I was involved with Alberto on Bitcoin Rebate and Kronos, and worked with ludvig(DeaDTerra) and others to raising bitcoin for both projects on the basis of a 50/50 ownership. Based on everything I was told (and believed), both myself and others believed that it (Rebate) was a viable project. If I could go back and do it again, I would *not* have had any involvement with Alberto.

Right after Bitcoinica shut down, Alberto informed me that he had been working on the beginnings of a margin trading platform. Given that I was looking for opportunities to leverage the ZipConf back end for instant deposits into exchanges, a perfect fit for margin trading / multi market hedging purposes, I actively started working with Alberto to pursue ZipConf integration, and a multi market orderbook for the Kronos project.

After Kronos went live, Alberto decided of his own accord that he would go against Eric, Matthew and my development protocols, and he left the withdrawal page wide open and vulnerable to a scripting attack, without *any* protections or manual verification requirements in place for withdrawals from the hot wallet which he controlled. Alberto also went against protocol and handed out invitations outside of the scope of the defined invitation list for early testers.
As one might expect (hindsight is 20/20), Kronos experienced a massive hack via what ended up being a wide open withdrawal page, and thus ended the Kronos project, and any and all involvement with Alberto and my group.

This staggering loss threw a monkey wrench into further development efforts. When I heard that Alberto was pursuing funding for BDT over a month later, I told the people I heard were involved with helping him the entire back story, and did my best to warn them off helping in any way shape or form. Nobody listened.

I also informed Alberto that I would continue to do my best to block him at every turn, and further demanded that he complete the code base for the Bitcoin Rebate project, and deliver it to my designated 3rd party for audit. Alberto finally agreed after some tense words, and and yet in the end, it's still simply standing still. The initial raise on Rebate was on equity rather than Bond, because it was expected that the development and user growth path may take some time, and would require more organic growth than with something like margin trading, which everyone was already familiar with.

To be clear: I believe (along with others) that the loss sustained was Alberto's doing (Bit day trade). He's not as clever as he thinks he is, and though I cannot prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was the thief, I do not for a second believe that Alberto is blameless. Not even a little bit.

The loss experienced was a crushing blow to the team, and if we could all go back and do it again, we wouldn't. We were trying to rush to market to fill a vacuum, and we didn't have a solid security plan in place to deal with these types of problems. I am to blame for trusting Alberto, and for the lack of oversight and necessary precautions. Sometimes opportunity presents itself, and we make terrible, stupid mistakes in our rush to push things out into the marketplace.
I'm working diligently on closing out both Rebate and ZIP.A on GLBSE. I have had nothing but good intentions, yet the end result is that my experience so far has been terrible.

The constant and nagging anxiety of knowing I might let people in the community down because of everything that has happened has severely affected my well being, and has haunted me ever since the day that Kronos was "hacked."

The realization that I had gotten in to bed with a criminally minded guy, leaves me to only blame myself. Nothing changes the fact that I am ultimately responsible to the people who have been in my support. What's worse is that *very few* real world investors want to touch anything Bitcoin related with a ten foot pool. If you have to ask yourself why, take a look at the current price. Look at the ponzis (Pirate), look at the most robust markets and ask yourself "If I was an investor, would I put any faith or money into Bitcoin businesses?"

For 99% of investors who could make Bitcoin happen, the answer is a resounding "NO."

After the hack on Kronos, the developers on ZipConf got spooked, and changed their stance on the viability of a public instant confirmation service, and they changed their stance on operating it publicly. In other words, while the tools and back end have been built to support multiple exchanges through ZipConf, and the technology is solid (and is being audited by a 3rd party as soon as next week), the people involved changed their stance considerably after the Kronos hack; They got spooked, and their feelings regarding risk tolerance turned a slight apprehension of untested technology and theoreticals into a firm stance that they would not operate publicly, and possibly at all, even privately through trusted exchanges and members.

I'm actively seeking the assistance of a few friends and past associates to raise the money needed to retire the BitcoinRebate debacle, and hopefully also retire ZIP.A obligations based on the current negotiations (code audit is first). Since Alberto (Bit Day Trade) has no assets remaining, or intent to pay, I am on the hook entirely to retire all GLBSE obligations. I accept this, and I may have to sell my good kidney to make that happen.

In the meantime, I've been working hard to make a real world retail digital currency exchange happen in San Francisco, which would be a prime customer of the Ringcoin and associated tech.

To everyone who's affected: I'm incredibly embarrassed, and I'm deeply sorry. I still have hope for the future. I can't be certain that it will work out for the best, but I'm going to continue to try until my last breath.

Feel free to call me if you’re a shareholder in either Rebate or Zip.A and have any questions.

Jonathan Ryan Owens
760-420-3577

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83784.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=79110.0

I misunderstood the account limitation and thought all functionality had been disabled, which is why I told Ludvig that we'd have a claims page, and that I'd pay out in arrears after we re-established at hermes.

I just went to glbse to make a wallet transfer, but the site is not resolving. I'll handle it in the morning, then.

-Jonathan

As always, trusted members only. i'm being generous on this one, as time is limited.

-Jonathan

It's basically private placement for bitcoins, and a secondary market that lets users trade the asset. You don't have a guarantee that stocks bonds or futures on glbse will pay, or end up being worth anything. Stock infers equity ownership, Bond infers a debt relationship of some type (explained in the contract area).

Cheers.
-Jonathan

Did someone say bail bonds?

confession: I just registered bailcoin.com in your honor.

-- redbeans2012:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_(finance)

"In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest (the coupon) to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity. A bond is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed intervals (semi annual, annual, sometimes monthly).[1]

Thus a bond is like a loan: the holder of the bond is the lender (creditor), the issuer of the bond is the borrower (debtor), and the coupon is the interest. Bonds provide the borrower with external funds to finance long-term investments, or, in the case of government bonds, to finance current expenditure. Certificates of deposit (CDs) or commercial paper are considered to be money market instruments and not bonds."

ericools:

Your best bet if you want to run a kiosk is to take a look at used genmega machines. ask Todd as I'm sure he can help you to outfit a Kiosk with the proper accessories.

I think we'll want to add a few things before it would be usable:
1. paper wallet (public/private key QR code printout from receipt printer)
2. multi-exchange support
3. blockchain.info wallet support (api integration)
4. administrative / back office / accounting

If someone were to step up and be willing to host and manage the IT side, where the Genmega / other device only has to be pointed / locked in kiosk mode to the hosted site, the activeX controls and functionality required to handle the user requirements will just *work*

ericools, if you're willing to put a few of these kiosks out there, perhaps you'd also be willing to make a pledge to this open source project of a bounty to attract talented developers and potential partners (see: private label infrastructure host)

-Jonathan

Todd,

The problem is that your brand association and limitations on its use may make it more difficult to involve anyone of substance. Perhaps consider renaming the github repo "BitcoinKiosk" or something similar.

Attention: The bounties listed stand for the existing github repo "BitcoinATM", but with the hope that this project name will change. It's a kiosk, not an ATM.

In order for this project to go anywhere, I believe that it must provide an open source repo that allows any number of hosted services providers to deploy Kiosk support (to existing kiosks, for instance) and to provide multiple exchange integration with a tight, well documented API.

I'm happy to donate to the effort as it would be nice see this hobbyist project advance.

-Jonathan

Xenland: It's a complete waste of time to build a company around the idea, but it's not a complete waste of time to build an open source repo that allows any number of hosted services providers to deploy Kiosk support (to existing kiosks, for instance) and to provide multiple exchange integration with a tight, well documented API.

See, this way anyone in the world who wants to go full retard can do so very cheaply. You're right about the problem of hosting php on the kiosk, of course. The software absolutely must be hosted elsewhere and kiosks locked down as is standard practice.

-Jonathan

Todd,

I'm pushing for the development of a fully functional hosted platform that supports activeX for the GenMega and other kiosks. I'm going to further push for the advancement of the concept of independent exchanges having well defined support. Think of it like intersango for Bitcoin Kiosk.

I've let the old stuff go, and I hope you have as well. I hold no grudge, and I understand the financial situation you were in. Let's agree to pursue an open effort to advance and make available an open source software solution that has robust exchange, manufacturer and back office support.

What do you say?

-Jonathan

Good to see that this is now an Open Source effort.

Current Bounties (paid by me)

10 BTC - Set up a live demonstration site [PHP]
15 BTC - Fork PHP and do spring cleaning (waiting for public post w/information, pmt. address)
15 BTC - Back Office / Administrative Development [PHP]
15 BTC - Add Exchange Support (bitfloor / bitstamp / btce) [PHP]

Loan is now closed. Thanks to everyone who took a look, and sent PMs!

-jro

[edit] A lender has surfaced for Robbie! Thanks for taking a look, everyone!

I'm posting this on behalf of my friend, Robbie. i suggested these forums might be a great place to introduce himself as a new Bitcoiner, and to solicit for a much needed loan for his business expansion. In the event of a collateralized loan being requested, I'm happy to work with the lender to act as an intermediary to hold or forward vehicle title(s).

Background

Hi! My name is Robbie, and I’m the previous owner of Coast Highway 101 Taxi. I drove very hard for 2 years, hired a number of drivers, and then sold Coast Highway 101 Taxi in 2011 for $12,000.

During my career I have averaged $4,000 a month driving my taxi, and have a very loyal clientele in my home town of Encinitas, CA. My phone is always ringing asking for rides, and though I retired from the Taxi business for about 6 months in 2011, I recently decided to start a new taxi, Encinitas 101 Taxi... (cont'd in Google Doc)

Please see link below for full loan request, including video bonus!

Full Loan Request / Package

You should be proud, Mr. VIP!

Here, have a hat!

Be that as it may, Cypherdoc, I think 9 is fine.