btc-arbs: High-Performance, Pooled Arbitrage Fund... Or... ?

[nightengale]

Alright, full disclosure. There is already a thread on btc-arbs (see here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=474787.0) but I hate that it is in the Gambling subforum, so I'm starting another here. I don't really 'gamble' with coins in the conventional sense (poker, slots, blackjack, etc. etc.) so I never would have come across the site here on the forum because I don't typically visit the gambling subforum.

And I know the Ponzi and scam accusations are already rampant and will be repeated here, and I totally get the skepticism. I've also read that SecondMarket staffs an 11-person trading team, so there has to be at least some money in arbitrage out there with all of the volatility and drama in the exchanges. I'm not entirely convinced it's not a scam because of the too-good-to-be-true factor, but for the last three weeks my experience the site has been predictable. Deposits have posted promptly, earnings have been logged reliably, and all of my withdrawals have been handled within a matter of hours. The daily trading summaries have been consistent with market activity (click on the day in the "Results" section of the webiste), and while I've not experienced any daily gains over 4% like the site advertises, even a 1% daily return is worth the risk for me. My plan is to make regular withdrawals until my original deposit is recouped, and then let the money ride on the house. Again, I realize this could be a total scam and my money could disappear tomorrow, but the majority of my BTC is locked away in cold storage, and with a small amount of appetite for something higher-risk, I've placed a little bit of BTC here. If its a scam, its a pretty elaborate one, so I figure the guy has at least earned a little bit of my money if he disappears with it. Anyway, I'm openly posting this as a referral link, because if you had not heard of this website and would like to play around with it, I'd appreciate the referral. But if you'd prefer to trim off the 'referral/nightengale', you won't hurt my feelings. Don't deposit more than you can afford to lose:

https://btc-arbs.com/referral/nightengale

I'll update the thread with my experiences as time goes on, and if useful information comes to light, I'll add updates to the OP. Only in the wide, wide world of Bitcoin would I consider utilizing a site like this, but who knows, in 2 weeks I've already made 15% of my investment back.

[LeancyBTC]

I've seen much more elaborate HYIP/Ponzis than btc-arb. From my experience with bitcoin trading on a daily-basis, the daily interest they offer is already too high for arbitrage trading - or at least borderline when it comes to sustainability. So tread lightly on that program, don't invest more than what you're willing to lose donate.

[Rannasha]

The site reports results that are extremely incompatible with arbitrage trading. Sure, if you look at the difference in price between 2 exchanges, you may end up with a similar percentage, but there are various other factors that will very significantly drag down the final profit percentage. This is coupled with some other extremely dubious facts / claims (ranging from very high operational costs from their claimed Geneva-based office with 10 employees to their inability to consistently name their operation (4 different names to be found on their website)).

I am convinced that this is a plain old Ponzi scheme. Sure, it's dressed up a bit better than most Ponzis on the Bitcointalk forum, but that doesn't change the nature of the beast.

edit: You can read my analysis of this operation in more detail in my comments the thread on the Gambling forum (see OP for link). Comments which the 'investors' (gamblers/suckers) have been unable to refute with anything stronger but "they may be legitimate".

[MPOE-PR]

Again, I realize this could be a total scam and my money could disappear tomorrow, but the majority of my BTC is locked away in cold storage, and with a small amount of appetite for something higher-risk, I've placed a little bit of BTC here. If its a scam, its a pretty elaborate one, so I figure the guy has at least earned a little bit of my money if he disappears with it. Anyway, I'm openly posting this as a referral link, because if you had not heard of this website and would like to play around with it, I'd appreciate the referral. But if you'd prefer to trim off the 'referral/nightengale', you won't hurt my feelings.

This isn't a good approach to things. People who give money to scammers enable scamming; you're doing more than accepting high risk on your own dime. Have a read.

[nightengale]

Again, I realize this could be a total scam and my money could disappear tomorrow, but the majority of my BTC is locked away in cold storage, and with a small amount of appetite for something higher-risk, I've placed a little bit of BTC here. If its a scam, its a pretty elaborate one, so I figure the guy has at least earned a little bit of my money if he disappears with it. Anyway, I'm openly posting this as a referral link, because if you had not heard of this website and would like to play around with it, I'd appreciate the referral. But if you'd prefer to trim off the 'referral/nightengale', you won't hurt my feelings.

This isn't a good approach to things. People who give money to scammers enable scamming; you're doing more than accepting high risk on your own dime. Have a read.

Wow, can you distill that down to a sentence or two? I'm too busy making money...

[MPOE-PR]

Wow, can you distill that down to a sentence or two? I'm too busy making money...

If you prefer scammy bullshit to reading and thinking, bitcoin isn't for you. Fuck off.

[SyllabeaR]

Hey ,

i've invested some BTC a few weeks ago ,
and 3 days ago i enabled 2 Factor Authentication , and now im not able to login to my account anymore,
however, i've sent them 2 mails in the last 3 days and didnt get an answer till now.

Now im not able to acces to my account , its first time i used 2FA ,
i type username and password then open the google app and type in the code ?! That doesn't work

I will update if i get a reply from them ,  but at the moment i have a bad feeling.
If i did smth wrong with 2FA ,please tell me (:

Have a nice day

[nightengale]

Wow, can you distill that down to a sentence or two? I'm too busy making money...

If you prefer scammy bullshit to reading and thinking, bitcoin isn't for you. Fuck off.

You're operating under two assumptions:

1) I'm entirely convinced btc-arbs is a ponzi and am participating nonetheless at the expense of others. I'm not convinced its a scam. I'm in the process of vetting it and am posting my results here

2) My disinterest in reading your verbose sermon means that I have an aversion to reading and thinking. After glancing at your homework assignment, I could tell we were not going to agree. I get your opinion on btc-arbs but I don't agree with it at this point

And now I'm intentionally not going to tell you to "fuck off".

[nightengale]

Hey ,

i've invested some BTC a few weeks ago ,
and 3 days ago i enabled 2 Factor Authentication , and now im not able to login to my account anymore,
however, i've sent them 2 mails in the last 3 days and didnt get an answer till now.

Now im not able to acces to my account , its first time i used 2FA ,
i type username and password then open the google app and type in the code ?! That doesn't work

I will update if i get a reply from them ,  but at the moment i have a bad feeling.
If i did smth wrong with 2FA ,please tell me (:

Have a nice day

Looks like you figured it out, hopefully your bad feeling is gone: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=474787.msg5919063#msg5919063

[msc_de]

this kind of game man can do only short term, not long term, scam or not is another topic.

[nightengale]

this kind of game man can do only short term, not long term, scam or not is another topic.

Do you mean because arbitrage opportunities are going to diminish over time or... ?

[tricomp]

The site reports results that are extremely incompatible with arbitrage trading. Sure, if you look at the difference in price between 2 exchanges, you may end up with a similar percentage, but there are various other factors that will very significantly drag down the final profit percentage. This is coupled with some other extremely dubious facts / claims (ranging from very high operational costs from their claimed Geneva-based office with 10 employees to their inability to consistently name their operation (4 different names to be found on their website)).

I am convinced that this is a plain old Ponzi scheme. Sure, it's dressed up a bit better than most Ponzis on the Bitcointalk forum, but that doesn't change the nature of the beast.

edit: You can read my analysis of this operation in more detail in my comments the thread on the Gambling forum (see OP for link). Comments which the 'investors' (gamblers/suckers) have been unable to refute with anything stronger but "they may be legitimate".

BTC-Arbs  appears to be doing 7% to 8.68% per week, Another company doing the same
arbitrage, BTC Autotrader, which trades on  Cryptostocks is paying out  2.66% to 2.84% per week (7weeks and counting now) based on 0.0006 btc initial price in IPO. Though the later is equivalent to 80% of revenues, BTC-Arbs published returns is still  about 3x the returns from BTC Autotrader.

Do they have a better trading system?  If they do , they should explain  this.

[msc_de]

this kind of game man can do only short term, not long term, scam or not is another topic.

Do you mean because arbitrage opportunities are going to diminish over time or... ?

tja, i mean:

if cryptocoin economy runs itself  with more regulation ( may be forced by fiat world) then less arbitrage opportunities available, vice versa.

[nightengale]

Another withdrawal came through fine yesterday -- keeping my original deposit where it is and skimming off the earnings every week.

[wdl1908]

Another withdraw done and this time very fast between request and arrival only 40 mins.

[msc_de]

Another withdraw done and this time very fast between request and arrival only 40 mins.

really?  last time i waited more than 12 hours, but it was ok

[nightengale]

Mine have varied greatly. They all of came through, but some within an hour or two, and others after 24 hours.

[cesmak]

Mine have varied greatly. They all of came through, but some within an hour or two, and others after 24 hours.

Me too !

Cheers

[mies_reed]

btc-arbs is offline..... I think I lost all of BTC am I right??

So it was really to good to be true I guess 

[mies_reed]

back online thank god