

You may do better pointing people to Albert Bartlett's lectures on exponential functions and letting them figure it out for themselves. The approach that was started with comes off as overly panicked and emotional when many simply won't listen in the first place. That's just part of the process known as life.

I also have yet to get a response from him after asking about his 'proof' as well. As soon as I brought it up and suggested that evidence would change my stance, there were no more replies.

Take it back to your own thread. You're not helping here.

Potentially. Should GPUMAX stop paying out, I'd call the show over and done. I am perturbed by the delay, although it was counterproductive for Pirate to announce his move to close the operation before preparing for it. Right now it's wait-and-see. If you've been following #btcst you'd know that he hasn't disappeared, and has stated his willingness to sacrifice his own profit soon if he can't make progress with the initial plan. Talk is cheap, but we'll see.

As far as I'm concerned, Maged has been more disingenuous by proclaiming evidence that supposedly proves BTCS&T was a fraudulent operation, yet refusing to supply said evidence. If it does turn out that Pirate ran a scam, Micon and most of Team Ponzi were just on a crusade to save people from themselves, but Maged may have had sufficient material to establish proof. To me, that would be a lesser version of withholding the cure for a virulent plague that wipes out a large percentage of the population.

Not surprisingly, the weekly data shows a screaming buy.



Anything in the $8 range is a discount.

There's a massive J2ME market out there just waiting to dabble in Bitcoin the way M-Pesa caught on. Last I knew, some efforts had been attempted, but nothing substantial of late.

Does anyone know more?

Also, has anything been done with the Asterisk setup?

Where's the veeeeeeedeeeeee-oh?!

Getting excited over price is one thing - watching the movement occurring in the background is another. The same applies to Bitcoin - price action has been all over the place, but sentiment toward the system has been gradually approaching wider acceptance. Price eventually follows reality - no matter how long it might take.

Absolutely. The $3k level isn't far off, and that's just a stepping stone.

Now we have to see how well it does going into the weekend close.

Hope everyone took advantage of the 3rd best daily buying opportunity in Bitcoin history a few days ago...



There might be a few more shocks. If so, gold will start closing the gap.

Guess what? GPUMAX is slow paying out today - Team Ponzi prepare to freak/panic/scream in 3... 2... 1...

Edit: Nevermind, I got mine just after posting.