Wait and see.
My $.02.
Are you by any chance here to promote your quickstopcoporationshop site? Following sparky999's comments I've also become curious as to why you are participating in this thread.
No, I was an early supporter of Lab_Rat and his program on the BFL site, this site and elsewhere and I wish to make it clear that I no longer suport his program and wish to warn current users and potential users of the pitfalls.
I have heavily involved in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency world in general and have as much stake in the outcome of this debacle as a paid user.
Although I considered in vesting in Lab_Rat's operation I chose not to because I saw little point in investing through a third party in vapourware which would not show up and get to work mining in a reasonable period of time. Instead I opted for atlcoin miners using readily avaiable mobos, PSUsand GPUs, which while occasionaly subject to out-of-stock delays could nevertheless be placed into service within a few weeks at most of my or a client's investment.
I was not so mean as to include a cluase in my agreement which said that if things go South, you can't sue me. (By the way, I ran that clause past my attorney who is a retired District Court judge, who giggled a bit and told me that one would last right up the time it hit the first courtroom because it pretty much goes against public policy) What I did do was include a clause which stated that if the law changed such that the public mining operation became to expensive to continue or impractical taht the "investor" or "mining partner" could keep the crypto mined and accept one of the two following options:
(1) Receive a full refund in whatever currency the original investment had been made.
or
(2) Have the equivalent amount in equipment sent to them provided they covered the shipping costs.
Needless to say, when I notified my mining partners in a timely manner of the changes without doing a dance like Lab_Rat, most opted for a straight refund. Some of my people are disgruntled; Hell, I'm disgrunteld by the rulings and required steps to stay in compliance but you don't have people coming in here howling how I wouldn't return their money, do you?
I took care of business without doing a dance that no one could follow.
Why did I close my public mining operations?
Because the law changed and mining operations such as mine and as Lab_Rat's become Money Transmitters and Money Service Businesses under the March 18, 2013 FIN-Cen ruling and subsequent rulings, if you doulbt me, read these and weep:
http://fincen.gov/statutes_regs/guidance/html/FIN-2013-G001.htmlhttp://www.fincen.gov/news_room/rp/rulings/pdf/FIN-2014-R002.pdf"For purposes of the guidance, FinCEN refers to the participants in generic virtual currency arrangements, using the terms “exchanger,” “administrator,” and “user.” An exchanger
is a person engaged as a business in the exchange of virtual currency for real currency, funds, or other virtual currency.
An administrator is a person engaged as a business in issuing (putting into circulation) a virtual currency, and who has the authority to redeem (to withdraw from circulation) such virtual currency. A user is a person that obtains virtual currency to purchase goods or services on the user’s own behalf. The guidance makes clear that an administrator or exchanger of convertible virtualcurrencies that (1) accepts and transmits a convertible virtual currency or (2) buys or sells convertible virtual currency in exchange for currency of legal tender or another convertible virtual currency for any reason (including when intermediating between a user and a seller of goods or services the user is purchasing on the user’s behalf) is a money transmitter underFinCEN's regulations, unless a limitation to or exemption from the definition applies to theperson. 8
The guidance also makes clear that “a user who obtains convertible virtual currency and uses it to purchase real or virtual goods or services is not an MSB under FinCEN's regulations."
The ruling makes it clear that both my operations as well as thouse of Lab_Rat would be considered to be Money Transmitters, requiring FIN-Cen registration as well as licencing as a money transmitter in each and every state that has money transmitter laws in which we would do business.
Such licencing is a very expensive proposition involving millions of dollars in bonds and expensive licences.
I have moven my mining operation into a private corporation which mines for only for itself, which does not distribute the mined crypto to others except in the case of payment for goods or services, thus exempting the operation for m the requirements of the recent rulings.
I think Lab_Rat's problems also extend to having put out a ton of $ for equipment that will not be delivered in a timely manner, thus delaying its effective use.
Lab_Rat's problems will snowball, I think and the results will not be pleasant and a detriment to the crypto community as a whole.
He should come clean right now and get these issues resolved before the whole thing goes down in flames like the Hindenburg!
My $.02.
