btc-arbs.com - Update: dead HYIP, Refund progress: BTC-arbs still doing refunds

[sunny1]

To have reserves. Which is logical if they want to speculate with it.

Exactly !

[FreeJack2k2]

Although technically arbitrage trading isn't really speculating, it doesn't matter what Bitcoin's price does as long as there's a spread between the exchanges to take advantage of. The larger their pool of funds, the more trades they can do to take advantage of the spreads. I suspect that since they claim to have been doing this for a year before opening to the public, and months before that as a private group of investors, I imagine that they have the funds to continue whether web-based investors are there or not...hence the open withdrawal policy.

[Slipknot79]

No interest on 29th? Oo

[dyask]

No interest on 29th? Oo

Probably a mistake because the note on the 30th says Saturday.

[wdl1908]

Daylight savings probably messed up the script. 

[FreeJack2k2]

They corrected it.

[dyask]

They corrected it.

And did it again!   Maybe it is a bot.

[crayboy29]

It's because both times they posted the result after midnight.

[TheAwer]

It's because both times they posted the result after midnight.

They've posted results after midnight before, but I don't think this happened then.  Although if there was a bot and it had a problem, they would probably have fixed it and not let the same thing happen again.

Also, from their report on the 30ths interest they say:

This morning, the directors of BTC Arbs met with some of the industry leaders, including exchange operators and other prominent Bitcoin entrepreneurs to discuss the future of Bitcoin.

Anyone believe this?  Heard anything about this from the "industry leaders"?  This looks fishy to me.  It would also be interesting for someone to go through their reports and see if the reports match up with each other and with what happened in the markets. 

Is this the beginning of the end?  Or not?  Anyone thinking of getting out now?

[Alley]

Something  isnt sitting right with me on there latest  statements.  I  pulled out my  initial investment.  Only have  interest. 

[NLNico]

Inb4 they meet with the bitcoin owner.

[dyask]

It's because both times they posted the result after midnight.

My comment about the bot was a poor attempt at humor.   This thread is really uptight.   

[FreeJack2k2]

Today's result was posted after midnight Switzerland time, they will have to manually adjust it like Saturday's result. The report on today's action on the exchanges is absolutely right, the spread between BTC-e and Bitstamp got really wide for quite a while. I almost expected a larger result today, but because it's Sunday I expect they have funds tied up in wire transfers. I watch the markets like a hawk all day, so I usually have a pretty good idea of what was possible, given past results. I am always trying to catch a whiff of anything that doesn't match up with what I observed. So far, the times I didn't see a result that I expected could be explained by the movement of fiat, which is painfully slow and is the limiting factor in arbitrage.

As for the comments about meeting with industry leaders and exchange-runners, it's not that implausible. Particularly if they are actually in Switzerland, which is a massive global financial hub...a lot of Bitcoin entrepreneurs are there. BTC-Arbs is not trading a trivial amount of Bitcoin and we don't know who their investors were prior to starting the website. There's a lot we don't know about how connected these guys are.

I also don't think it's implausible that the market is being manipulated, at all...I have felt this for a long time. Today I have watched the price recover to the high $400s, and then get slapped back down $50 by a single sale of over 1200 Bitcoin. That's no accident.

I would have liked to have seen a bigger result today, given the spread that existed, but because it's Sunday and I don't know what the status of their money movement is, I can't exactly complain. We haven't cracked 2% that often this month.

[crazyivan]

The part regarding market analysis is correct, no issues there. The other part about that meeting with industry leaders, hm, that is at best a very bad marketing effort. Please, they are not Microsoft, now I am even more cautious.

[nightengale]

The part regarding market analysis is correct, no issues there. The other part about that meeting with industry leaders, hm, that is at best a very bad marketing effort. Please, they are not Microsoft, now I am even more cautious.

To again play devil's advocate, more and more crypto companies are choosing to locate in Sweden. Ethereum recently announced they're headquartering there.

[FreeJack2k2]

The part regarding market analysis is correct, no issues there. The other part about that meeting with industry leaders, hm, that is at best a very bad marketing effort. Please, they are not Microsoft, now I am even more cautious.

To again play devil's advocate, more and more crypto companies are choosing to locate in Sweden. Ethereum recently announced they're headquartering there.

BTC-Arbs claims to be in Switzerland, not Sweden

Regardless, we don't know WHO the "industry leaders" were, we don't know which exchange-runner(s), etc... But considering he's talking about China's reaction, I would guess that they talked to Bobby Lee, who's the most open and available guy to speak with on the topic. Let's also not forget that Coinsummit just happened, so it's possible someone from BTC-Arbs was in attendance and talked to some people there. Who knows. It's kind of irrelevant, to me.

There's definitely a caste system right now and the machinations at the top are not something that most people are aware of...but these markets ARE manipulated on the exchanges, it should be pretty clear to anyone who's been watching them for a while. If you listen to Bobby Lee talk about the behavior of Chinese exchanges in padding their volume numbers, it's kind of easy to start seeing how the complete lack of any regulations has created a heavily manipulated system.

The day-trading "whales" hold a disproportionate influence over the market, which doesn't have a ton of liquidity to begin with. Any bad news out of China is a chance for them to incite a sell-off...and they do, every time. When you sell even 1,000 bitcoin, you can drop the market by $50-$100 depending on volatility. Then they'll wait out the panic sell and buy back in heavily at the bottom and suddenly confidence is restored. It happens every time.

So I don't discount what they're saying in the update, because it's still plausible.

[pipets]

I have been watching this thread from day 0.

And now Ive got registered just to post following:

by now I have very little doubt that this FreeJack2k2 dude is in someways related to btc-arbs. In the early days I used to think of him as an honest person trying to weigh in all sides of the argument, but if you read just his posts from day 0, you'll see that whenever people express their doubt and confusion about btc-arbs, he would jump in right away to defend them 'viciously'.
Maybe he is not really affiliated to btc-arbs, but then he is probably someone who has some amount of btc there and want to encourage people to join this hyip, so that he can steal more from the others.

I know that there is not a single issue reported on btc-arbs so far. I guess this gives confidence to some, but if you're a sane person then you clearly know that this fact doesn't mean ANYTHING. The bottom line is, there is NOT a single solid fact that is clearly demonstrating that btc-arbs is not a hyip.

Saying all this, by no means I am clean myself. I have put 2.6btc 2 weeks ago and pulled it out today at 3.01btc.

I could be wrong, but it could serve someone as a warning to take his posts with a grain of salt. just my 2 cents.

[crazyivan]

You put 2.6 BTC into something you considered to be unsafe??? WTF??

[FreeJack2k2]

I have been watching this thread from day 0.

And now Ive got registered just to post following:

by now I have very little doubt that this FreeJack2k2 dude is in someways related to btc-arbs. In the early days I used to think of him as an honest person trying to weigh in all sides of the argument, but if you read just his posts from day 0, you'll see that whenever people express their doubt and confusion about btc-arbs, he would jump in right away to defend them 'viciously'.
Maybe he is not really affiliated to btc-arbs, but then he is probably someone who has some amount of btc there and want to encourage people to join this hyip, so that he can steal more from the others.

I know that there is not a single issue reported on btc-arbs so far. I guess this gives confidence to some, but if you're a sane person then you clearly know that this fact doesn't mean ANYTHING. The bottom line is, there is NOT a single solid fact that is clearly demonstrating that btc-arbs is not a hyip.

Saying all this, by no means I am clean myself. I have put 2.6btc 2 weeks ago and pulled it out today at 3.01btc.

I could be wrong, but it could serve someone as a warning to take his posts with a grain of salt. just my 2 cents.

Honestly I'm not...you can check out my history of posts on bitcointalk, I have been active elsewhere far before I came to this thread (mostly the Lightning ASIC Gridseed forums, as I mine with that hardware). I have had money invested with BTC-Arbs for a month now and have had no issues...I watch the markets all day at work (I'm kind of obsessive about it) and so I generally know what I should see out of the BTC-Arbs update. Trust me, I'm always looking for the "sign" that things are not on the up and up. So far I've withdrawn Bitcoin about 3-4 times, never an issue doing so, and I've deposited 4-5 times and it's always been credited correctly and within a reasonable timeframe. I keep a spreadsheet of my reported returns for each day and the percentage I'm paid always matches what was reported as the day's result.

I visit this thread every time it's updated to see if anyone else has a complaint that will cast doubt upon the site's legitimacy. I'm pretty heavily invested in it, far more than what I've seen posted in this thread...so yes, I want an early warning sign if things aren't legitimate.

I've also been active for a long, long time (with this username) on StockTwits, primarily in the Bitcoin threads...and had posted a few times there about my "experiment" with BTC-Arbs for the first week. You won't see any posts from me anywhere but that few times on StockTwits and in this thread, about BTC-Arbs. After it was successful, I started Google searching for more information about the site and found this thread. I'm unconvinced by the "evidence" presented that because they're using a commercially available website script that matches a former scam site, that they must also be one. I feel like that's the same as someone using the same Wordpress template as a scam site and being accused of being the same person as the scammer.

Anyway, I defend it not because I'm trying to convince anyone to put money into it, but because I believe in it and just want to offer the perspective of someone who has been invested for a month now and has had zero issues, whatsoever. I consistently encourage everyone to take it for what it's worth, only invest what you're comfortable losing and be responsible. If you're comfortable with risk, though, it can really put your Bitcoin to work for you.

And if there's some worry that I'm just "shilling" to try and get affiliates...trust me, the income from that is pennies. Of ten signups, only three actually invested anything and only one has invested more than 1BTC. I don't promote it for the affiliates, I promote it because it's yielded an excellent return for me over the last month and I want to encourage people with some appetite for risk to give it a try. I totally acknowledge that there's a chance it's an HYIP, but if it is...they are doing a phenomenal job of convincing me that they're actually conducting arbitrage trading. I don't feel that because HYIP sites have listed it, that is a smoking gun that "proves" it is one...just that it attracts people who want a high return on their investment.

[pipets]

My 'accusation' has nothing to do with affiliates. I am just putting out the possibility that you might be part of the hyip, or someone who is trying to take advantage of it. You know the amount you make on hyip is coming from other players. If btc-arbs is really a hyip, then it would perfectly be in your interest to advertise btc-arbs, defend its image and invite as many people as you can.

The fact that you never had issues in withdrawals and deposits, again as I mentioned before, doesn't mean anything. I never had any issues, I don't think there is even a single issue reported (that is still unresolved) by anyone. This doesn't mean anything because this is what exactly a hyip would do. And the fact about accurate descriptions of daily trades - common man, I am sure somebody like YOU can write it up easily (anyone who is "obsessed" with markets). Also I have checked your post history weeks ago, and again the fact that you've been posting about asics doesn't imply anything against my suspicion.

The important fact about hyip is - they don't give off big or small signs here and there and then disappear (of course unless they're idiots), they just simply disappear, without any warnings. So obviously it is pointless to look for signs, if they are really hyip, when the moment comes it will already be too late, nobody will be able to get their btc back. I hope you would agree with me 100% on this, but I am puzzled by the fact that if you're such an honest person as you say, why would you defend them by writing so many long posts filled with bunch of cloudy "facts" that mean nothing.

You also say that you've invested a lot and check posts here often because you're scared as well. This is just the same two-way logic, as it also fits perfectly with my suspicion. Of course you don't blatantly say that there is no risk involved, and aggressively encourage everybody to invest. You seem to know the limits very well. I hope for anybody readying this thread from the start, your posts are clearly standing out, in a thin line spreading hope and trust with bunch of two-way cloudy 'facts' - indirectly promoting btc-arbs. Basically, when I imagine myself operating a hyip, or as somebody who is trying to take advantage of it, you do things as almost exactly as how I would do it. So when you say "trust me bla bla, honestly bla bla" - no I can't trust you at all.

All this is just my humble opinion, I could very well be wrong accusing some ballsy innocent heavy investor.