1) It is a mixture of denial and anger that leads to the users who post "Aw man, all this FUD happened so Pirate had to close shop" - how could this thread prevent the "market arbitrage" from continuing? did we expose Pirateat40's "secret trading strategy" that if everyone knew about he couldn't make these huge profits?
1a) For those just picking this thread up, the Pro-Ponzi group loved the term "FUD" or "Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt" - a term I believe Pirate gave them to label coherent logic about how BCST operates as a Ponzi Scheme.
2) Here is what Pirateat40 changed his OP to in this thread -->
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=50822.0 After much consideration, I’ve decided to close down Bitcoin Savings & Trust.
Why?
The decision was based on the general size and overall time required to manage the transactions. As the fund grew there were larger and larger coin movements which put strain on my reserve accounts and ultimately caused delays on withdraws and the inability to fund orders within my system. On the 14th I made a final attempt to relieve pressure off the system by reducing the rates I offered for deposits. In a perfect world this would allow me to hold more coins in reserve outside the system, but instead it only exponentially increased the amount of withdrawals overnight causing mass panic from many of my lenders.
So now what?
I’ve spoken with my clients over the last week and come to an agreement that would allow me to close down my operation within a week. Currently my reserve (operating wallets) are drained from fulfilling the withdraw spree that happened after the rate drop announcement. All withdraws at this point will be delayed until Monday when the shutdown process begins..
At this point I will no longer accept deposits. Any coins sent into the system as of now will be returned immediately.
When will I get my coins?
Starting Monday I’ll begin systematically closing and withdrawing accounts as coins are transferred. I don't expect the entire process to last longer than a week. The moment your account is closed you’ll receive your coins plus any interest accrued up to the hour it was sent.
Thanks
I’d like to thank all of my lenders and PPT operators that were a key element in making Bitcoin Savings & Trust a success. Bitcoin has grown a lot since I started this and want you to know that you were a vital part in helping it grow.
Now, I have a lot of work to do. Stay Tuned
-pirate
BTW, this is all bitlane’s fault. (j/k you nut)
Again, we are talking classic Ponzi 101. At the time of collapse, a smart Ponzi schemer will let the marks or "investors" down as easy as possible, stalling for as long as possible to avoid the initial anger and possible retribution from marks who have lost money in the scam. The excuse as to the closure is almost as hilariously vague as the original description of the BCST scam:
The decision was based on the general size and overall time required to manage the transactions. As the fund grew there were larger and larger coin movements which put strain on my reserve accounts and ultimately caused delays on withdraws and the inability to fund orders within my system.
Let's dissect this statement:
- The decision was based on the general size and overall time required to manage the transactions - there exists a BCST website to automatically do the transactions. Bitcoin has an API
- As the fund grew there were larger and larger coin movements which put strain on my reserve accounts and ultimately caused delays on withdraws and the inability to fund orders within my system - big coin movements? put strain on reserves? inability to fund orders? vague, lofty language that says nothing of substance. What are all these coin movements and ability to fund orders anyway? Pirate never told anyone other than BurtW his investment strategies - why does the fund being too large force it's closure?
and now for the stalling. And this part is very important to a Ponzi schemer. The anger some of the scammed "investors" should feel on this day will now be turned into nervousness over the next week, not anger:
So now what?
I’ve spoken with my clients over the last week and come to an agreement that would allow me to close down my operation within a week. Currently my reserve (operating wallets) are drained from fulfilling the withdraw spree that happened after the rate drop announcement. All withdraws at this point will be delayed until Monday when the shutdown process begins..
some vague reasons for not paying all BTC out right now, or at least half, or 25% of what everyone is owed. Remember his thread is locked and there is almost no way to contact him at this point, save BurtW and Paytob.tc - they likely have contact info but he will stop talking to them soon too. Maybe then they will give us any info that could lead us to the Dox. But either way, the After-the-fall-Ponzi-stall is on.
When will I get my coins?
Starting Monday I’ll begin systematically closing and withdrawing accounts as coins are transferred. I don't expect the entire process to last longer than a week. The moment your account is closed you’ll receive your coins plus any interest accrued up to the hour it was sent.
Yes, starting Monday (not today of course) there will be a closing process. This process will involve Pirateat40 destroying some Hard Drives, trading BTC for USD & Euro, and booking some plane tickets. This process will NOT involve the orderly return of BTC funds.
This is the stall after the fall. If you are owed $$ from Pirate, a passthrough, a bond, or whatever other fictional vehicle you invested in that is exposed to BCST - it's game over starting now - but you likely won't be angry for a week still because of what the scammer posted.
