Hey guys,

This is still in progress. Original developer project collapsed and I've had to restart it. I'm spending a considerable amount to make a beautiful new site/service, totally redone.

Will post more when there is something to show. I know this has taken forever, but it will rise like a phoenix.

-Erik

The graphic was bought from ShutterStock (by myself) with proper license for commercial use.

From the SD developer...

"The web server has a GeoIP database, but this can certainly have inaccuracies. I have updated the GeoIP database to the latest available. Visiting via VPN from Canada, it appears to work for me.

However, it depends on his [dooglus] specific ISP and whether the GeoIP database has their IP range accurately associated with Canada in the GeoIP database.

If this doesn't solve it for him, we could consider adding some special case rules, such as specifically allowing his IP address (or a range of addresses) through the check.

(Technically, I can't update the GeoIP database file itself, but I could add special-case code to our Terms of Service check.)"

Dooglus - do you have any suggestions for this issue? Any other canadians (or other non-US players) getting blocked?

This just went up on Lawrence Expressway in San Jose, California. Brought to you by Bitcoin Jesus.

The upside-down flag is a symbol of national distress. It was intentional.

Of course I wouldn't let it die.

The new plan is not in violation of anything. I can pay myself my dividend, and then send that amount to the SD wallet pool. Everyone else will get their dividends like normal, I'm just sending mine back in.

Let me step back a bit here.

My last few posts were unprofessional. I apologize for the tone. Having a bad day dealing with government bureaucracy =/

I absolutely should have disclosed that there was a betting pool, and that this pool consisted of the loan from me. The reason I did not was because I figured since there was a liability (the loan) and an asset (the 6100 btc in the wallet) the two cancelled out and needn't be mentioned. Obviously this was retarded of me. Again, I apologize. And I understand why such disclosure is so important even if the asset remains there - for situations like this!

I understand also that as a shareholder, being asked to forgo a month of dividends in order to replenish a fund which you didn't know existed is upsetting. I should have recognized this before I posted.

I'll continue with the last plan I mentioned. My dividends for June will be retained by the site for the betting pool. S.Dice holders will receive dividends as normal. I'm sorry for the drama today, I can see it was largely because of me and how I approached the issue and responded to you guys.

Back to work.

Alright. This isn't worth the drama.

- June dividends will go out as normal.
- Ill withdraw my 6100 btc loan at the end of the month
- My own June dividend will be retained and that will be used as the betting pool

In effect, this won't change things much from the current situation. I'll bear the whole cost of the betting pool, it'll just be smaller now.

Nowhere was it ever mentioned by me that SD owned a big pile of bitcoins. I guess people just assumed this. My mistake for letting the site use my coins since the beginning.

Enjoy your dividends this month.

OMG why is this so complicated for you guys?!

This 6100 BTC is not a "giant liability" of SD. It is sitting in a wallet, getting used by SD as a betting pool. If I withdraw it, then SD is not "in debt by 6100 btc"... there is not some huge 6100 btc hole. It's like if I had been letting SD use my personal hosting account for free, and then one day said, "he guys, we need to get a hosting account for SD because I don't want it using mine anymore." And then people yell, "zomg that is so terrible how could you let SD use your account!!"

Amazing that letting SD use this money for 9 months, for free, turns into accusations of fraud.

I can't claim a loan to s.dice for 1,000,000 btc. The 6,100 actually exists in SD's wallets. So when I withdraw that, SD won't have lost money... it simply won't have a big betting pool any more. If I tried to claim some illegitimate loan, then when I withdraw it back to me, it will come from.... where? It wouldn't be real, thus an obvious lie.

So that's not a good comparison but I understand what you are saying.

Well the thing about suprises is that there is no way for me to announce something without it being a surprise upon announcement, no? How can I convey new information to the community without it being the first time they've heard it? I'm trying to give people a heads up, and make the announcement 2-3 weeks before the end of the month.

Again, it could be done gradually... I'm just the "rip the bandaid off quickly" type of person. Really, this has been a massive free loan to SD shareholders. I'd like to end the loan because it's been bothering me since BTC went up 10x, so solving the issue with one month of earnings seems ideal. Again, 87% of those dividends would've been going to me and my partner anyway, so I won't be getting dividends this month either.

Of course. But the math is as follows - 3-4k BTC needs to be retained in order to create an asset betting pool for SD. If not, then I have a personal loan to SD indefinitely.

The only conflict of interest here is that I was being extremely generous about letting SD use that money for free, and now I need to go back to being normal, and establish a betting pool for SD with its own funds.

Strictly speaking, in the narrowest interest of an s.dice shareholder, Erik (me) should continue to loan the 6100 btc to the site forever, for free. But sorry, I'm not going to do that. Anyone have a good suggestion if my plan is so terrible?

Sure, it could be done gradually such that a % of earnings each month go to building up the pool. I'd rather just get it over with, do one single month without dividends and then problem solved. Remember too that 87% of the dividends would have gone to me and my private partner anyway. So I'm not treating mpex holders any differently than I'm treating myself. It's not like I'm paying my own dividend and then retaining the dividend of mpex holders. Is that what people thought I meant??

And yes I could write it off as a "cost" of SD, to create its own betting pool. But it seems a much better deal for shareholders if the earnings are simply retained as the betting pool. Then, the shareholders still own the btc. Instead of it being paid out in June, it sits in the SD wallet, paid out at some liquidation event in the future, and allowing the site to earn all its profits until then.

Hmmm why am I not surprised that this caused more fuss. Not a single, "hey Erik thanks for providing an interest-free loan of half a million dollars to SD for the past six months, I understand it's time for SD to hold its own betting pool."

MPOE-PR.... how does this violate the contract (either in letter or intent)?

nimda... why would you think the revenue from sold shares would be property of SD? They were my shares, which I sold, thus the BTC from that sale is mine, not the company's.  

GeoRW... I'm not trying to "squeeze any money out of the company." The 6100 btc held in the better pool belongs to me, and had been used by SD, interest free, since the creation of the site. I think it's appropriate for SD to own its own betting pool. There are two ways to do this: dilute shareholders to raise capital (which I will never do), or retain earnings for a period of time to acquire a betting pool.

Why is this contentious?

I agree the financial statements I create in google docs aren't ideal. I'm not an accountant, after all. I will find someone by the end of June to prepare more formal statements, so that starting in July the finances are documented properly. It won't be anything elaborate, just something more professional. If any of you have an example of simple financial statements which you'd like me to use to model the SD statements, please link them here or send to me.

Quick announcement - This month is progressing well with site performance. I am going to take this opportunity to have SD retain up to 4k in earnings for June at the end of the month. This means that dividends on earnings up to 4k won't be paid for June (ie - if the site earns 5k, then dividends will be paid on only 1k of earnings).

Before you yell and scream, let me explain the purpose.

Currently I have, personally, provided an ongoing interest-free loan of roughly 6100 btc to SD that is used by SD as its betting pool. This is money that is at risk of hacks and losses, but I've permitted SD to use it because it needed a capital pool. The risk to me was tolerable when Bitcoin was $10-12 each. Now, however, that's a ton of money, and I would like to withdraw the loan.

Thus, earnings for this month (June) will be retained by SD for the purpose of replacing this pool. The pool needs to be roughly 3-4k btc, so the site is on track to earn this amount this month. It's thus a perfect time to do the swap.

Note that because these earnings are retained and owned by SD, if and when they are ever paid out or released from SD, they will go to all shareholders. Thus the betting pool held by SD will from now on be an asset of SD instead of a liability owed to me.  Therefore MPEX holders will, after June, own 13% of the betting pool fund assets. If the site is ever closed down, sold, etc, these funds would be liquidated out to shareholders.

Hopefully that's not too confusing. Please let me know if you have questions about it.

Kind regards,
-Erik

The IT guy is paid $10k per month. It's typically paid on the first couple days of the month, using the exchange rate at the time of payment.

In general, I pay bills when I get them and use the exchange rate at the time of payment, but I'll pay them whenever I wish. Deal with it.


I've never diluted shares. If you're referring to the 3% sold a few months ago, that was non-dillutive, and those weren't even my shares. I was selling them for another private owner. In fact, my position net increased, because I bought more than 3% from him and only sold 3%.

You're really obnoxious. Please sell your shares and stop making this thread such a miserable place to spend time.

14 BTC donated! That should get you up to 50 btc.  Kick ass guys.

I believe there is going to be an election very soon, and that Peter will be stepping down.

Sure, good points. Let me clarify my position.

I was commenting purely on the statements Peter recently made, and his common "pro regulation" stance. I think someone in a position such as he has is perfectly justified in making those statements. BUT - that justification ends where action begins. To the extent he actually assists, fosters, and furthers state actors against Bitcoin or Bitcoin businesses, then I am very much opposed.

His lawsuit with Gox is certainly awkward and I don't know who's in the right or wrong so I'll just stay out of it. If I ever knew that he used his position at the Foundation to harm someone or some company that hadn't caused harm to someone else, then he would have no support or defense from me whatsoever.

I do not have enough inside information to know what position to take on Peter, at this point, so I remain neutral. But, narrowly speaking, on the topic of "what someone like that should be saying when the authorities come knocking," I think a policy of "keep my friends close and my enemies closer" is a wise policy, and the public "official" representatives (and we know there aren't any but the press doesn't, and that's fine) should not be taking overtly anarchistic positions - not because that position is incorrect morally, but because it is less likely to foster the environment in which Bitcoin has the best chance of thriving.

tl;dr - If his talk is statist, that's fine and maybe even productive. If his actions are statist, then he must absolutely go away and wouldn't be worthy of anyone's support whatsoever.