I decided to take some time out of my day to write a thread about the main account of the most prolific member on the forum. That account is
Phinnaeus Gage, and that man is
Bruno Kucinskas. Initially I was going to do a compilation of all the scams Bruno has exposed over the years, but that in itself wouldn't do his contributions to the forum justice, so I decided to dedicate 3 separate threads to his 3 most famous monikers (this being the first).
First, a couple of mind-blowing statistics. Across Bruno's 3 main accounts,
Phinnaeus Gage,
Gleb Gamow, and
YuTü.Co.in, he has amassed a total of
44,776 posts and started
1,628 topics.
He possesses 2 accounts currently in the top 10 members by number of posts, making him far and away the most prolific poster on the forum.
To say Bruno is a man of ideas would be an understatement. He spent years formulating ways in which Bitcoin could be improved, better marketed, and more highly utilized. He dabbled in everything from improving security to increasing adoption to hosting various giveaways and challenges in order to help spread the word. As such, Bruno is a true ambassador of Bitcoin.
In addition to the sheer number of hours Bruno put into helping Bitcoin along its path to global recognition, he provided a lot of much-needed entertainment in a space that was otherwise relatively dry in terms of humor. Over the years he penned countless poems, odes, jokes, theses, news articles, mission statements, wanted ads, contests, riddles and even screenplay pitches. He also
loves goats.
The Greatest Hits of Phinnaeus Gage
First Bitcoin Charity
Bitcoin 100: Developed Specifically for Non-Profits (11/11) - the first bitcoin charity project, and perhaps the biggest held on the forum to date, raised 681 BTC and distributed donations to 83 Non-Profit Organizations.
Below is a screenshot of Bitcoin 100's now depleted coffer, bringing an end to the era
of the first, and perhaps most successful cryptocurrency charity/NPO to date, endowing a total of 84 mostly venerable charities priorly not accepting bitcoins et al. as a donation option till such an option was introduced to them. The exact number of NPOs which Bitcoin 100 endowed was 83, adding Jason King's Unsung at the very end, along with endowing
The Water Project a second time thanks to their continuing noble efforts of supplying clean water to those in need in hard-pressed Third World countries:
https://thewaterproject.org/how-we-workBruno administered several other charities during his time as Phinnaeus Gage, never taking a penny from them for himself, always insisting that excess funds - or funds promised to him by others - be given to someone else.
Scam Research
Bruno is one of the first and foremost scambusters on the forum, and its safe to say nobody has come close to matching his tenaciousness and output over the years. He had a lot of run-ins with folks at Butterfly Labs, who eventually doxed him and forced him to give up his anonymity. Here is his first comment that I can find on his career as a scambuster, from a thread entitled "Attention All Scammers!!!"
The time has come to try to put a stop to all those who think they can come here, pull the wool over our eyes, and leave with bitcoins in hand. From this day forward, I will do everything in my power to expose you bastards.
...
As a scambuster, Bruno was no fan of the trust system, preferring instead to confront the scammers head on and ground them into submission, until they could no longer take the beating and just leave the forum.
Here is a list of some of the scams he helped research and uncover under the P.G. moniker:
Bitcoinica - one of the first web-based bitcoin exchanges, and the first to perform an "exit scam" on its users while blaming their problems on a hacker.
Bitcoinica's "Hot Wallet" loaded hours prior to the heist? (6/12)
Connecting the dots or coloring outside the lines? (7/12)
Dr. Kevin Lim PhD = Zhou Tong ~ Not a conspiracy theory! (8/12)
Bitcoingate (8/12)
Trendon Shavers / pirateat40 - user
pirateat40 ran a giant Ponzi scheme that collected several thousand BTC to be put into a secretive "Bitcoin Savings & Trust" program which promised huge returns to its investors. Shavers was the first bitcoiner to ever serve time for running a Ponzi.
Trendon Shavers/Pirate ~ New Info (9/12)
Butterfly Labs - an early miner production company that was notorious for delaying shipments of miners to long-waiting customers. Josh Zerlan, BFL CEO, is the originator of the now-famous expression, "in two weeks", as a reference to how long customers should expect to wait before receiving their miners (which frequently came much later, if ever).
BFL's days are numbered. You've all been warned. All those who come a cryin' later will be laughed at. A real investigation is in the works, for I've personally have had two agencies contact me. What's puzzling is I ain't got a clue as to how they got my contact information. Odd! But, I guess they have their ways.
BitForce Consulting LLC own by Josh Wepman (9/12)
Does Sonny Vleisides own a hosting company? (10/12)
Who is Frans Effendi? (BFL related) (12/12)
BFL advertising with the old specs — Bait & Switch (5/13)
Proof that 2000 BTC (not 1000 BTC) is owed by Josh AND BFL. (5/13)
Two people missing at BFL! Last seen last year. (6/13)
Finally, BFL's 25 E. 12th Street, KC, address explained! (6/13)
BFL (BF Labs Inc; Butterfly Labs) officially refusing to refund their customers. (7/13)
BFL ignores their own customers/investors on their official forum. (7/13)
Hosting BFL miners at J Morgan & Associates? (7/13)
In their defense, BF Labs Inc. has excellent Customer Service. (8/13)
Black Arrow - another mining hardware company that pulled a BFL-style scam, delaying shipments of most miners infinitely.
[Black Arrow] From the desk of Somebody Wrote me a Letter (2/14)
The official "Black Arrow is most likely a scam" thread (2/14)
Black Arrow [blackarrowsoftware.com]: All Things Considered - Divulged (2/14)
Black Arrow is definitely a scam! (2/14)
AMT - yet another mining hardware company based out of America that made big promises, accepted money up front, and failed to deliver hundreds of miners.
AMT_miners Advanced Mining Technology/Technologies are scamming thieves!!! (4/14)
Joshua Zipkin, the CEO of AMT and a Freemasons, is fucking over US War Veterans! (4/14)
List of AMT (Advanced Mining Technology/Technologies) seeking immediate refunds. (4/14)
Joshua Zipkin steals millions with his AMT/Advanced Mining Technologies scam. (5/14)
MtGOX & Brock Pierce - we all know about MtGOX, but what is interesting is the Hollywood child star Brock Pierce's connection to it, of which Bruno is not exactly a fan -- especially after Pierce became a member of The Bitcoin Foundation.
Why I Love Bitcoin or: Thank you BitcoinTalk for Banning me a Week (4/14)
More proof that savegox.com is a sham. (4/14)
(New York Post) Dot Com Perverts Bag Mt Gox (5/14)
Has The Bitcoin Foundation lost its fuckin' mind... (5/14)
The video Brock Pierce of Sunlot hopes you never see. (5/14)
Enron praises Brock Pierce's company before they both collapsed. (5/14)
It's official! The Bitcoin Foundation has an accused pedophile on its board. (5/14)
All things considered Brock Pierce, et al.! (5/14)
Was Autumn Radtke murdered due to something she knew about Brock Pierce, et al.? (5/14)
New Mt Gox Info from the Itty-bitty Bitcoin Insight Committee (IBBIC) (6/14)
Random
The First Bitcoin... (8/11) - a long list of several Bitcoin's "firsts"... probably the first list of Bitcoin firsts, which would render it perhaps the most accurate...
Topic: Bruno vs Roger Ver (1st Bitcoin Match) (10/12) - in this thread, Bruno challenges Roger Ver to an MMA fight, with the proceeds going to charity.
The Mega Thread that Feeds People in Need (9/13) - in this thread, Bruno collects donations for Sean's Outpost, which was a bitcoin-based charity that provides meals to the poor -- he collected enough BTC to buy 2,703 meals.
An Interview with Bruno Kucinskas: The Anti-Scammer - a candid, off-forum interview with B.K. about his career as a scam buster and his days as P.G.
(there's plenty more threads that should be added to this section, but I fear I may have already warn out my welcome considering the current length of this post)
Here's one final P.G. post that encapsulates his humor and unique way of viewing the world that I leave everyone here with.
Yesterday morning I stopped at a cafe, oppose to the dinky service station available at that exit, for a cup of coffee for the road and to take a shit (apologies to the non-coffee drinkers
). I asked the pretty petite girl donning the usual metal, once only saved for earlobes, if they took Bitcoin. She replied no, but said she heard about it when I asked her. Then I told her who I was. Come to find out, she has visited BitcoinTalk, and her sister is a big Bitcoin fan, of which is probably a member here. She asked for my autograph, of which is going to be given to her sister as a Christmas present, having to now no longer worrying about what to give her.
Soon, I'll be able to charge $400K USD for speaking fees, along with charging 1 BTC for lap dances at bridal showers. I've noticed more and more people staring at me in public now ever since Bitcoin started to enter the mainstream. I don't know what my future agent will be charging for commercials, but the first one I'll do free minus expenses since I'm a nice guy.
I look forward to the girl that received my autograph as a Christmas present to post here and state how happy she was/is.
~TMI
BTCITW
If after reading all this you feel at all compelled, now would be a great time to show your appreciation for Bruno. You can find out how to do so by visiting his
latest thread.
From the bottom of my heart, thanks Bruno for everything you have provided the forum over the years.
But the saga isn't over yet -- stay tuned for part 2 of our 3-part series, featuring Gleb Gamow, when we return from this extended commercial break.
