Statement about the suspect of recent Bitcoinica hack

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Months of mudslinging and you manage to solve the riddle within just a few short hours and you never thought of confronting this mystery millionaire previous business partner before all this came to light ?

Tickle me suprised, VERY SURPRISED.

I was just thinking that.

All evidence aside, isn't it kind of convenient that within 6 hours of accusation all of a sudden surfaces a 'multi million dollar Chinese hacker friend who stole Zhou's identity'

Where was this hacker all along? Why did it come to light in the middle of the night ?

I agree with Charlie. In just a few hours after our release, Zhou Tong was able to:

- Find who supposedly broke into his "secret, testing only" email address used to do the hack.
- He got him to "surprisingly" (as per his own post) admit guilt almost immediately.
- Connect all the dots and explain how the whole hack was planned and executed.
- Apparently this multi-millionaire Chinese relic collector who was one a business partner of Zhou had the need to hack into MtGox, use Zhou's identity to get him framed, but later got so scared and confess the whole thing in a matter of minutes.

Taking into consideration the information released as a result of our joint investigation, the Chinese LR transaction found that has not been explained by Zhou yet, and this fantastical "telenovela" story, I am absolutely flabbergasted that some members of the bitcoin community are even entertaining the possibility of his story being plausible.

It was plausible until you presented the telenovela a la Cliff's Notes.

[1714127862]

1714127862

[1714127862]

1714127862

[1714127862]

1714127862

[1714127862]

1714127862

[1714127862]

1714127862

[BitBuster]

Its a mark of the ecosystem that a child was able to make an exchange and dupe many people into handing over many hundreds of thousands of dollars, which he then withdrew in a series of deliberate catastrophies.

The blatant and desperate lying makes it all the more troubling that someone of clearly reduced intelligence was able to accomplish this. Even worse, there are a few who buy the child's bullshit.

Some have initiated legal proceedings, others have opted for vigilante action. I sincerely hope that the cops get to him before the vigilante does. He is way out of his depth, as are many of the fools who gave him so much money in the first place.

A child treading water while sitting on a huge pile of money is an attractive proposition for other criminals and hackers remember...


BB.

[Clipse]

Makes you wonder if Zhou Tong isnt a public figurehead for someone else working the strings.

Just consider one point, he was terrible with written english and transformed overnight as if there were two seperate entities controlling his account.

Yeh this is likely fringe conspiracy but its hard to know whats really true anymore.

[JompinDox]

Makes you wonder if Zhou Tong isnt a public figurehead for someone else working the strings.

Just consider one point, he was terrible with written english and transformed overnight as if there were two seperate entities controlling his account.

Yeh this is likely fringe conspiracy but its hard to know whats really true anymore.

phantomcircuit=zhoutong?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Makes you wonder if Zhou Tong isnt a public figurehead for someone else working the strings.

Just consider one point, he was terrible with written english and transformed overnight as if there were two seperate entities controlling his account.

Yeh this is likely fringe conspiracy but its hard to know whats really true anymore.

phantomcircuit=zhoutong?

This is the camp I'm in.

[Clipse]

Makes you wonder if Zhou Tong isnt a public figurehead for someone else working the strings.

Just consider one point, he was terrible with written english and transformed overnight as if there were two seperate entities controlling his account.

Yeh this is likely fringe conspiracy but its hard to know whats really true anymore.

phantomcircuit=zhoutong?

Not sure how you got to that conclusion, lol.

I do like the fact you have quotes surprisingly from phantomcircuit.  

All of this turned into fudge.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

He said one of his co-workers was quite active in Chinese Bitcoin community and he had noticed the source code of Bitcoinica being leaked. The reason that he (the technical guy) knew the correlation between the Mt. Gox API key and the LastPass master password remains unknown. I have only communicated this password in-person with Tihan in Chimelong Hotel (Guangzhou) lobby once in February this year and I'm quite sure that no one else has paid any attention to our conversation.

I'm simply amazed on how a 17-year-old is able to globe-trot and jet-setting to: China; Singapore; Australia; (?).

[DeathAndTaxes]

I'm simply amazed on how a 17-year-old is able to globe-trot and jet-setting to: China; Singapore; Australia; (?).

Pro traveler tip: A quarter million dollars in stolen deposits tend to make it easier.

[Clipse]

I'm simply amazed on how a 17-year-old is able to globe-trot and jet-setting to: China; Singapore; Australia; (?).

Pro traveler tip: A quarter million dollars in stolen deposits tend to make it easier.

<sarcasm> But.... hes just from a very basic family and he spend all of his earnings on his family debt/home/wtfever. </sarcasm>

[goodlord666]

Makes you wonder if Zhou Tong isnt a public figurehead for someone else working the strings.

Just consider one point, he was terrible with written english and transformed overnight as if there were two seperate entities controlling his account.

Yeh this is likely fringe conspiracy but its hard to know whats really true anymore.

Can you say scam cabal?

There's probably some noble Englishmen involved in all this. Of course the Queen wouldn't know about that.

Fuck I love those guys.

Relic collections.. frickin nuts!

They probably have some skulls dipped in gold, too.

[dancingnancy]

Makes you wonder if Zhou Tong isnt a public figurehead for someone else working the strings.

Just consider one point, he was terrible with written english and transformed overnight as if there were two seperate entities controlling his account.

Yeh this is likely fringe conspiracy but its hard to know whats really true anymore.

That is one theory I believe in.  Otherwise, for now I will have to believe he is innocent.

[tbcoin]

Although at this point is very difficult to trust anyone, I prefer to believe the version of Zhou. We all seemed impossible and ridiculous that they could steal 40k dollars, without could be quickly and easily traceable, plus there is no need to risk having stolen so 40k bitcoins. Zhou's story reinforces my theory that the theft of dollars only pretended to distract the attention, but considering that never caught a bitcoins thief , makes more sense to go to incriminate Zhou.

Call me gullible but I see so

Honestly if the money is forthcoming, I do not care who stole it.

With so much idealism libertarian around the bitcoin and here already there who want to freeze bitcoin addresses ... should not be so hypocritical, nobody likes being robbed but we can not pretend to have a currency outside the government and come running to their laws when rob us.

PD:

It seems incredible that anyone thinks that Zhou is so stupid as to do something like that and get caught so foolishly..

[Clipse]

Makes you wonder if Zhou Tong isnt a public figurehead for someone else working the strings.

Just consider one point, he was terrible with written english and transformed overnight as if there were two seperate entities controlling his account.

Yeh this is likely fringe conspiracy but its hard to know whats really true anymore.

That is one theory I believe in.  Otherwise, for now I will have to believe he is innocent.

You do know I was refering to Zhou being used as a swet shop public face so if any crime gets out of hand those in charge use him as the scapegoat.

It was mostly a sarcastic conspiracy joke since everything he posted so far have pointed to him grabbing at straws which makes this whole situation such a huge scam.

[Vod]

Honestly if the money is forthcoming, I do not care who stole it.

The money is not forthcoming - the majority has already been spent by the thief paying off his families mortgages.   His words, not mine.

[MrTeal]

This is kind of crossposted from the Pirate threads, but this reminds me of that Eve Online ponzi that was a well respected bank that eventually crumbled. As it went down, the perps created more and more fantastical stories that were ridiculous, but people still followed blindly along.

[ninjarobot]

The hacker seems to be a Chinese because he used Chinese punctuations in his English messages in the Aurumxchange ticket.

Yeah, I like how the 'hacker' is so inconsistent in his use of punctuation.

For example, in the aurumXchange ticket he is unable to figure out how to use English punctuation:

YES。ZHOU TONG STOLEN THE MONEY！

HE GAVE ME THE MT CODES AND I USED YOUR EXCHANGE TO CHANGE TO LR。NOW I WANT TO WITHDRAW THEM！

MY MONEY IS CLEAN，PLEASE GIVE ME NOW！

But in the earlier hotmail message to Zhou he had apparently no such issues:

From: Bitcoinica Sucks <bitcoinicasucks@hotmail.com>
To: verify@bitcoinica.com
Date: Friday, 13 July 2012 3:39:55 AM
Subject: Bitcoinica is done

THANK YOU FOR YOU SOURCE CODE.

BITCONICA IS NOW OFFICALY DONE!

LASTPAS PASWORD: c02e1a27-5524-449f-ba65-aff9581ddedc

I also appreciate the fact that although it appears his keyboard is stuck in ALLCAPS mode, he is able to write a proper subject header before switching to allcaps [Subject: Bitcoinica is done].

Also in one message he understands the difference between YOU and YOUR [e.g. YOUR EXCHANGE] but in another doesn't [e.g. YOU SOURCE CODE]

Cool story bro.

[guruvan]

Yeah. There's no money forthcoming anymore. It's gone. Maybe some of the people with tons of funds in might get something at some point, but I highly doubt my measly $500 is ever coming back.

At this point, I think the best we can really hope for is that the guilty party is brought to justice.

But, I'm really having my doubts that even Zhou Tong is real. 17? I'm having a hard time with this story now. Seems unlikely there's anyone real to prosecute.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

This is kind of crossposted from the Pirate threads, but this reminds me of that Eve Online ponzi that was a well respected bank that eventually crumbled. As it went down, the perps created more and more fantastical stories that were ridiculous, but people still followed blindly along.

You want to know what's really ironic with your post? This episode has a direct link to banks.com.

From Zhou Tong's Twitter account (the one still not protected, unlike another that is now locked):

Aug. 28, 2011

Steve Jobs is a Buddhist, so he values anonymous donations. It's wrong to say he has never donated his money. We just don't know.

And one of his ex-partner's account is also now protected with 30,852 tweets:  @alexlur (Daniel M.) aka Daniel Protonis(?)

~Bruno~

[rjk]

But, I'm really having my doubts that even Zhou Tong is real. 17? I'm having a hard time with this story now. Seems unlikely there's anyone real to prosecute.

Not this shit again. Didn't you see the pics he posted for Phinnaeus Gage? Including shots of a dozen or so debit cards with his name, his face, and a personal message for PG.

I think you are grasping at straws in order to keep yapping and adding to the confusion. I don't think you have the ability or the balls to do "something" or "anything", so you just shout about it to the world. You seem to have a major personality issue that results in you attacking anyone, fabled or real, whether they are helping or hindering. Therefore, I think you need to see a shrink about that.

Have a nice day.

[guruvan]

But, I'm really having my doubts that even Zhou Tong is real. 17? I'm having a hard time with this story now. Seems unlikely there's anyone real to prosecute.

Not this shit again. Didn't you see the pics he posted for Phinnaeus Gage? Including shots of a dozen or so debit cards with his name, his face, and a personal message for PG.

I think you are grasping at straws in order to keep yapping and adding to the confusion. I don't think you have the ability or the balls to do "something" or "anything", so you just shout about it to the world. You seem to have a major personality issue that results in you attacking anyone, fabled or real, whether they are helping or hindering. Therefore, I think you need to see a shrink about that.

Have a nice day.

Save your insults. You're pretty ignorant of how crimes are committed, and show that with most every post.

I didn't attack anyone. Please pull your head out of your ass so you can smell something other than your own spewed shit.