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[Rarity]

There'll be a post deletion explosion next week as one side or the other try to remove silly things they wrote.

Quick! Let's start quoting each others posts for posterity. 

Uh ... alright, then.

[piotr_n]

If he returns the funds it will be a boost for the bitcoin economy, 30k + coins now available for investment elsewhere.

right time to invest and who pays what?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=81542.0;all

I believe he mentioned on IRC yesterday that "BST is over 500k BTC"

[AndrewBUD]

I heard when a douche hits the ground it makes a large thumb sound, any truth behind this?

[Shadow383]

Am I the only one looking at that flash-crash on Gox and thinking it looks very much like someone like... oh, a certain pirate maybe... cashing out?

Yeeeeah, I'll apologise if people get paid back 

[organofcorti]

I heard when a douche hits the ground it makes a large thumb sound, any truth behind this?

Not sure what a large thumb sounds like. It would have to be a pretty large thumb, I'm thinking.

[AndrewBUD]

haha sorry... Typo.. .Thump   Typing and having a 2 year old pulling at your leg so he can type too makes it difficult at times to make sense

[organofcorti]

I heard when a douche hits the ground it makes a large thumb sound, any truth behind this?

Not sure what a large thumb sounds like. It would have to be a pretty large thumb, I'm thinking.

Maybe he just made a bet with Dinah-Moe Humm and just stiffened up his thumb.

That deserves to be quoted for posterity.

[unclescrooge]

Am I the only one looking at that flash-crash on Gox and thinking it looks very much like someone like... oh, a certain pirate maybe... cashing out?

Yeeeeah, I'll apologise if people get paid back 

No, but that looks like someone who will pay back cheaper coins

Thanks for the coming apologies

[Coinoisseur]

Sure are a bunch of Nostradami on this forum, hope there is a stickied shame thread for whichever prognosticators get it wrong.

[RoloTonyBrownTown]

why should I or anyone else apologize for telling you that you're an idiot. After all, you still are - just an idiot that got lucky.

To answer your question, you should apologize because you and people like you blew up the forums with caustic comments and ceaselessly annoyed hundreds of users. You degraded the quality of support threads such as Bitcoinmax's, in defiance of fellow forum members' pleas to confine your speculations to other threads that were dedicated to being bearish on Pirate. Furthermore, several members of Team Ponzi embarked on a campaign of character assassination against well-regarded members of the community. And you were wrong. That's why you should apologize. But seeing as most members of Team Ponzi have demonstrated their lack of class and good manners, I don't expect many apologies to be forthcoming.

Claims that you were "just trying to help" people not get scammed are also disingenuous. If you were such a nice guy who cared about people's welfare, you wouldn't act like such an asshole towards them. To see how to offer criticism with grace, class and wit, read Gavin's comments on the matter. You were not trying to help people; you were trying to boost your ego and lord your smug superiority over all the "idiots," who are clearly your inferiors.

Agreed,  well said.

[imsaguy]

why should I or anyone else apologize for telling you that you're an idiot. After all, you still are - just an idiot that got lucky.

To answer your question, you should apologize because you and people like you blew up the forums with caustic comments and ceaselessly annoyed hundreds of users. You degraded the quality of support threads such as Bitcoinmax's, in defiance of fellow forum members' pleas to confine your speculations to other threads that were dedicated to being bearish on Pirate. Furthermore, several members of Team Ponzi embarked on a campaign of character assassination against well-regarded members of the community. And you were wrong. That's why you should apologize. But seeing as most members of Team Ponzi have demonstrated their lack of class and good manners, I don't expect many apologies to be forthcoming.

Claims that you were "just trying to help" people not get scammed are also disingenuous. If you were such a nice guy who cared about people's welfare, you wouldn't act like such an asshole towards them. To see how to offer criticism with grace, class and wit, read Gavin's comments on the matter. You were not trying to help people; you were trying to boost your ego and lord your smug superiority over all the "idiots," who are clearly your inferiors.

As a final gift to Team Ponzi, I've put enough money (18BTC, and there's more where that came from if I see more action headed to the opposite side) on this Bets of Bitcoin statement to offer you really good odds if you think Pirate will default on his plan to repay. After all, your opinion is only worth as much as you're willing to wager on it. If you aren't willing to back your oh so strong opinions with cash, then you're just a deflating sack of hot air.

The bet now stands at 33.4 BTC in favor of a default by the end of September and 39.8 BTC against a default. Put up or shut up. The actual conviction that Team Ponzi has to their opinions will be quantified, in public for all to see.

http://betsofbitco.in/item?id=521

Edit: BetsofBitcoin.com has apparently closed the bet and refunded my wagers. I am disappoint.

[RoloTonyBrownTown]

Yeeeeah, I'll apologise if people get paid back 

Good, thanks.

[streblo]

some base to pour on the vitriol

Thank you for the eloquent post. The difference in language between the pro- and anti- pirate crowd is stark! 

The sad, funny thing about BTCST's demise is that the interest rate was simply too high. Had pirate given 1, or 2, or 3% out and kept the difference for himself, nobody would have cried ponzi and it could have chugged along with other ventures. But instead he generously gave out 7% -- a majority of his earnings -- which ultimately lead to the ponzi FUD and downfall. His kindness was his weakness 

[blazing]

some base to pour on the vitriol

Thank you for the eloquent post. The difference in language between the pro- and anti- pirate crowd is stark! 

The sad, funny thing about BTCST's demise is that the interest rate was simply too high. Had pirate given 1, or 2, or 3% out and kept the difference for himself, nobody would have cried ponzi and it could have chugged along with other ventures. But instead he generously gave out 7% -- a majority of his earnings -- which ultimately lead to the ponzi FUD and downfall. His kindness was his weakness 

Sure he could have chugged along with the other ventures. But do you think he could have accumulated half a million bitcoins?

[AndrewBUD]

Everyone has been paid back ? Nice

[candoo]

Everyone has been paid back ? Nice

not yet! there 's still a hope on it

[drlatino999]

Everyone has been paid back ? Nice

not yet! there 's still a hope on it

I decided to Autocross today, you know, because there was hope I could win. Not much hope in this vicinity though.

[Matthew N. Wright]

This -had- to be posted here. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=101751

[unclescrooge]

This -had- to be posted here. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=101751

Nice

[P4man]

Now that Pirateat40 closed down his operatations thanks to all the fud that was going on and growing on the forum, I expect everyone that spreads this fud, accused and insulted Pirate and the people that supported him to apologize.

Not only did Pirate brought us a great opportunity for investors (once in a lifetime actually), he did help stabilise and grow steadily bitcoin price, volume exchange, and thus contributed to the success of bitcoin. For that, Pirate, I want to thank you. You've done a wonderful work, and I hope you're stay around here.

Now, apologies on.

Regardless of the outcome, I dont think anyone owes an apology for  pointing  out that a semi anonymous forum poster paying out >3000% interest per year based on an undisclosed  and rather miraculous business plan is probably a ponzi. That its a legitimate business is possible,  just like its possible that 10-post newbie in the lending section really crashed his car,  needs 1000BTC and will actually pay it back in 6 months with 100% interest. But you wouldnt just assume that, or would you? If anyone called that an almost certain scam, you wouldnt demand proof or apologies, or would you?  The onus to disprove the assumption such a venture is a scam is firmly on the person requesting the loan.  Particularly if you are going to hold millions of dollars of other people's money, the burden of proof of legitimacy is upon that person, and not on anyone pointing out the obvious. Failure to provide any such proof should automatically lead to the assumption its a scam. Assumptions are not facts.

So what proof do we have Pirate scheme is legit?  Pirate chose not to reveal his identity, nor his business model, nor give any other guarantees that he can fullfill his obligations.. No credible explanation for how he could generate those returns has been put forward. In the lending forum most people generally demand far more proof, verification, IDs etc  to lend just 10BTC while pirate lend 100s of 1000s of BTC. Think about it.  So unless you know something I dont,  we have zero evidence its not a ponzi, while it has all the hallmarks of a ponzi,  and therefore the only sensible thing to do is assume it is indeed a ponzi. Could that assumption be proven wrong? Sure,  but we are all waiting for that proof to be paid out.

Now, Id like you all to recall the thread about bitcoinica were paraipan filed a police report to force Zhou Tong to publish his identity and/or the legal entity that ran Bitcoinica:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=64176.0

The forum lynched him over that action, Zhou Tong was  considered a saint that no one had the right to doubt, yadayada, go read it. But what paraipan did was a pretty sensible thing to do:  If you are going to give a semi anonymous forum poster 100s of thousands of your coins or dollar, you at least want to know who to sue if it goes wrong. Because it can, and did go very wrong, just like mybitcoin went very wrong and who knows how many other schemes. Everyone with a vested interest in bitcoin lost because of those,  just like we will lose if pirate's scheme turns out to be a scam, even those people who didnt invest in it.

So no, I wont apologize to anyone for using common sense and protecting my interests. I will however, gladly and genuinely congratulate Pirate if he manages to pay off his debt.