GetVisaCoin::Born for retribution & deterrent
An exact clone of NXT - The NXT source has been released
GetVisaCoin Genesis block - the 130 stolen bitcoins
All the benefits of NXT with a BETTER distribution
Do not send GetVisaCoin any bitcoins!! This is a serious attempt to catch the criminal(s) behind VisaCoin.The Plan1 - I will donate 5 bitcoins
2 - The original 130 bitcoins stolen by VisaCoin - still untouched -
https://blockchain.info/address/1PmsmFaNQraZVbBv3Q13jmyucXVJfUo4Hb3 - Starting budget for GetVisaCoin - 140 bitcoins
4 - We offer a Bounty of 70 bitcoins for identifying the VisaCoin criminal(s) real world identities & locations
5 - Once located, fear of Chinese prison should make recovering the stolen bitcoins possible without violence
5 - We use the remaining 70 bitcoins to hire a developer to produce & promote a cloned version of NXT
6 - The GetVisaCoin genesis block is generated from the 130 bitcoins worth of contributions in the stolen VisaCoin account
The person(s) behind the VisaCoin scam currently controls a bitcoin address with over 130 bitcoins. That is a very large amount of money, and to my knowledge VisaCoin is the biggest scam the crypto community has witnessed in a long time.
It would appear that the scam originated from China, and in value terms, the 130 bitcoins in the VisaCoin account represents over 21 times the per capita income of China. An equivalent crime in the USA would be worth over $1,000,000 USD.
The VisaCoin scam was a major crime, and to my knowledge the crypto community isn't actively doing anything to catch the criminals who did this. There are many trails to follow - gmail account, bitcointalk account, website hosting, registered domain name, google docs etc. A skilled investigator can catch this guy!!
If the VisaCoin scam goes unchallenged the crypto community will suffer a great deal, and I mean everyone. That amount of money will motivate professional scammers who will present a much more convincing front than VisaCoin. While we can all laugh at the victims gullibility, the truth is the VisaCoin scam and all the copycat scammers who are sure to follow will prey on new users of crypto currencies. The scams that follow will undermine the creation of legitimate crypto coins in the future, prices will suffer, and your valuable holding of crypto coins will fall in price as all those potential new investors rush for the exit doors.
Bitcoin and alt coin prices have risen because of a surge in demand from new users. Every VisaCoin styled scam will undermine confidence now. We need new users to drive demand and adoption, and we make fun of the victims at our own peril.
It is already hard enough for a new comer to navigate all the legitimate new alt coins appearing on a daily basis without having to pick the scams. NXT could have been a scam, but it wasn't, and people got rich. VisaCoin could have been legitimate, and people could have made lots of money. 130 bitcoins can finance an elaborate scam. VisaCoin2 will be harder to spot, even for experienced users, or worse still, you wont invest in the next NXT, coz you'll be thinking it's a scam, and you'll miss out on a golden goose. We all have the benefit of hindsight now.
We need to act now to reduce the influx of scammers. We must catch VisaCoin.
Obviously the success of MasterCoin and NXT has given rise to a new style of IPO fund raising. eMunie has also been falsely accused of being a scam recently because it needs a pre-sale to generate the initial 'float' in that currency scheme.
We need to send a deterrent message to would be scammers to limit their numbers. Otherwise legitimate non POW coins will continue to be falsely labeled as scams, and the already crowded alt coin landscape will be forever littered with increasingly sophisticated scam artists.
We can all laugh at the amateurish nature of the VisaCoin announcement thread, and giggle at all those who fell for it, but the truth is the ENTIRE crypto currency ecosystem can become a laughing stock if we don't do something to catch VisaCoin and send a message.
Many can accuse the victims of being stupid for falling for such an amateurish scam, but this does not diminish the need for the crypto community to act now to catch the person(s) behind VisaCoin scam. We were all newbies once.
What NXT?We have the option to allow further contributions to increase the bounty for catching VisaCoin, and maybe more importantly to increase the number of accounts in the GetVisaCoin genesis block. I am open to this, but the payments must be limited in size (maximum 1 bitcoin per user), and they must go into an escrow account controlled by a trusted forum member with rock solid reputation. That's obviously not me!
I am NOT a developer, so we'll need to recruit someone for that. The NXT source has been released so developing the software for GetVisaCoin will not be a problem.
We can always change the name later too, but for now the name 'GetVisaCoin' serves a purpose, and it's a good rallying cry.
I am here to get the ball rolling, and then hopefully the community can negotiate with the bounty hunter to determine if they have genuinely found VisaCoin. I AM NOT IN FAVOR OF VIOLENCE! After that we can hopefully rely on trusted forum members to help hire the developer to launch the software and start the promotion.
When VisaCoin reads this (which I'm sure he will sooner rather than later) he'll understand that 70+ bitcoins is over 10 years average income in his homeland, so it's sure to motivate a lot of talented Chinese hackers to reveal his identity and location.
If VisaCoin wants to avoid the pain and embarrassment of being exposed he needs to return ALL the stolen bitcoins NOW! He should either return the money to the original senders, or he should post in this thread and arrange to send the bitcoins to an escrow account controlled by a trusted forum user (i.e. NOT me!). If VisaCoin makes contact the original senders should vote on how to proceed - i.e. whether to proceed with the cloned NXT idea or not.
GetVisaCoin::The Cold Steel to NXT's gold in the POS crypto universe