.

[hilariousandco]

anyone who believes theymos paid 1mil or 350k is well...very gullible.
pretty sure we'll get updates then it all mysteriously vanishes.


I havnt read all 13 pages.. but does anyone know how theymos met the dev ? considering they don't have a site and all.. i'm kind of curious ?

I don't believe he has mentioned this yet (at least publicly).

[escrow.ms]

anyone who believes theymos paid 1mil or 350k is well...very gullible.
pretty sure we'll get updates then it all mysteriously vanishes.


I havnt read all 13 pages.. but does anyone know how theymos met the dev ? considering they don't have a site and all.. i'm kind of curious ?

I don't believe he has mentioned this yet (at least publicly).

Theymos met wangbus through a member warren.
I don't know his username but you can see pics here http://hicapacity.org/page3/

[hilariousandco]

anyone who believes theymos paid 1mil or 350k is well...very gullible.
pretty sure we'll get updates then it all mysteriously vanishes.


I havnt read all 13 pages.. but does anyone know how theymos met the dev ? considering they don't have a site and all.. i'm kind of curious ?

I don't believe he has mentioned this yet (at least publicly).

Theymos met wangbus through a member warren.
I don't know his username but you can see pics here http://hicapacity.org/page3/

Ah. Looks like possibly this guy: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=81508

Post where Salty mentioned Warren: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=455867.msg5144795;topicseen#msg5144795

[Justin00]

*edit* I guess its all above board and legit then.
well done to the successful company in winning the contract !!

[dogie]

And come on guys, its very likely that payment will be made in stages with delivery - not 100% up front. No one really does that IRL.

[hjbuell]

Mr. Schlongtrain

Priceless.

As I said elsewhere, I have not and will not donate, specifically because I don't see lube nearby, and even if I did, I'm not into that. Donating to this forum under the current structure is far worse than speculation. It's outright absurdity, and a shame that this 'cornerstone' of the Bitcoin community has committed to the MtGox of forum design.

At least launch a pilot, or 'something' that can let people see more than Mr. Schlongtrain's new WangBus plushies.

Hell, I'm a writer - I'm ready to start writing a bestseller for $1,000,000 - just send it on over. Really - I'm that good, and I've got just as much evidence to demonstrate my ability as Mr. Schlongtrain (more, actually, as I'm older and been driving my own schlongtrain since probably before he was born).

Anyway, vapid comments. Feel free to disregard them, as I don't follow these threads (bad decisions in the making rarely fascinate me). Plus, as others have pointed out - I have not donated anything - therefore I have no right to a voice (never mind the time I donate writing about Bitcoins, educating people about them, or encouraging their adoption - so they can see the million dollar heist on the forums here - woo for the community).

Later :/

[Justin00]

And come on guys, its very likely that payment will be made in stages with delivery - not 100% up front. No one really does that IRL.

say it out loud.. and properly

"million dollar payment will be made in stages with delivery... for the website.. which costs 1 million dollars... even though fortune 500 companies dont spend that much (well some obviously spend heaps more)"

sounds funny when you say it out loud, right ?

also I didnt donate... so like the writer dude above me.. i better shutup and let the heist begin..
popcorn is on me

[wtogami]

Theymos met wangbus through a member warren.
I don't know his username but you can see pics here http://hicapacity.org/page3/

I am Warren Togami.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=81508;sa=showPosts;start=0
I am a developer of both Bitcoin and Litecoin, management consultant and engineer.  My previous career was as a Linux Software Engineer followed by MBA and a bit of law school.  You can see from my post history that I have been involved in major bug fixes in Bitcoin during 0.8.x and 0.9 and have contributed to related projects like p2pool in both code and fund raising.  I also consult for <various Bitcoin companies> on business and engineering issues.

I met theymos late 2013 the day of the major security breach.  I initially served as an emergency security consultant, mainly in locking down the replacement server to get the forum back up and running as quickly as possible.  The site remains a bit crippled today (i.e. no uploading of avatars) because of paranoid server security configurations and shared agreement that the current SMF is not worthwhile to improve.  Upgrading to the SMF-2.x would be too much work to port and validate weird custom features (starting with Satoshi years ago and other administrators through the years) while the user experience wouldn't be much of an improvement.  Theymos studied the other forum software alternatives and was dissatisfied with all of them.

James Wang is one of the most experienced and versatile engineers that I know.  He has done iOS and Android apps, desktop applications, and highly scalable web and database apps.  Other engineers at his company are similarly talented.  He long had a desire to implement a better communications framework, and he was very excited when he learned that someone wanted a new forum where the end product would be open source as all of his past work was forced to be hidden within proprietary software companies.  His vision for the new forum is to not only do forum-like communications better, but to also reuse the same framework to do what Freenode does in a better way.  This could be a compelling new product that is useful for projects, open and closed teams and communities far beyond Bitcoin.

Theymos was late in getting help to achieve the stated goals for the forum, and it is too easy for people to criticize due to that tardiness.  Now I can say with confidence that there are professionals working on not only engineering but also protecting the forum as a defensible legal entity.  Shortly pieces of working code will be revealed to the community and be placed in production in auxiliary functions of the current forum.  A bit after initial portions go live the engineering firm will be directly engaging with the community for feedback on the new forum design.

I believe the community will be surprised and pleased with what comes next.  The purpose of all this work is more ambitious and goes beyond a mere medium of communication.

[augustocroppo]

You are all entitled to complain. I donated to Michael improve the forum for everyone, not just the donators/VIP members.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Theymos met wangbus through a member warren.
I don't know his username but you can see pics here http://hicapacity.org/page3/

I am Warren Togami.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=81508;sa=showPosts;start=0
I am a developer of both Bitcoin and Litecoin, management consultant and engineer.  My previous career was as a Linux Software Engineer followed by MBA and a bit of law school.  You can see from my post history that I have been involved in major bug fixes in Bitcoin during 0.8.x and 0.9 and have contributed to related projects like p2pool in both code and fund raising.  I also consult for <various Bitcoin companies> on business and engineering issues.

I met theymos late 2013 the day of the major security breach.  I initially served as an emergency security consultant, mainly in locking down the replacement server to get the forum back up and running as quickly as possible.  The site remains a bit crippled today (i.e. no uploading of avatars) because of paranoid server security configurations and shared agreement that the current SMF is not worthwhile to improve.  Upgrading to the SMF-2.x would be too much work to port and validate weird custom features (starting with Satoshi years ago and other administrators through the years) while the user experience wouldn't be much of an improvement.  Theymos studied the other forum software alternatives and was dissatisfied with all of them.

James Wang is one of the most experienced and versatile engineers that I know.  He has done iOS and Android apps, desktop applications, and highly scalable web and database apps.  Other engineers at his company are similarly talented.  He long had a desire to implement a better communications framework, and he was very excited when he learned that someone wanted a new forum where the end product would be open source as all of his past work was forced to be hidden within proprietary software companies.  His vision for the new forum is to not only do forum-like communications better, but to also reuse the same framework to do what Freenode does in a better way.  This could be a compelling new product that is useful for projects, open and closed teams and communities far beyond Bitcoin.

Theymos was late in getting help to achieve the stated goals for the forum, and it is too easy for people to criticize due to that tardiness.  Now I can say with confidence that there are professionals working on not only engineering but also protecting the forum as a defensible legal entity.  Shortly pieces of working code will be revealed to the community and be placed in production in auxiliary functions of the current forum.  A bit after initial portions go live the engineering firm will be directly engaging with the community for feedback on the new forum design.

I believe the community will be surprised and pleased with what comes next.  The purpose of all this work is more ambitious and goes beyond a mere medium of communication.

Boy, I wish I would have discovered your posts prior to IW going down.

InstaWallet's have a right to exist.  Users have the right to know the actual risk involved to make an informed decision if they want to use it or not.

Otherwise I may have moved out my 1,000+ BTC prior to the hack, for a week earlier I, too, was expressing concerns, but set to rest that all was well. Well, 10 months later after I submitting three claims, the lesser one, 0.835 BTC was returned to me just recently. Still awaiting an outcome for the other two wallets totaling 1,132 BTC.

[tysat]

AC brings up a really good point... we still haven't seen any proof of the payment.

theymos or wangbus,

Please show us the transaction(s) where the $350,000 payment was sent.

No they both should show, and both have to sign their respected addresses.

This would be best and should only take minutes to do... I guess transparency is overrated

It's looking like we'll never see proof of payment

[boumalo]

I am dreaming totally but I would like to share my Junior Member idea : what would be nice and would maybe ease everyone's mind would be a huge give away for all members, just a few hundreds BTC but it would be in the spirit of the early days of Bitcoin

Theymos would gain some more support from everyone and a lot of good people will receive some bitcoins, it would be-legendary

[Teka]

I am dreaming totally but I would like to share my Junior Member idea : what would be nice and would maybe ease everyone's mind would be a huge give away for all members, just a few hundreds BTC but it would be in the spirit of the early days of Bitcoin

Theymos would gain some more support from everyone and a lot of good people will receive some bitcoins, it would be-legendary

Yeah lets redistribute wealth, those days are dead and not coming back but thanks for the off-topic idea.

The idea is totally off-topic but it isn't a crazy one. BTC has been getting a lot of bad press over the last few months. You could make the argument that all pr is good but that's only valid to degree, if your competition is getting only positive news then the bad pr is no longer good. The amount of negative articles on Bitcoin could potentially be the failure of it. Redistributing the wealth of the forum or spending it on positive Bitcoin ads could be what we need to push BTC forward even further.

[Teka]

I am dreaming totally but I would like to share my Junior Member idea : what would be nice and would maybe ease everyone's mind would be a huge give away for all members, just a few hundreds BTC but it would be in the spirit of the early days of Bitcoin

Theymos would gain some more support from everyone and a lot of good people will receive some bitcoins, it would be-legendary

Yeah lets redistribute wealth, those days are dead and not coming back but thanks for the off-topic idea.

The idea is totally off-topic but it isn't a crazy one. BTC has been getting a lot of bad press over the last few months. You could make the argument that all pr is good but that's only valid to degree, if your competition is getting only positive news then the bad pr is no longer good. The amount of negative articles on Bitcoin could potentially be the failure of it. Redistributing the wealth of the forum or spending it on positive Bitcoin ads could be what we need to push BTC forward even further.

No that was the early days, better infrastructure is needed right now. Just like Mt Gox this forum at one point was the only bitcoin forum, and could survive that, now that more people are coming into the community it is harder and harder to just stay on this forum and use it, that would mean new infrastructure will lure more people to bitcoin, not PR stunts.

I understand your point but in that case how did doge grow so quickly? They grew so quickly because they getting extremely positive news articles when bitcoin was being destroyed by the press. I think that what we need right now is a combination of both.

[augustocroppo]

I understand your point but in that case how did doge grow so quickly? They grew so quickly because they getting extremely positive news articles when bitcoin was being mascaraed by the press. I think that what we need right now is a combination of both.

Distribution of forum funds for the mere purpose to cause a hype will lead to the press scrutinize where the money is coming from. Then the press will know how Michael provided support to fraudsters like BFL and Tradefortress. The good news will become bad news. I will be more than glad to explain to journalists how I was duped in a charity fraud perpetrated by the forum administration.

[boumalo]

There is 6200BTC here : https://blockchain.info/address/17RTTUAiiPqUTKtEggJPec8RxLMi2n9EZ9

The truth is Theymos is taking decisions as well as he can, it is a bit authoritative and many old members don't agree with his decisions but it is how it works now so we have to rely on his; it will change and everything will be different in a few years because it isn't stable enough atm
I like the idea that he is a good guy, he can definitely be influenced and that is why I threw my idea of a big giveaway; the most recent members don't always feel welcome and they would after a huge giveaway

[tysat]

There is 6200BTC here : https://blockchain.info/address/17RTTUAiiPqUTKtEggJPec8RxLMi2n9EZ9

The truth is Theymos is taking decisions as well as he can, it is a bit authoritative and many old members don't agree with his decisions but it is how it works now so we have to rely on his; it will change and everything will be different in a few years because it isn't stable enough atm
I like the idea that he is a good guy, he can definitely be influenced and that is why I threw my idea of a big giveaway; the most recent members don't always feel welcome and they would after a huge giveaway

I think that if he's truly acting in the best interest on the community, then he shouldn't have any issues explaining his reasoning or actions.  Since he won't/can't do that, it looks pretty sketchy.  I don't think it's too much to ask since he's dropped $350,000 out of ~$1,000,000 total on a new forum.

[boumalo]

There is 6200BTC here : https://blockchain.info/address/17RTTUAiiPqUTKtEggJPec8RxLMi2n9EZ9

The truth is Theymos is taking decisions as well as he can, it is a bit authoritative and many old members don't agree with his decisions but it is how it works now so we have to rely on his; it will change and everything will be different in a few years because it isn't stable enough atm
I like the idea that he is a good guy, he can definitely be influenced and that is why I threw my idea of a big giveaway; the most recent members don't always feel welcome and they would after a huge giveaway

I think that if he's truly acting in the best interest on the community, then he shouldn't have any issues explaining his reasoning or actions.  Since he won't/can't do that, it looks pretty sketchy.  I don't think it's too much to ask since he's dropped $350,000 out of ~$1,000,000 total on a new forum.

I am very interested by what you guys who were here early enough think about all this and my opinion is a bit irrelevant in the matter because I don't have enough informations yet and I was not here early enough

But to be honest Theymos does answer a lot of questions asked exemple : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=455867.msg5069851#msg5069851

He is pretty busy and he has been given a lot of power that he is using the best he can; as far as I understand he probably made a huge mistake with the 350,000$ (was it really 350,000$ when he paid or is it 350,000$ at today's price??) and he doesn't recognise it, maybe he will when it is crystal clear that it was a mistake; the rest of the money is here so it can still be used well

[freedomno1]

Theymos is an interesting character since he can be quite helpful in some areas and virtually silent in others.

Concerning this thread if he wanted to alleviate some of the concerns of the community it would be a significant step forward to reveal a public bitcoin address, as it implies that even donator's  to charities should be able to view where the money is going even if not how it was used.

We walk a very fine line on the forums between facts and conspiracies and our trust has been broken quite a few times by scammers of all sorts who were once trusted members, causing a bunch of the oldies to be cautious to these type of things.

Either way we will need to wait and see if the changes are worth it and to an extent we have no choice but to trust Theymos decisions on these type of purchases even if we personally disagree with them.

Ye who controls the Bitcoin address controls what is done with the bitcoins.

[BadBear]

Meh, not much point. Either you think he's stealing or you don't. Seeing a transaction isn't going to change that, neither is anything he says for that matter. I mean if you really think he's stealing, then you wouldn't believe him anyway.