My response to the community

[finkleshnorts]

I seriously doubt johnthedong knew you were going to scam everyone beforehand.

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[jwzguy]

I am inclined to agree with Memorydealers. Don't buy the "this was a prank from the start" line at all.
Just look at the chat between Memorydealers and Matthew above. It's very telling.

Guy is a sociopath and a piece of shit con-artist.

Yes. Especially after hearing the radio interview one thing is clear: he's a sociopath and is mentally incapable of sincerity or remorse.

[Raoul Duke]

I seriously doubt johnthedong knew you were going to scam everyone beforehand.

Or any of the other 2 he mentioned...
Like we use to say: "Pics or it didn't happen"

[dunand]

I guest there will not be a Christmas special this year.  

[blablahblah]

I think that you did really harm some people with your actions. The internal strife that your bet created is terrible.

Wait wait wait, how is his dumb bet possibly worse than the scammers who actually STOLE money like Bitcoinica/Intersango, Pirate, and every other fake exchange "hack"?

I don't know, man. Lead salts in the water supply? I'm thinking of ditching this forum. Too many retards crying:

poor me! I got teh scammed by teh Matt Bad Wolf Wright. He stole all my moneys! We must banned together and lynch the basterd before he scams anyone alse.

Maybe there's some kind of biological/environmental explanation for the mass hysteria?

[humanitee]

I think that you did really harm some people with your actions. The internal strife that your bet created is terrible.

Wait wait wait, how is his dumb bet possibly worse than the scammers who actually STOLE money like Bitcoinica/Intersango, Pirate, and every other fake exchange "hack"?

WTF are you even talking about? Had he won he would have taken the money without a doubt. This IS STEALING because he never intended to pay had he lost.

[tsvekric]

Matthew had already posted his payment address if he won the bet, and I'm sure many would have just paid what they owed to that address if pirate did start paying back - this right here makes Matthew the biggest piece of shit on the forums. No way in hell would I believe for a second that he would turn down 10,000BTC if he had won the bet.

His parsing of his own initial bet agreement to turn it into a 'joke' doesn't make any sense. It is perfectly clear that the '20BTC bet' was a reference to the bet format, not to the 'bet' as defined before the example. There is no reason to believe otherwise and no reading of it makes any other sense. If this were a legally binding document there's no way he'd get away with not paying as a plain reading of the agreement is very clear. This was a retroactive 'joke' for sure. He may have played it off as a 'joke' to some people beforehand to cover his bases.

I don't even have any investment in this bullshit as I didn't participate. I don't feel so bad for the people who lost money with pirate as the whole idea of his 'investment' was laughably unrealistic and obviously a scam from the beginning. But an established member posting a legit bet in the 'gambling' forum (not off-topic or other place, but a forum strictly for placing bets and gambling, which Matthew now claims was NOT the case from the beginning) and reneging on his part of the deal makes this one of the shittiest things to happen around these parts since this community started.

[cbeast]

Matthew had already posted his payment address if he won the bet, and I'm sure many would have just paid what they owed to that address if pirate did start paying back - this right here makes Matthew the biggest piece of shit on the forums. No way in hell would I believe for a second that he would turn down 10,000BTC if he had won the bet.

His parsing of his own initial bet agreement to turn it into a 'joke' doesn't make any sense. It is perfectly clear that the '20BTC bet' was a reference to the bet format, not to the 'bet' as defined before the example. There is no reason to believe otherwise and no reading of it makes any other sense. If this were a legally binding document there's no way he'd get away with not paying as a plain reading of the agreement is very clear. This was a retroactive 'joke' for sure. He may have played it off as a 'joke' to some people beforehand to cover his bases.

I don't even have any investment in this bullshit as I didn't participate. I don't feel so bad for the people who lost money with pirate as the whole idea of his 'investment' was laughably unrealistic and obviously a scam from the beginning. But an established member posting a legit bet in the 'gambling' forum (not off-topic or other place, but a forum strictly for placing bets and gambling, which Matthew now claims was NOT the case from the beginning) and reneging on his part of the deal makes this one of the shittiest things to happen around these parts since this community started.

I am very curious how you (since you didn't mention it) interpret Matthew's claim that he would accept the label of scammer should he not hold up his end of the bargain?

[vampire]

In hindsight, I no longer see this bet as being funny and I think it was in horrible taste. The community members who were my friends who are standing up against this are right in doing so I and I have no place in the bitcoin community as I clearly don't take it as seriously as everyone else. I am happy to have learned so much from Bitcoin and I'm glad to have shared in many experiences as well, but I cannot discount the claims that I have some issues with manicism as there is no other explanation for my often irrational behavior. I'll be seriously looking at my life and exiting from the community with my sincerest apologies.

I am surprised that you thought it would be a joke even after Theymos and Mage made their bets. I thought it was our lesson, but somehow it became your lesson.

[bigasic]

It looks like that the main thing that got to him was bitcoin magazine booted him and he has lost ALL credibility with the bitcoin community..

The thing that bothers me is that he calls his stunt a "joke" and still doesn't seem to see how serious it really was. The only reason he has his tail between his legs is he is embarrassed. He just doesn't see the gravity of the situation and probably will see legal action taken against him from the magazine.

He still hasn't grasped the magnitude. I can guarantee you that if he won the bet, he would have expected EVERYONE to pay up. I  know that I would have. In fact, I pm'ed him a week or two before and felt sorry for him and offered to take a years subscription of the magazine, which he replied "thank you for that, even though Bitcoin Magazine is not associated with this bet, I will be more than happy to use my employee discount and get you that subscription"- (thats pretty much word for word). So, right there our bet turned from bitcoins to a magazine subscription..

He had all intentions of making money off of us.

But, I can guarantee you he will be back. He will go away for a bit, lurking here on the forums, but trust me,  he will be back. Not under MNW, but you know he will..

I just have to say one thing Matthew..

Dont let the door hit you where the good lord split you.....


AR

Edit: Another thing this has done, be it bad or good, it took some attention and perhaps pressure off of Pirateat40. MNW only helped Pirate with his stunt. I think there are now many more posts regarding MNW than there is about Pirate (most likely due to MNW). Pirate screwed the community out of much more, but I do realize the differences.

[DeathAndTaxes]

I can only comment from Americans I've met and what I've seen on TV, I'm sure there's two very different ends to the spectrum but It's certainly portrayed on TV like that plus American TV seems to be full of psychobabble.

This is a bit of an off topic rant so I'll keep it short but some examples: The newsroom a new HBO series (I switched off because of it), Breaking Bad, an assortment of trash day time TV such as Doctor Phil etc and on the same note isn't Oprah Winfrey basically a TV therapist and one of Americas most powerful and financially successful women?

Wait your analysis of an entire nation of 300 million people is based on TV?  Really?  This has to be the most stupid thing I have read in this thread.
What next?  You will blame Americans for their obsession robotics for the Cylon threat and the near genocide of the human race?

[DeathAndTaxes]

It looks like that the main thing that got to him was bitcoin magazine booted him and he has lost ALL credibility with the bitcoin community..

This.  He isn't upset about what he did or who he affected.  He is simply upset that it had personal consequences for himself.  Reading between the lines if he could do it all over again without consequence he would.

[DeathAndTaxes]

I am surprised that you thought it would be a joke even after Theymos and Mage made their bets. I thought it was our lesson, but somehow it became your lesson.

They placed their bets relatively early.  Looking back at Matt's posts I am convinced he created an honest bet to begin with.   The "technicality" he escpaed payment from (in his mind only) is so lame it can only be an afterthought.  He made an honest wager, was sure Pirate would pay and when it became clear he wouldn't rather than face the music he raised the cap racked up another 70K BTC in bets, and came up with his exist strategy.

If you look at his early posts he was selected in who he took bets from, requires some younger members to escrow their portion (why have someone escrow a bet you know you will lose).  That changed roughly 14 days ago when he raised the cap, and started accepted 1,000 BTC bets from Jr members.

[cablepair]

In hindsight, I no longer see this bet as being funny and I think it was in horrible taste. The community members who were my friends who are standing up against this are right in doing so I and I have no place in the bitcoin community as I clearly don't take it as seriously as everyone else. I am happy to have learned so much from Bitcoin and I'm glad to have shared in many experiences as well, but I cannot discount the claims that I have some issues with manicism as there is no other explanation for my often irrational behavior. I'll be seriously looking at my life and exiting from the community with my sincerest apologies.

Mihai Alisie will be speaking for the Bitcoin Magazine at the London conference. I am in the process of exiting the company completely equity and all in addition to already having resigned as a director and Editor in Chief, as it seems the right thing to do for the future of the magazine.

Ellet's IP is being handed over to a more capable party and I will be exiting any involvement with it.

DCAO is being dismembered and the existing heads will start another organization a bit more seriously toned.

I will not be involved in any businesses in this community any longer. It is clear my immaturity is hurting the community more than I am helping it, and the position I have been in has only resulted in hurting myself and those around me. I'm glad to see that many people did get my joke, but I ask that they not defend me as even I see now that it was crossing all sorts of lines that should never have been crossed and I have absolutely no excuse for it.

I'm sorry I let so many people down that I never even realized actually cared and I hope I can somehow serve as an example of what not to do so that all of this was not a complete waste.

I will now leave how I came.

I knew you were not going to be able to pay this bet, however I thought the community would just slap you on the back and say its alright son, dont worry about it - you just keep showing us animated gifs of horses heads and everything is going to be alright.


FWIW: Of all the more "popular" (for lack of a better word) people on this forum your one of the few that I actually liked.

Good luck with your future endeavors and enjoy the walk of shame; dont let it get you depressed - somethings are just not meant to be.



take care

Your Friend
cp

[bigasic]

I think that you did really harm some people with your actions. The internal strife that your bet created is terrible.

Wait wait wait, how is his dumb bet possibly worse than the scammers who actually STOLE money like Bitcoinica/Intersango, Pirate, and every other fake exchange "hack"?

Yolocoin, since you have only been here under that name for about a week and  every post is you defending MNW, you are either him (MNW) or a very close associate.. Ill bet the former..

[Portnoy]

Matthew,

This reads to me as a sincere post. I wish you well, while continuing to disapprove of the damage that's been done, and with respect suggest that you consider seeking some professional help if your quality of life is adversely affected by the kind of behavior we have seen from you recently.

- Coinoisseur

This tends to convey my feelings as well.  

Lately it seems I am seeing new sides to many different members here.  When the pressure comes down some show their worst while others come through it having learned something and are the better for it.  Overall I think things will settle down with more to the positive than the negative.  

Some lessons have been learned from your stunt after all.  And not just ones having to do with being careful how you treat people when their money is involved.  

Thank you for showing us the mature adult you are capable of being.  

[ingrownpocket]

Win = Win
Lose = Don't lose

Well played.

[proudhon]

Win = Win
Lose = Don't lose

Well played.

lol

[JoelKatz]

I am very curious how you (since you didn't mention it) interpret Matthew's claim that he would accept the label of scammer should he not hold up his end of the bargain?

That he would accept the label of scammer should he not hold up his end of the bargain, that is, that he understands that not holding up his end of the bargain would in fact make him a scammer and justifiably labeled as such by the community. It reads as reinforcing the seriousness of the bet as an enforceable agreement such that violating it would constitute scamming.

I wish it wasn't so, but I do believe that Matthew, at least in the beginning, believed that Pirate was going to pay people back and had he won, would have gleefully accepted any funds paid to him and pursued scammer tags for anyone who didn't pay him back. If he didn't believe this, he faked it *incredibly* well.

By the way, if your implication was that it's a reasonable interpretation that accepting a scammer tag was somehow full payment for the bet, then how do you explain why other people kept betting or why people raised their bet amounts or asked for escrow? It's not like Matthew could get more than one scammer tag. So it's pretty clear that nobody accepting the bet, except possibly the first person or two, had this interpretation. (And it's silly and unreasonable.)

[Portnoy]

What a scammy fuck Matthew is...

Is this the praise and admiration of a fellow scammy fuck?  Just asking...