ASICMINER: Entering the Future of ASIC Mining by Inventing It

[Temo58]

Oh geez, what a mess. Usually the price rebounds at least to some degree after going down... I don't know... 200%??? But this is just insane. Yeah, ask side seems to be frozen atm... So either Havelock is malfunctioning or we can only push even further down from here. I suspect the latter -.-

[Adrian-x]

Hope these guys will suprise us with something that NO ONE in the market did untul now !!
To create a real mining rig that can beat the difficulty and make real ROI !!

In no way there is still a working company alive. They are dead in so many ways. Your hope is hopeless for sure.

I wonder what the police would find out when they investigate all the people that were near friedcat. Someone has to know something i think.

will they still be able to find anything if the evidence is completely fried?

One thing we learned from all the scams that happened is that nearly no scammer is as clever as he thought. So it is unlikely that a scamming friedcat can go through without anybody near him knowing anything at all.

the people who took him out know where he is.

[Blazed]

Is anyone actively going after him for this scam? I figured that everyone just seemed to be letting it go. It seems the people who really got taken were the AMHash buyers?

[SebastianJu]

Is anyone actively going after him for this scam? I figured that everyone just seemed to be letting it go. It seems the people who really got taken were the AMHash buyers?

That's something i don't understand in the bitcoin community too. Till now i went after any scam where i lost, regardless of the chances. Well, the success is not huge but there. But still, it's pretty strange that no victims combined to go after things till now. Or am i only not aware of it?

[gogxmagog]

no one is ever going to get any btc back. i would simply like to know what really happened. if FC really was abducted or kidnapped or murdered I think there would be a little more news around it.

a scammer absconding with company funds is not newsworthy in the btc world. it happens to 99% of these start ups.

a btc businessman being murdered or otherwise made to disappear is actually pretty big news.

seeing as there is zero news i can only conclude FC is alive and well and spending the company funds.

i also think he paid off anyone who could actually expose his whereabouts.

i dumped my shares ages ago, so im out, but id love to know where FC is and/or see him face the music.

[hdbuck]

Everybody was well aware of bitcoins exit scam risk, and everybody lost what it could afford to.

[SebastianJu]

no one is ever going to get any btc back. i would simply like to know what really happened. if FC really was abducted or kidnapped or murdered I think there would be a little more news around it.

a scammer absconding with company funds is not newsworthy in the btc world. it happens to 99% of these start ups.

a btc businessman being murdered or otherwise made to disappear is actually pretty big news.

seeing as there is zero news i can only conclude FC is alive and well and spending the company funds.

i also think he paid off anyone who could actually expose his whereabouts.

i dumped my shares ages ago, so im out, but id love to know where FC is and/or see him face the music.

Someone wrote some post above that the biggest shareholders visited him some time before, or only one of them?, and the poster wrote it might be possible that they got paid to keep calm.

I can't imagine that since it would mean that a lot of big players in the bitcoin world actually would be some form of scammers, getting paid knowing that everyone else will lose everything.

And the miners who were stolen in mongolia? Guess with no existing company now anymore there is no way at all to get them back. Or was that only a cover story?

[Lincoln6Echo]

no one is ever going to get any btc back. i would simply like to know what really happened. if FC really was abducted or kidnapped or murdered I think there would be a little more news around it.

a scammer absconding with company funds is not newsworthy in the btc world. it happens to 99% of these start ups.

a btc businessman being murdered or otherwise made to disappear is actually pretty big news.

seeing as there is zero news i can only conclude FC is alive and well and spending the company funds.

i also think he paid off anyone who could actually expose his whereabouts.

i dumped my shares ages ago, so im out, but id love to know where FC is and/or see him face the music.

Someone wrote some post above that the biggest shareholders visited him some time before, or only one of them?, and the poster wrote it might be possible that they got paid to keep calm.

I can't imagine that since it would mean that a lot of big players in the bitcoin world actually would be some form of scammers, getting paid knowing that everyone else will lose everything.

And the miners who were stolen in mongolia? Guess with no existing company now anymore there is no way at all to get them back. Or was that only a cover story?

The only big share holder i know who should know something is Jutural.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=44764

But he never replied to my message (he speaks german btw). So

Why is it hard to imagine that big players in bitcoin are scammers? If you think about it the round table of scamalot is quite crowded.

[SebastianJu]

no one is ever going to get any btc back. i would simply like to know what really happened. if FC really was abducted or kidnapped or murdered I think there would be a little more news around it.

a scammer absconding with company funds is not newsworthy in the btc world. it happens to 99% of these start ups.

a btc businessman being murdered or otherwise made to disappear is actually pretty big news.

seeing as there is zero news i can only conclude FC is alive and well and spending the company funds.

i also think he paid off anyone who could actually expose his whereabouts.

i dumped my shares ages ago, so im out, but id love to know where FC is and/or see him face the music.

Someone wrote some post above that the biggest shareholders visited him some time before, or only one of them?, and the poster wrote it might be possible that they got paid to keep calm.

I can't imagine that since it would mean that a lot of big players in the bitcoin world actually would be some form of scammers, getting paid knowing that everyone else will lose everything.

And the miners who were stolen in mongolia? Guess with no existing company now anymore there is no way at all to get them back. Or was that only a cover story?

The only big share holder i know who should know something is Jutural.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=44764

But he never replied to my message (he speaks german btw). So

Why is it hard to imagine that big players in bitcoin are scammers? If you think about it the round table of scamalot is quite crowded.

I know that alot early adopters and such have a strange kind of ethics, examples probably everyone knows, but what i mean is they surely are not all this way. If he met with one shareholder, well, the risk that one person is corrupt is 50-50%. But having to take on 6 or more big shareholders sound like a problem. It's very unlikely that all are corrupt.

Was Jutural running an asicminer pt or was he only a big fish?

In any case, there should be alot big fishes. And nothing is heard of them. Either they work in the background or not at all. Which would be strange. They might have earned more than they lost with asicminer but still.

[Lincoln6Echo]

Jutarul was just a Board member of Asicminer (=big fish). I think last Boardmember meeting was around late january 2015. So he should know something.
If someone got paid to keep quiet, this person probably would talk for money, too.

[SebastianJu]

Jutarul was just a Board member of Asicminer (=big fish). I think last Boardmember meeting was around late january 2015. So he should know something.
If someone got paid to keep quiet, this person probably would talk for money, too.

It's indeed a bit strange that he does not react even when people ask him.

Though i wonder if there is someone who lost enough to pay for infos. Maybe those who could lose enough were warned and dropped out. Though on the other hand, the signs were there that asicminer will never pay big divs so i assume only a few big investors might have still believed.

[pan1ns6r]

Hello,

I'm new to the discussion here, and unfortunately don't have time to read all the pages here, so would there be someone kind enough to give me a brief summary of what happend to ASICMiner? So when were they founded, launched first product, and went bust (if that's the case),a nd the reasons behind it.

Thank you in advance!

[Timelord2067]

It's crossed paths with sales addresses over multiple addresses with amounts that are too large for individual sales transfers and too consistent/regular to be for paying electric expenses.  The multisig address (3Mkw) has inputs from 1KYXrw4Ftkmomfs4iyVXUSqQeRX75Unoi8, and repeatedly puts outputs through to 19iVyH1qUxgywY8LJSbpV4VavjZmyuEyxV, which I identified as a nexus in my OP.

http://archive.is/QKCDA Sorry to jump into this conversation two years later but FriendlyChemist has it as his wallet address on his profile page...

8th February 2016.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=651947

[pan1ns6r]

AsicMiner was one of the first companies with a successful asicchip. They had a big hit with their first USB miners and paid loads of dividends to the early investors. Somehow their follow up productline and strategic decisions didn't work out, followed by empty offices and rumors about a dead cat.
Since then it is awfully quiet.

Thank you! Do you know when they stopped operations?

[Adrian-x]

Thank you! Do you know when they stopped operations?

Around the end of 2014, his staff cared on for a while without him, he's more likely dead than missing.

[gogxmagog]

Thank you! Do you know when they stopped operations?

Around the end of 2014, his staff cared on for a while without him, he's more likely dead than missing.

I don't believe he is dead OR "missing"

If he were dead, there would be some notice. If he were missing, there would be police reports, family complaints etc.

There is no word. He is an adult and can go away as he pleases. The police will not be bothered unless there is considerable complaint from family and business partners etc. The cops need some sort of reason to suspect something is not right. One of the first things they do is put out a public notice... "have you seen this man?" there's none of that. Just silence.

He got sick of the whole scene and embezzled all the company funds then split. I imagine he paid off the few Chinese nationals that could expose him, and the few business partners that would bring investigation. kissed his mom goodbye with stern warnings not to tell anyone where he is going, then went there.

Something tells me he will be working for some other larger ASIC firm, or some other hardware developer. The later option is more likely, because... what do their customers care about BTC? It wont damage their credibility if they hire a BTC scammer. Their customers probably barely know what BTC is.

This is why the trolls always say... "Sucks for you to have invested in unregulated markets with anons youve never met"

HE got ya!

You wanna find him? You need a bi-lingual Chinese/English speaker with a shit ton of free time, lots of disposable income, and good reason to do all sorts of running around asking questions and digging up names and numbers all over China. Its a frickin giant country too.

Consider this one finished. By the looks of it BTC will be done in a year or two as well. most likely right after the halving fails to raise the price like every dreamer hopes it will.

Ask yourself.."|When has BTC EVER done what anyone expected it to do?" and you will answer the question "Why isnt BTC mainstream?"

[SebastianJu]

This case is really puzzling. If the biggest shareholders really were paid out than the bitcoin communities biggest heads would look pretty disgusting. Though I can't imagine that not a single soul of those would have the character and at least post something anonymously. I'm very sure if someone was paid out then we would hear about something like that.

Or am I thinking too good of the community? Hope not.

There is no police case? I thought some pages ago something like that was mentioned, probably hearsay then.

Anyway, another possibility would be that the biggest victim are simply working behind the lines, joined forces and try to hunt him down. They would not state anything to not get the investigation at risk.

But like I said... really puzzling.

[AltcoinScamfinder]

This case is really puzzling. If the biggest shareholders really were paid out than the bitcoin communities biggest heads would look pretty disgusting. Though I can't imagine that not a single soul of those would have the character and at least post something anonymously. I'm very sure if someone was paid out then we would hear about something like that.

Or am I thinking too good of the community? Hope not.

There is no police case? I thought some pages ago something like that was mentioned, probably hearsay then.

Anyway, another possibility would be that the biggest victim are simply working behind the lines, joined forces and try to hunt him down. They would not state anything to not get the investigation at risk.

But like I said... really puzzling.

I'm not really 100% sure that they would talk. Take a scenario that a few large shareholders did find Friedcat and forced him to pay them. No way in HELL they would ever slip that information.

[FriendlyChemist]

It's crossed paths with sales addresses over multiple addresses with amounts that are too large for individual sales transfers and too consistent/regular to be for paying electric expenses.  The multisig address (3Mkw) has inputs from 1KYXrw4Ftkmomfs4iyVXUSqQeRX75Unoi8, and repeatedly puts outputs through to 19iVyH1qUxgywY8LJSbpV4VavjZmyuEyxV, which I identified as a nexus in my OP.

http://archive.is/QKCDA Sorry to jump into this conversation two years later but FriendlyChemist has it as his wallet address on his profile page...

8th February 2016.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=651947

Huhh.. 1KYXrw4Ftkmomfs4iyVXUSqQeRX75Unoi8 this wallet on my profile is just for troll , dont you feel the name also which remind us of silkroal

[penta]

Jutarul,  yes i am very frustrated.  However thank you for helping answer some of these questions.  

Some points to add though:

1) Making a public statement saying that AM has enough capital to move forward regardless of BTC price,  on basically the eve of a make or break product,  while not having funding in place to produce said product, was EXTREMELY misleading.   People bought on that statement and made decisions on that statement.   No one was  thinking, that BE300 is going to get held up because of MONEY of all things.

The problem with words is that half the time they get misinterpreted. Just because a company stays in business, doesn't mean that they execute certain projects. Did google fail because they didn't bring google glasses to the mass market?

Right now there seems to be some money stuck in accounts, only FC has access to.

2) It does make sense to produce BE300 regardless of BTC price as a matter of fact,  if we want to talk about timing,  everyone is hurting right now, and the block reward halving draws near.  The name of the game is to capture as many BTC as possible.  This environment could actually be the best time possible to secure a future for AM as while the price it isn't so attractive for new players to enter or competition to forge ahead aggressively with new hardware.  The closer we get to the cutting edge technology the harder it becomes.  Now is the  ONLY time.  

You said it yourself. The name of the game is to get a net return on every BTC invested. That's what investors ultimately look for. FC was extremely aware of that point. BTC prices where still in the 370 USD range when sample chips got received. That's when the financing should have been secured (by funding the accounts). It didn't happen.

3)  I  disagree that there was no roadmap,  i have no more information than what is posted here and it is plain as day that samples were ordered,  they came back good,  we knew there needed to be mass production by march / april  (basically now).  It is obvious the order needed to go in as soon as the samples were confirmed good.  Looks like a roadmap to me.
which leads me to #4

4) It is NOT to late to change anything now, btc price is still depressed and though some of the competitive advantage is gone it still seems like BE300 is a good chip and stands to be able to capture some serious BTC,  however from where i sit it doesn't seem like anything is being done about that.  Doddling around like this just makes it look setup to fail.

Do you want to buyout the company? Be my guest. Current management would love the idea. This is no joke.

Another thought:   Though you say the duties of the board members weren't defined.  Each member had their own duty to themselves (as to protect their own wealth!!!!!) and to shareholders to ensure / steer the company to the right path,  ie: to DIRECT.  From the sounds of it,  you guys let FC handle everything.  Not having any idea where finances sit at or letting the FREAKING CEO handle menial tasks such as share transfers for example and accept that as a good use of his time is ABSURD.  What the hell is everyone thinking?   I know from experience that being the head of even small companies is stressful as all hell,  i could not imagine what it must be like to be FC,  and everyone,  board members and management included failed him.   The fact no one knows what is going on is because you guys did not do your jobs to DEMAND to know what is going on.

I don't know how to respond to that. FC is an adult and he was repeatedly asked to delegate and improve certain conditions. He didn't comply with the requests. The desolate state surrounding providing information to shareholders was no secret. What is more surprising in hindsight is that key people who worked with FC on a daily basis failed to see the signs, and if they were they failed in the same way. The Rockminer story is testament to that.

I also would like to know the answers to some of the other questions asked in the thread that have gone un answered.  Namely:

What BE200 remains unsold and in stock ?  

Based on AM management, about 1000-2000 devices worth. The exact number depends on some quality factors.

Is there a rough break down of the 10M required?   Is it possible to break it up in to milestones as to limit the initial risk for people that may want to get involved?

$2M for fixed costs. The rest is the initial order + potential profit. You can target a lower amount, which either precludes any profit for AM or makes the fixed costs a significant amount. FC mentioned that the minimum order should be around $6M for it to make economical sense, but he said that doesn't include any profit margin.

What is the turn around time on a BE300 order,  to packaged chips in hand?

2-3 months.

What was your role in AM anyways, you seemed to be one of the first investors, the only one on the board that i remember posting some updates for us other than friedcat, and you sold at least 11000BTC worth of AM stock just on this forum before the downfall(sweet timing).