MATTHEW FIRED FROM BITCOIN MAGAZINE

[greyhawk]

Bitcoin Magazine, take note. Give LoupGaroux a regular column to vent in, call it "Speaking my Bit" and sales will go up through the roof.

[1713399093]

1713399093

[1713399093]

1713399093

[K.A.T]

Hi all,

sorry guys for asking, I'm not a frequent reader here lately. What is wrong with the magazine or with Mat that I didn't see or know ?

Thanks,,,

[muyuu]

Hi all,

sorry guys for asking, I'm not a frequent reader here lately. What is wrong with the magazine or with Mat that I didn't see or know ?

Thanks,,,

He's a scammer.

You can pick it up from here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=101751.900

[Technomage]

I'm personally happy with the announcement and will continue to support Bitcoin Magazine. I think they reacted fast and in a decisive manner. Also the speaker for the conference has been changed of course.

As far as the conference is concerned I don't get some people at all (namely repentance & LoupGaroux), they go out of their way to tarnish it at every opportunity. They probably lost speculative gambling money at Bitcoinica and now they are eternally hateful, boohoo...

The truth is that the Intersango team is helping to organize the biggest and most likely greatest Bitcoin conference thus far. It's an important gathering of like minded people. I also see it as an opportunity for the Intersango team to correct their reputation for the better, by organizing a great conference. I hope they succeed.

And Patrick, well as far as I know Patrick and Donald have been running Intersango without major issues from day 1 and still continue to run it. The whole Bitcoinica case is still unresolved, it's very much unclear who was truly responsible and who fucked up.

I've had my own doubts about the team, our site discontinued using Intersango a while ago just to be safe and we're still not using it. We do want to use Intersango and based on our experience at the conference we might re-evaluate this decision.

[Technomage]

By the way, based on Matthew's own letter (which feels sincere) he is exiting the company entirely, equity wise as well.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108333.msg1176882#msg1176882

[every1pewps]

Looks like the thugs in charge have stomped their little jackboots. Nice job on trashing the only voice that your little magazine had that did any good for promoting itself. Matthew is a character. Always has been, and if played true to the cards he's showing, he always will be. Anyone who took this bet seriously is a prize ass, and deserving of public humiliation. Coming on the heels of Bitscalper, Bitcoinica and pirate, it was only fitting that somebody call attention to the absolute pathetic lemming-like devotion to believing pure bullshit that has become the hallmark of bitcoin.

Hey kids? There is no free lunch. You cannot sustain 7% weekly returns. There is no economic perpetual motion money making machine that pulls bitcoins out of your ass for your amusement. Matthew's big crime was poking fun at you about it. Oh me oh my, what a terrible scoundrel he is. You have pirate raping your entire family to the tune of $5 million dollars, and you want to jump on the shit of the guy who poked a finger in your eye? Lame. You have the bitcoinica incompetents pissing in your drink and still being kowtowed to because they are going to be keynote speakers at this joke of a conference in London.

Get a fucking clue Bitcoin Community!!! Right the fuck now. All of these slick snake oil salesmen who have just invented the newest greatest thing that you should invest in are talking to you for one single reason only- to steal your funds. There is no altruistic tooth fairy that wants to make you rich, they all just want to make themselves rich. And you are the laziest, saddest bunch of fuck-toys I have ever seen. Somebody just fleeced your ass out of 500,000 bitcoins and your anger is directed towards the guy mocking you about it.

Stop thinking that bitcoin is some wunderkind techno anarchy tool that is going to change the definition of money. It is a slightly interesting alternate way to transact a very, very limited subset of transactions pretty much limited to the technically savvy. Unfortunately, it seems as if one of the first things that happens when you download the block chain is that you put your common sense on hold.

Oh, and Bitcoin Magazine? I ordered copies of the first three issues 6 weeks ago. Bought and paid for with PayPal. Where the fuck are they? Maybe a little more attention to fulfillment and a little less ass-kissing to the the gods of public opinion. You are starting to act like a couple of other well known fuck-ups of recent note in that your attention is on your ego, and not on your business model. Quit playing games and do your jobs.

I agree with this. It would seem that most of the moping, groaning and whining are a result of "oh, I can't actually hedge my bet against being cheated(pirateat40'ed)? Now I feel even dumber than I did when I actually got cheated. I R ANGRY FOR BEING MADE TO LOOK LIKE A FOOL, TWICE!!@$&%"

[labestiol]

I'm personally happy with the announcement and will continue to support Bitcoin Magazine. I think they reacted fast and in a decisive manner. Also the speaker for the conference has been changed of course.

As far as the conference is concerned I don't get some people at all (namely repentance & LoupGaroux), they go out of their way to tarnish it at every opportunity. They probably lost speculative gambling money at Bitcoinica and now they are eternally hateful, boohoo...

The truth is that the Intersango team is helping to organize the biggest and most likely greatest Bitcoin conference thus far. It's an important gathering of like minded people. I also see it as an opportunity for the Intersango team to correct their reputation for the better, by organizing a great conference. I hope they succeed.

And Patrick, well as far as I know Patrick and Donald have been running Intersango without major issues from day 1 and still continue to run it. The whole Bitcoinica case is still unresolved, it's very much unclear who was truly responsible and who fucked up.

I've had my own doubts about the team, our site discontinued using Intersango a while ago just to be safe and we're still not using it. We do want to use Intersango and based on our experience at the conference we might re-evaluate this decision.

First bolded part is really uncalled for. Bitcoinica's problem is not about degenerate gamblers who did stupid bets.
As much as I want this conference to succeed (and it will, I'm not too worried about that), I can't agree with you on that.
At the very least Intersango team stopped all communication, release the source code (with some credentials in it), which prevented a buyout (which would have probably enabled creditors to be payed in full).
Their lack of communication also delayed the liquidation of the company. So they clearly have some responsibility in this mess.

[Technomage]

First bolded part is really uncalled for. Bitcoinica's problem is not about degenerate gamblers who did stupid bets.
As much as I want this conference to succeed (and it will, I'm not too worried about that), I can't agree with you on that.
At the very least Intersango team stopped all communication, release the source code (with some credentials in it), which prevented a buyout (which would have probably enabled creditors to be payed in full).
Their lack of communication also delayed the liquidation of the company. So they clearly have some responsibility in this mess.

I agree that they probably have some responsibility over that mess and are partially to blame for it. I especially don't like their lack of communication skills regarding everything (Intersango related stuff as well). I still stand behind what I said though, I think some people are going out of their way tarnish what is likely to be a great Bitcoin conference. That is uncalled for and I'm personally very tired of it.

The conference has nothing to do with the Bitcoinica case, that case is being settled elsewhere and in other ways. I would understand the hate better if there was actually a court verdict that said Patrick is responsible. As far as I know, there IS NOT. Until there is, most of us really shouldn't put too much weight on that particular issue. The conference is about much more than Patrick.

[labestiol]

I agree that they probably have some responsibility over that mess and are partially to blame for it. I especially don't like their lack of communication skills regarding everything (Intersango related stuff as well). I still stand behind what I said though, I think some people are going out of their way tarnish what is likely to be a great Bitcoin conference. That is uncalled for and I'm personally very tired of it.

I agree with that. Still not a reason to use silly arguments. And anyway, I don't think it significantly harms the conference.

The conference has nothing to do with the Bitcoinica case, that case is being settled elsewhere and in other ways. I would understand the hate better if there was actually a court verdict that said Patrick is responsible. As far as I know, there IS NOT. Until there is, most of us really shouldn't put too much weight on that particular issue. The conference is about much more than Patrick.

That I disagree with. Wherever you like it or not, it has something you do with is, since some are involved in both. But I agree we should focus on personal responsibilities, and not blame the conference as a whole.
And I don't think Patrick should be blamed only if there is a court verdict saying so. Everything doesn't have to be settled in court. And I'm not sure if this matter will be.

[repentance]

I still stand behind what I said though, I think some people are going out of their way tarnish what is likely to be a great Bitcoin conference. That is uncalled for and I'm personally very tired of it.

Except I haven't done that.  What I have repeatedly criticised is Patrick's failure to withdraw as a guest speaker and I stand by that criticism. 

[Vod]

Cool. Let me know when they announce that he has 0 stake and gains nothing from the sale & promotion of their magazine.

^This.  If he is still profiting, I'm not buying.

+1.  I did take a look at their advertising page though
http://bitcoinmagazine.net/advertise-with-us/

Why no advertising rates online?  Many papers show their rates online - there is no reason the rates should change from day to day.

[greyhawk]

Cool. Let me know when they announce that he has 0 stake and gains nothing from the sale & promotion of their magazine.

^This.  If he is still profiting, I'm not buying.

+1.  I did take a look at their advertising page though
http://bitcoinmagazine.net/advertise-with-us/

Why no advertising rates online?  Many papers show their rates online - there is no reason the rates should change from day to day.

Newspapers and magazines with a broad general appeal do, yes. Specialist journals like Bitcoin Magazine are a completely different beast of publication though. Most of them do not publically show their ad rates.

[Vladimir]

Bitcoin Magazine, take note. Give LoupGaroux a regular column to vent in, call it "Speaking my Bit" and sales will go up through the roof.

Noted! I always enjoyed his posts, even salvos shot in my direction.

[Rassah]

Stopped by my local Barns & Noble today, noticed this in the magazine rack






Decided I was going to own it






Was too bright to see the camera, so i was all squinty and OMG, there's a pimple on my nose!  

[Rassah]

Also, for a brief moment, thought the magazine just above and to the left was titled Atlas Rising    

[smoothie]

Looks like the thugs in charge have stomped their little jackboots. Nice job on trashing the only voice that your little magazine had that did any good for promoting itself. Matthew is a character. Always has been, and if played true to the cards he's showing, he always will be. Anyone who took this bet seriously is a prize ass, and deserving of public humiliation. Coming on the heels of Bitscalper, Bitcoinica and pirate, it was only fitting that somebody call attention to the absolute pathetic lemming-like devotion to believing pure bullshit that has become the hallmark of bitcoin.

Hey kids? There is no free lunch. You cannot sustain 7% weekly returns. There is no economic perpetual motion money making machine that pulls bitcoins out of your ass for your amusement. Matthew's big crime was poking fun at you about it. Oh me oh my, what a terrible scoundrel he is. You have pirate raping your entire family to the tune of $5 million dollars, and you want to jump on the shit of the guy who poked a finger in your eye? Lame. You have the bitcoinica incompetents pissing in your drink and still being kowtowed to because they are going to be keynote speakers at this joke of a conference in London.

Get a fucking clue Bitcoin Community!!! Right the fuck now. All of these slick snake oil salesmen who have just invented the newest greatest thing that you should invest in are talking to you for one single reason only- to steal your funds.

Wierd to see this coming from you.  You normally take a very hard line.  Sure pirate is the bigger criminal.  I'm sure people are after him too.  But if Matthew had won, it would have been for about 1M dollars I think.  Please remember the context where Vanderoy just made a real bet 50k USD and won.  The original bet at 10k was not so out of line.

I did not bet or think he'd pay.  Regardless that does not excuse him.  We need zero tolerance for these people.  Big or small.

I want to pay suppliers in bitcoin.  How's that going to happen if they come to these forums and see this cr*p from what seems to be pivotal members of the community?

@Loup

You're something else. As if you really give a shit about if anyone lost money. Some people were using Matthew's bet to hedge and were buying pirate debt at certain prices or selling.

I may have not lost anything but to have a jackass like yourself come out and be like "look at you dumbasses wake up!" does nothing but make you look like a dumbass yourself.

Matthew lost the most by his dumb actions. You might be next if you condone that type of behavior.

Of course we all know you're just the type to sit on the sidelines and make snide comments. You've got no balls and haven't done anything but post shit on this forum using big words to make yourself sound important.

Where is your buddy BCX? Oh right because he got his ass canned by doing stupid shit too. Perhaps you want to take a step up to the plate eh?

If not, put a SOCKPUPPET in it.

Your friend,

Smoothie 

[vapourminer]

[bitcoin mag in rack at B&N picture]

lol at the Psychology Today mag with "LIFE LESSONS" on the cover in the pic. how appropriate.

[gene]

Looks like the thugs in charge have stomped their little jackboots. Nice job on trashing the only voice that your little magazine had that did any good for promoting itself. Matthew is a character. Always has been, and if played true to the cards he's showing, he always will be. Anyone who took this bet seriously is a prize ass, and deserving of public humiliation. Coming on the heels of Bitscalper, Bitcoinica and pirate, it was only fitting that somebody call attention to the absolute pathetic lemming-like devotion to believing pure bullshit that has become the hallmark of bitcoin.

Hey kids? There is no free lunch. You cannot sustain 7% weekly returns. There is no economic perpetual motion money making machine that pulls bitcoins out of your ass for your amusement. Matthew's big crime was poking fun at you about it. Oh me oh my, what a terrible scoundrel he is. You have pirate raping your entire family to the tune of $5 million dollars, and you want to jump on the shit of the guy who poked a finger in your eye? Lame. You have the bitcoinica incompetents pissing in your drink and still being kowtowed to because they are going to be keynote speakers at this joke of a conference in London.

Get a fucking clue Bitcoin Community!!! Right the fuck now. All of these slick snake oil salesmen who have just invented the newest greatest thing that you should invest in are talking to you for one single reason only- to steal your funds. There is no altruistic tooth fairy that wants to make you rich, they all just want to make themselves rich. And you are the laziest, saddest bunch of fuck-toys I have ever seen. Somebody just fleeced your ass out of 500,000 bitcoins and your anger is directed towards the guy mocking you about it.

Stop thinking that bitcoin is some wunderkind techno anarchy tool that is going to change the definition of money. It is a slightly interesting alternate way to transact a very, very limited subset of transactions pretty much limited to the technically savvy. Unfortunately, it seems as if one of the first things that happens when you download the block chain is that you put your common sense on hold.

Oh, and Bitcoin Magazine? I ordered copies of the first three issues 6 weeks ago. Bought and paid for with PayPal. Where the fuck are they? Maybe a little more attention to fulfillment and a little less ass-kissing to the the gods of public opinion. You are starting to act like a couple of other well known fuck-ups of recent note in that your attention is on your ego, and not on your business model. Quit playing games and do your jobs.

Please post often.

[LoupGaroux]

Looks like the thugs in charge have stomped their little jackboots. Nice job on trashing the only voice that your little magazine had that did any good for promoting itself. Matthew is a character. Always has been, and if played true to the cards he's showing, he always will be. Anyone who took this bet seriously is a prize ass, and deserving of public humiliation. Coming on the heels of Bitscalper, Bitcoinica and pirate, it was only fitting that somebody call attention to the absolute pathetic lemming-like devotion to believing pure bullshit that has become the hallmark of bitcoin.

Hey kids? There is no free lunch. You cannot sustain 7% weekly returns. There is no economic perpetual motion money making machine that pulls bitcoins out of your ass for your amusement. Matthew's big crime was poking fun at you about it. Oh me oh my, what a terrible scoundrel he is. You have pirate raping your entire family to the tune of $5 million dollars, and you want to jump on the shit of the guy who poked a finger in your eye? Lame. You have the bitcoinica incompetents pissing in your drink and still being kowtowed to because they are going to be keynote speakers at this joke of a conference in London.

Get a fucking clue Bitcoin Community!!! Right the fuck now. All of these slick snake oil salesmen who have just invented the newest greatest thing that you should invest in are talking to you for one single reason only- to steal your funds.

Wierd to see this coming from you.  You normally take a very hard line.  Sure pirate is the bigger criminal.  I'm sure people are after him too.  But if Matthew had won, it would have been for about 1M dollars I think.  Please remember the context where Vanderoy just made a real bet 50k USD and won.  The original bet at 10k was not so out of line.

I did not bet or think he'd pay.  Regardless that does not excuse him.  We need zero tolerance for these people.  Big or small.

I want to pay suppliers in bitcoin.  How's that going to happen if they come to these forums and see this cr*p from what seems to be pivotal members of the community?

@Loup

You're something else. As if you really give a shit about if anyone lost money. Some people were using Matthew's bet to hedge and were buying pirate debt at certain prices or selling.

I may have not lost anything but to have a jackass like yourself come out and be like "look at you dumbasses wake up!" does nothing but make you look like a dumbass yourself.

Matthew lost the most by his dumb actions. You might be next if you condone that type of behavior.

Of course we all know you're just the type to sit on the sidelines and make snide comments. You've got no balls and haven't done anything but post shit on this forum using big words to make yourself sound important.

Where is your buddy BCX? Oh right because he got his ass canned by doing stupid shit too. Perhaps you want to take a step up to the plate eh?

If not, put a SOCKPUPPET in it.

Your friend,

Smoothie  

Now, now smoothster... take your meds and relax friend. I do care if people lost money. I care a great deal, as I am one of those people who is currently at a net loss with the pirate disaster. And, no, for the record, I am not going to whine about it, I'm a big boy and decided to throw a couple coins into that cesspool, and no, I never told anybody how filthy or shady it was before we all collectively got screwed. And for full disclosure, my name does not appear on Matty's list of bettors. It never would have. I only bet three things, craps, Premier League soccer and US football. Never on shady, stupid plays having book made on how ignorant people can be. Which I assure you is what rational people saw Matty's bet to be.

But, let's take a moment and pull the curtain back for a peek at the reasoning behind my thoughts...

First off, I have nothing to lose here. Net, net, net since day one with bitcoins, I am comfortably ahead. I got to ride the roller coaster in the $30 era, and I have kick-out points in anything I do financially. I kicked, and own all my mining rigs free and clear, have put a few shekels aside as profit, and could give a rat's ass about reputation. What a group of anonymous folks on an online forum think of me means nothing to me. I an universally reviled in other online communities, including one where I am considered to be the most massive douche-bag of all time because I rode a flashy investment vehicle to a rapid killing, and bailed before the market inevitably tanked, with a shiny 5 series BMW to show for 30 days work, because I didn't share the secret of my success with the rest of the nasty insiders who were manipulating the game. I out-gamed the gamers, and that pisses people off.

Second off- Matthew is a well meaning goofball character. He is Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in terms of self-promotion, and is an incurable attention whore. Unfortunately like most whores that I know, he is rather indiscriminate about who he bumps nasties with. Here he thought to make a point via the vehicle of pranksterism, and to shame the folks that called ponzi/scam/douche-bag early on what he (Matthew) felt was a valid investment. Well, that turned out to be a pretty bad decision. Sort of what championing Zhou Tong was like earlier this summer for him. So, let's stipulate that he is rash, impulsive and doesn't use up a lot of pre-planning on what checks his furious typing skills are writing.

But, I suggest we look at him in a different light than a fraud. Who here didn't know Matt was the class clown? Who here didn't expect him to find some silly-ass way to welsh the bet? Who here, and be honest now, actually thought that some happy go lucky entrepreneurial techno-impresario in Korea with a fetish for horse costumes actually had a million dollars in bitcoin stashed to play at silly buggers with? Who suffered actual damages? Nobody bought that critical surgery to keep Mom alive with their anticipated winnings from this absurd wager. Nobody is losing their homes, lives, honor or one single penny of their wealth. And quite frankly, I don't think a single person on the list would have actually paid a penny to Matt if pirate had decided to spank his little ass and make good. Especially not the piling on at the last moment clowns who got ouchy when he wouldn't take their bets.

But, he didn't win. He found his silly little technicality (and Matty- if you are reading this, there are a whole lot better ways to play this particular prank! Write me, you could have done this a lot less suicidally.) and thought everyone would have a big belly laugh at themselves for such a silly joke, and move on. Oops. Apparently a whole lot of very angry, very easily impressed folks thought they could recoup their losses through the simple expedient of a sure thing bet. Forgetting only the most basic rule that every gambler should know... the House is the only winner in any wager.

So, all snide comments and alleged side sitting aside, nobody lost a thing. Except Matt. He lost a job, he lost his honor, his lost his reputation, he lost the respect that he had worked very hard to build, and he lost his nickname which is now besmirched with a Scammer Tag. A richly deserved, and agreed in advance Scammer Tag.

Do we execute him a nineteenth time for this dumb move? Your call, Caesar. My point in this, and indeed in defending Matthew from some of the vitriol, is that we have really big, slimy ass-holish fish to fry in these affairs. Matt is a very, very minor sideshow that means nothing when compared to the great fraud that has happened. Let's not spend all our time beating the poor kid to death for making a dumb choice- let's all gang up instead on the assholes who are actually stealing really big amounts of money. Let's grab the pitchforks and torches, the tar and the feathers and go Biblical on their asses. We have real villains to worry about here, who are still mouth-breathing their schemes all over this community every day, and we are all too busy with the minutia to see the meteor crashing into our world.

So, if that still makes me a despised jackass in your eyes, eh, whatever. Sorry you feel that way. Chances are you will never have the exquisite pleasure of knowing firsthand anything about my balls, pro or con, as I play strictly het, and whatever you are alluding to with having the "most to lose" is so vague and churlish that I won't dignify it with a specific response.

And finally (yeah, I know TL;DR...) why limit yourself with necro ad hominem attacks... get Mr. Bitcoin in your post for some besmirching, what about Pattaya Brucie? Bitscalper? C'mon, you can do a whole lot better than BCX.

With enormous respect, I remain, cordially, your friend,

Loup Garoux. (and I fucking hate emoticons, and consider them to be a tool of the devil and otaku girls so I will not give you any, but insert some in your mind as appropriate.)

[CrazyGuy]

Now, now smoothster... take your meds and relax friend. I do care if people lost money. I care a great deal, as I am one of those people who is currently at a net loss with the pirate disaster. And, no, for the record, I am not going to whine about it, I'm a big boy and decided to throw a couple coins into that cesspool, and no, I never told anybody how filthy or shady it was before we all collectively got screwed. And for full disclosure, my name does not appear on Matty's list of bettors. It never would have. I only bet three things, craps, Premier League soccer and US football. Never on shady, stupid plays having book made on how ignorant people can be. Which I assure you is what rational people saw Matty's bet to be.

But, let's take a moment and pull the curtain back for a peek at the reasoning behind my thoughts...

First off, I have nothing to lose here. Net, net, net since day one with bitcoins, I am comfortably ahead. I got to ride the roller coaster in the $30 era, and I have kick-out points in anything I do financially. I kicked, and own all my mining rigs free and clear, have put a few shekels aside as profit, and could give a rat's ass about reputation. What a group of anonymous folks on an online forum think of me means nothing to me. I an universally reviled in other online communities, including one where I am considered to be the most massive douche-bag of all time because I rode a flashy investment vehicle to a rapid killing, and bailed before the market inevitably tanked, with a shiny 5 series BMW to show for 30 days work, because I didn't share the secret of my success with the rest of the nasty insiders who were manipulating the game. I out-gamed the gamers, and that pisses people off.

Second off- Matthew is a well meaning goofball character. He is Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in terms of self-promotion, and is an incurable attention whore. Unfortunately like most whores that I know, he is rather indiscriminate about who he bumps nasties with. Here he thought to make a point via the vehicle of pranksterism, and to shame the folks that called ponzi/scam/douche-bag early on what he (Matthew) felt was a valid investment. Well, that turned out to be a pretty bad decision. Sort of what championing Zhou Tong was like earlier this summer for him. So, let's stipulate that he is rash, impulsive and doesn't use up a lot of pre-planning on what checks his furious typing skills are writing.

But, I suggest we look at him in a different light than a fraud. Who here didn't know Matt was the class clown? Who here didn't expect him to find some silly-ass way to welsh the bet? Who here, and be honest now, actually thought that some happy go lucky entrepreneurial techno-impresario in Korea with a fetish for horse costumes actually had a million dollars in bitcoin stashed to play at silly buggers with? Who suffered actual damages? Nobody bought that critical surgery to keep Mom alive with their anticipate winnings from this absurd wager. Nobody is losing their homes, lives, honor or one single penny of their wealth. And quite frankly, I don't think a single person on the list would have actually paid a penny to Matt if pirate had decided to spank his little ass and make good. Especially not the piling on at the last moment clowns who got ouchy when he wouldn't take their bets.

But, he didn't win. He found his silly little technicality (and Matty- if you are reading this, there are a whole lot better ways to play this particular prank! Write me, you could have done this a lot less suicidally.) and thought everyone who have a big belly laugh at themselves for such a silly joke, and move on. Oops. Apparently a whole lot of very angry, very easily impressed folks thought they could recoup their losses through the simple expedient of a sure thing bet. Forgetting only the most basic rule that every gambler should know... the House is the only winner in any wager.

So, all snide comments and alleged side sitting aside, nobody lost a thing. Except Matt. He lost a job, he lost his honor, his lost his reputation, he lost the respect that he had worked very hard to build, and he lost his nickname which is now besmirched with a Scammer Tag. A richly deserved, and agreed in advance Scammer Tag.

Do we execute him a nineteenth time for this dumb move? Your call, Caesar. My point in this, and indeed in defending Matthew from some of the vitriol, is that we have really big, slimy ashholish fish to fry in these affairs. Matt is a very, very minor sideshow that means nothing when compared to the great fraud that has happened. Let's not spend all our time beating the poor kid to death for making a dumb choice- let's all gang up instead on the assholes who are actually stealing really big amounts of money. Let's grab the pitchforks and torches, the tar and the feathers and go Biblical on their asses. We have real villains to worry about here, so who are still mouth-breathing their schemes all over this community every day, and we are all too busy with the minutia to see the meteor crashing into our world.

So, if that still makes me a despised jackass in your eyes, eh, whatever. Sorry you feel that way. Chances are you will never have the exquisite pleasure of knowing firsthand anything about my balls, pro or con, as I play strictly het, and whatever you are alluding to with having the "most to lose" is so vague and churlish that I won't dignify it with a specific response.

And finally (yeah, I know TL;DR...) why limit yourself with necro ad hominem attacks... get Mr. Bitcoin in your post for some besmirching, what about Pattaya Brucie? Bitscalper? C'mon, you can do a whole lot better than BCX.

With enormous respect, I remain, cordially, your friend,

Loup Garoux. (and I fucking hate emoticons, and consider them to be a tool of the devil and otaku girls so I will not give you any, but insert some in your mind as appropriate.)

I don't think anyone thought he had 80k in bitcoins. Most people believed it was possible he had 10k though... The general consensus is that he truly believed he would win the 10k bet, hence his early caution on accepting bets from junior members.  Don't forget, Matthew did escrow a few bets in the beginning. Why would he do that if it was all a big joke? Sorry, but the bet became a joke when he realized he wasn't going to win. His mental condition may have even allowed him to convince himself that it was a joke all along, but he didn't convince me.

I also have to disagree about the majority of legitimate betters hedging their losses with pirate. I had no money invested with pirate and did not believe he was going to pay out. I made a modest bet of 10 coins, with every intention of paying up if I lost. I think the early betters were in the same court as me. When the initial 10k bet was closed, there were still loads of "investors" who thought they were still getting paid. Hedging with Matthew would negate their payment. There were even some idiots actually buying up pirate debt at that time. I'm guessing the majority of the hedgers came in at the 10k+ mark, when most realized they weren't getting paid, including Matthew.

Matthew may have done some good things for the community at some point but there is no place for a mentally unstable weasel in a company trying to sell their product to the same community he scammed.