Bryan Micon's List of BTC Ponzi Schemes that should not be listed as "Lending"

[Micon]

Hey Team Ponzi - serious question: what Ponzi operator has voluntarily declared default? Pirate doesn't count because he still hasn't admitted or been proven to run one.

Check my previous posts right at "closure" announcement. 

I predicted everything to a T so far - not that is is an amazing accomplishment - this should be the Ponzi manual in the Jr. Bernie Madoff "My First Ponzi Starter Kit" by Mattel

This is nothing but the latest step in the long stall that is "letting the mark down easy"

Very frequently there is abrupt end and the schemer runs away, but also very frequently there is the long stall and he'll tell people you are his friend and he'll make it right, just more time, more paperwork, etc.  Announcing a closure a week and a half ago was a stall, into the Monday deadline, into a stall with no time frame, into a default message, into a stall for another random deadline this time to submit personal information of the marks!??

I mean, I hope co-conspirator Payb.tc isn't stupid enough to fuck over his already fucked over userbase.  Any co-conspirator that hands personal info over to Pirate after this debacle is now crossing into the dark side.  A common use of this info is to re-roll the mark by saying "I can get you Pirate money back" and the mark gets rolled again somehow, like hiring a BS investigator or something.

[miscreanity]

Hey Team Ponzi - serious question: what Ponzi operator has voluntarily declared default? Pirate doesn't count because he still hasn't admitted or been proven to run one.

When Bernie's scheme collapsed in '08 he "voluntarily" declared himself in default the same way Pirate has, albeit without the outright confession of utter fraud.

Thank you.

[Micon]

1)  My podcast starts tonight at 7:00pm PST on DonkDown, I will be discussing this matter at length

2)  Matt and anyone else is welcome to call in.  Really hoping for bitlane. 

3)  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ah0rJ1eK8mwpdEs2MFRfbGQybGhNamo1aGhDSURaT1E#gid=0  this should have been the proof posted to the question "why does 7%/wk have to be a scam?"  - simply put, if you invested $100 today in 8 yrs you would have all the money in the world.  Spreadsheet proves that statement.

[Micon]

also, the "black eye for bitcoin" type of stories from this are starting to trickle in:


http://rt.com/usa/news/investors-currency-digital-fund-868/

http://www.dailytech.com/Pirateat40+Makes+Off+56M+USD+in+BitCoins+From+Pyramid+Scheme/article25538.htm

[moni3z]

Im pretty sure most ppl know its a scam just they think they can get out of the ponzi early enough. That's basically how hyip sites like talkgold work. Make your ponzi high yield and bail before the admin disappears to panama with millions like SportArbs

Bitcoin also makes all the old scams new again. Surprised there isn't a a guy peddling Swiss trust accounts here yet

[Maged]

Based on the information we have (which is not complete), he most likely got out with around 200k BTC. However, we never analyzed the last week to get those withdrawal numbers and it's also very likely that most of the BTC was sold at around $5. Worst case, he still got away with half a million USD, although it is more likely closer to $1 million USD.

I have a problem with taking anyone's word on this information. If it doesn't matter now that Pirate has shut down, why not release it? The accusing party demanded that Pirate release information, yet won't share its own discovery? What's so proprietary about this admittedly inconsequential information? The royal 'we' sounds like an excuse.

I believe there's a word for this: hypocrisy.

Another problem I have - if Pirate was running a scam and this information is relevant, then the longer it takes for it to be opened to further scrutiny, the longer Pirate has to obscure his trail. Intervening during a crime in progress depends heavily on information. As far as I'm concerned right now, the information is either fabricated, or the parties involved with it are obstructing community efforts to discover what's going on.

Or maybe Maged is Pirate, spreading more misinformation.

I know. But it is not my place to share this information. I am only authorized to give my conclusions on the data.

[Frankie]

I appreciate your insight, Maged. When I try to reconstruct the scam on a spreadsheet, making the inflows exceed 7%, growing from maybe 1000 to 500,000 today, it's hard to see how he gets away with more than 100k.

I for one would take your conclusions over Miscreanity's former pompous lecturing on Pirate's brilliant business model any day of the week.

[miscreanity]

I know. But it is not my place to share this information. I am only authorized to give my conclusions on the data.

As frustrating as that is, fair enough. Are the conclusions unanimous?

I for one would take your conclusions over Miscreanity's former pompous lecturing on Pirate's brilliant business model any day of the week.

It still hasn't been conclusively shown to be a Ponzi, despite the accusations. There are ways of generating unbelievably high returns in an unregulated environment.

Either way, things can blow up in the operator's face. I won't draw conclusions without more information; everything I've seen regarding BS&T has been speculation so far.

Regardless, the entertainment value has been well worth the price of admission. Back to wait-and-watch mode.

[hgmichna]

Im pretty sure most ppl know its a scam just they think they can get out of the ponzi early enough. That's basically how hyip sites like talkgold work. Make your ponzi high yield and bail before the admin disappears to panama with millions like SportArbs

Never underestimate stupidity. Look at the "Closed" thread, if you want to have fun.

Bitcoin also makes all the old scams new again. …

Very true. Just faster.

[JoelKatz]

It still hasn't been conclusively shown to be a Ponzi, despite the accusations.

Can you conclusively show that it still hasn't been conclusively shown to be a Ponzi? Have you read every forum post? Checked every other piece of evidence? Traveled the world to ensure you didn't miss one shred of conceivable evidence? Maybe it has been conclusively shown that Pirate is a Ponzi.

(My point, of course, is that this "conclusively shown" bit is a red herring. People only bring out absurd standards like that when they don't like where the actual evidence leads.)

[Justin00]

can you post the link to the podcast please. I enjoyed the last one.

1)  My podcast starts tonight at 7:00pm PST on DonkDown, I will be discussing this matter at length

2)  Matt and anyone else is welcome to call in.  Really hoping for bitlane. 

3)  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ah0rJ1eK8mwpdEs2MFRfbGQybGhNamo1aGhDSURaT1E#gid=0  this should have been the proof posted to the question "why does 7%/wk have to be a scam?"  - simply put, if you invested $100 today in 8 yrs you would have all the money in the world.  Spreadsheet proves that statement.

[bitlane]

Micon is a funny fucker. I just got finished listening to his latest podcast from eariler today and all I can say is, I am a fan.

I officially 'drank the kool-aid'....LOL

...and will be tuned in next time.

[Micon]

Micon is a funny fucker. I just got finished listening to his latest podcast from eariler today and all I can say is, I am a fan.

I officially 'drank the kool-aid'....LOL

...and will be tuned in next time.

Ty for the kind words.

You are welcomed / encouraged to call in, would love to talk to you about this matter next week.  I have this feeling you have interesting stories and would be a great guest.

[BitcoinINV]

Better get on it Black Pearl Investments is growing lol Need to put a stop to that before it makes more people drink the kool-aid lol

[Micon]

can you post the link to the podcast please. I enjoyed the last one.

1)  My podcast starts tonight at 7:00pm PST on DonkDown, I will be discussing this matter at length

2)  Matt and anyone else is welcome to call in.  Really hoping for bitlane. 

3)  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ah0rJ1eK8mwpdEs2MFRfbGQybGhNamo1aGhDSURaT1E#gid=0  this should have been the proof posted to the question "why does 7%/wk have to be a scam?"  - simply put, if you invested $100 today in 8 yrs you would have all the money in the world.  Spreadsheet proves that statement.

http://www.donkdown.com/jon-aguiar-special-guest-donkdown-radio-reggiman-pokerati-dan-tangent/

not much bitcoin today but a good show if u like poker / scotch / go on a pretty good anti-republican centering on how the guy that gives the "we must protect traditional marriage" speech at the GOP convention might as well be screaming "Fuck them faggots"

[bitlane]

'NO !...WAIT !...Guantanamo Bay....the secret portal' was CLASSIC...lol

I nearly pissed my pants listening to that portion, as well as the typical Republican bashing, which I am a HUGE fan of...being a Canadian.

[miscreanity]

It still hasn't been conclusively shown to be a Ponzi, despite the accusations.

Can you conclusively show that it still hasn't been conclusively shown to be a Ponzi? Have you read every forum post? Checked every other piece of evidence? Traveled the world to ensure you didn't miss one shred of conceivable evidence? Maybe it has been conclusively shown that Pirate is a Ponzi.

(My point, of course, is that this "conclusively shown" bit is a red herring. People only bring out absurd standards like that when they don't like where the actual evidence leads.)

I won't draw conclusions without more information; everything I've seen regarding BS&T has been speculation so far.

[Micon]

Frankie & Maged - really?  you don't think this is his wallet? 

https://blockchain.info/charts/balance?address=1DkyBEKt5S2GDtv7aQw6rQepAvnsRyHoYM

I'll bet if you break down some of those large inputs you could correlate it with BTCtalk forum events + co-conspirator payments.  If payb.tc would come to the good side instead of Pirate as much personal info as he has on his accounts we may be able to answer this Q.

I think it's his.  It was built this year.  It is all that it could be.  It also makes sense he has 1M BTC on paper, owing like 70k BTC each week having 500k btc when he shut it down.  Add in a few principle requests and he decided to not pay that week or any future.

[dooglus]

Ty for the kind words.

You are welcomed / encouraged to call in, would love to talk to you about this matter next week.  I have this feeling you have interesting stories and would be a great guest.

Is there a working RSS feed for the podcasts?  I tried the ones on your site but they both seem to end around May of this year.  I'd like to have the donkdown shows automatically downloaded alongside the other podcasts  I subscribe to.

(I tried http://www.donkdown.com/component/podcast/?view=feed&format=raw&catid=34 and http://www.donkdown.com/index.php?option=com_podcast&view=rss&format=rss&catid=34 (labelled 'other podcast readers' and 'rss feed' resp.))

[Micon]

Ty for the kind words.

You are welcomed / encouraged to call in, would love to talk to you about this matter next week.  I have this feeling you have interesting stories and would be a great guest.

Is there a working RSS feed for the podcasts?  I tried the ones on your site but they both seem to end around May of this year.  I'd like to have the donkdown shows automatically downloaded alongside the other podcasts  I subscribe to.

(I tried http://www.donkdown.com/component/podcast/?view=feed&format=raw&catid=34 and http://www.donkdown.com/index.php?option=com_podcast&view=rss&format=rss&catid=34 (labelled 'other podcast readers' and 'rss feed' resp.))

our RSS feeds are currently a mess.  In the market for a wordpress guy / very embarassing too