email and PM sent
No response yet to my PM or email.
Topic: btc-arbs.com - Update: dead HYIP, Refund progress: BTC-arbs still doing refunds - page 82. (Read 276958 times)
May 30, 2014, 09:18:14 AM
May 30, 2014, 09:09:42 AM
Email with user and balance info. just sent.
Thanks
Thanks
May 30, 2014, 08:12:48 AM
Code:
Status: 2009 confirmations
Date: 5/18/14 02:20
To: btc arbs 1FL6HppBu5QyW1XSkDjzXrgv3HwX7hE6nH
Debit: -0.05 BTC
Transaction fee: -0.0001 BTC
Net amount: -0.0501 BTC
Transaction ID: 56d17d27ee53d69a312768bd6fb842291b716282d2b3f3a07bd4393b015d69d1
so after all the hacking issues btc-arbs had why did users (new and members) not get warned? and even more important: why were deposits on 5/18 still allowed?Date: 5/18/14 02:20
To: btc arbs 1FL6HppBu5QyW1XSkDjzXrgv3HwX7hE6nH
Debit: -0.05 BTC
Transaction fee: -0.0001 BTC
Net amount: -0.0501 BTC
Transaction ID: 56d17d27ee53d69a312768bd6fb842291b716282d2b3f3a07bd4393b015d69d1
12iDLCVoNBJhcyXoNoKrGSr4KxU5UFW6ZK
you can refund me to this address but i doubt it will ever happen...
just a honest and simple miner
May 30, 2014, 08:04:53 AM
The Whole Story - From BTC-Arbs ADMIN
I am aware that this post may fall upon deaf ears, given the mob mentality that seems to have developed as a fallout from BTC-Arbs, however I am here with the ultimate goal of resolving the issues that currently face everyone involved. Before I get into my future plans I feel it is necessary to share a bit of background information on BTC-Arbs.
Scam Allegations
BTC Arbs was not created to be a scam, and was never intended to rip off investors. Bitcoin arbitrage is possible and many Bitcoin users have realized this and have started arbitrage trading on their own. Bitcoin arbitrage trading took place and earnings were made. Anyone who has ever looked at bitcoinaverage dot com can confirm this. The prices vary greatly from exchange to exchange, and there are always variations on the price. Even today, you can buy Bitcoin on BTCE for $556 and then sell it immediately on Bitstamp for $572. That produces a 2.7% profit, which is closer to 2% after exchange fees and transfer costs.
BTC-Arbs was not created to scam users.
Hacking
In early April, the BTC Arbs website was hacked. Numerous members can corroborate this fact. Many accounts were accessed and large amounts of Bitcoin were withdrawn. When this first started occurring, we were under the impression that it was due to users who had failed to secure their accounts with 2-factor authentication and who had been infected with a virus. It then became apparent that the website was not secure and the issue was impacting hundreds of accounts. HUNDREDS of Bitcoins were paid out that should not have been. To make matters worse, our incoming Bitcoin addresses were changed and hackers stole all of the incoming coins. When we tried to fix the issue, we just kept getting hacked over and over. Finally the problem was solved, but it was too late.
After the hacking, the plan was to use profits to re-liquidate the program, however people continued to withdraw, which ultimately lead to the overall failure and "reset". This can be referred to as a run on the bank.
100,000 Bitcoin Address
Those who believe that the 100,000 Bitcoin address belongs to BTC-Arbs are crazy. The total value of ALL BTC-Arbs accounts is more or less 500 Bitcoins. We weren't some billion dollar scam. The average user had less than 1 Bitcoin in their account. There are only 7 users with balances over 20 Bitcoins. There were less than 1000 accounts with Bitcoins in them.
Re-Incarnation
Upon resetting the program, the plan was to pay back all users using future profits. The plan was going well and members of Bitcoin Talk can attest that withdrawals were being paid and that many users had begun receiving a good portion of their investments back. The plan was going well until angry users decided to:
- Hack the website further
- Initiate a prolonged DDOS attack against the server
- File a trademark complaint for the domain (WTF???)
- Freeze fiat accounts (preventing refunds)
Apology
I am VERY VERY VERY SORRY that the outcome of BTC-Arbs was what it was. I had dreams of running the first large and legitimate Bitcoin Arbitrage investment company that could have one day competed with banks and other global investment institutions. Instead, my dreams were destroyed and I now receive threats on a daily basis.
Moving Forward
I have created a plan to help us move forward. I would appreciate everyone's help in fulfilling it. If you have any suggestions on how to improve my plan please tell me.
The Plan
1 - I have some Bitcoins left and I am still doing arbitrage with them.
2 - I want nothing more than to repay everyone. This won't be instant, but I want to do my best.
3 - I will continue paying refunds to everyone who lost money. In the interest of fairness, I think it is reasonable that until everyone is repaid their initial investments, that everyone only request the amount that was lost, not including profits.
4 - Please send your username, amount lost, Bitcoin address, username here (optional), details of your deposits, and any other information you can think of to [email protected] or by PM here.
5 - I will be using this thread to keep track of everything that I do, including refunds.
BTC Arbs is NOT a scam. It was a failed investment that is now trying to make good on past promises.
I am aware that this post may fall upon deaf ears, given the mob mentality that seems to have developed as a fallout from BTC-Arbs, however I am here with the ultimate goal of resolving the issues that currently face everyone involved. Before I get into my future plans I feel it is necessary to share a bit of background information on BTC-Arbs.
Scam Allegations
BTC Arbs was not created to be a scam, and was never intended to rip off investors. Bitcoin arbitrage is possible and many Bitcoin users have realized this and have started arbitrage trading on their own. Bitcoin arbitrage trading took place and earnings were made. Anyone who has ever looked at bitcoinaverage dot com can confirm this. The prices vary greatly from exchange to exchange, and there are always variations on the price. Even today, you can buy Bitcoin on BTCE for $556 and then sell it immediately on Bitstamp for $572. That produces a 2.7% profit, which is closer to 2% after exchange fees and transfer costs.
BTC-Arbs was not created to scam users.
Hacking
In early April, the BTC Arbs website was hacked. Numerous members can corroborate this fact. Many accounts were accessed and large amounts of Bitcoin were withdrawn. When this first started occurring, we were under the impression that it was due to users who had failed to secure their accounts with 2-factor authentication and who had been infected with a virus. It then became apparent that the website was not secure and the issue was impacting hundreds of accounts. HUNDREDS of Bitcoins were paid out that should not have been. To make matters worse, our incoming Bitcoin addresses were changed and hackers stole all of the incoming coins. When we tried to fix the issue, we just kept getting hacked over and over. Finally the problem was solved, but it was too late.
After the hacking, the plan was to use profits to re-liquidate the program, however people continued to withdraw, which ultimately lead to the overall failure and "reset". This can be referred to as a run on the bank.
100,000 Bitcoin Address
Those who believe that the 100,000 Bitcoin address belongs to BTC-Arbs are crazy. The total value of ALL BTC-Arbs accounts is more or less 500 Bitcoins. We weren't some billion dollar scam. The average user had less than 1 Bitcoin in their account. There are only 7 users with balances over 20 Bitcoins. There were less than 1000 accounts with Bitcoins in them.
Re-Incarnation
Upon resetting the program, the plan was to pay back all users using future profits. The plan was going well and members of Bitcoin Talk can attest that withdrawals were being paid and that many users had begun receiving a good portion of their investments back. The plan was going well until angry users decided to:
- Hack the website further
- Initiate a prolonged DDOS attack against the server
- File a trademark complaint for the domain (WTF???)
- Freeze fiat accounts (preventing refunds)
Apology
I am VERY VERY VERY SORRY that the outcome of BTC-Arbs was what it was. I had dreams of running the first large and legitimate Bitcoin Arbitrage investment company that could have one day competed with banks and other global investment institutions. Instead, my dreams were destroyed and I now receive threats on a daily basis.
Moving Forward
I have created a plan to help us move forward. I would appreciate everyone's help in fulfilling it. If you have any suggestions on how to improve my plan please tell me.
The Plan
1 - I have some Bitcoins left and I am still doing arbitrage with them.
2 - I want nothing more than to repay everyone. This won't be instant, but I want to do my best.
3 - I will continue paying refunds to everyone who lost money. In the interest of fairness, I think it is reasonable that until everyone is repaid their initial investments, that everyone only request the amount that was lost, not including profits.
4 - Please send your username, amount lost, Bitcoin address, username here (optional), details of your deposits, and any other information you can think of to [email protected] or by PM here.
5 - I will be using this thread to keep track of everything that I do, including refunds.
BTC Arbs is NOT a scam. It was a failed investment that is now trying to make good on past promises.
Why didn't you just tell users what was really going on instead of concocting some story about btc-arbs being sold and an audit was being done by the new company. Why should people believe you now when you blatantly lied to everyone then?
May 30, 2014, 07:20:19 AM
Hello Ron/Adam/or whoever wrote the above post:
I've emailed the details you've asked for in your post. I sincerely hope you make things right and I have the chance to profusely apologize to you for my comments on this thread as well as those on the Litecointalk.org forum as well.
I'm including it here as well for reference:
Sincerley,
Worldly Beodouin
I've emailed the details you've asked for in your post. I sincerely hope you make things right and I have the chance to profusely apologize to you for my comments on this thread as well as those on the Litecointalk.org forum as well.
I'm including it here as well for reference:
Quote
Hello BTC-Arbs,
Here's the info I have regarding my account.
BTC-ARBS Username: worldly
Amount Deposited: 1.25BTC
Amount Earnings: 0.34BTC
Total Amount Owed: 1.59BTC
My BTC Address:
My Bitcointalk Username: worldlybedouin
Sincerely,
Worldly Bedouin
Here's the info I have regarding my account.
BTC-ARBS Username: worldly
Amount Deposited: 1.25BTC
Amount Earnings: 0.34BTC
Total Amount Owed: 1.59BTC
My BTC Address:
My Bitcointalk Username: worldlybedouin
Sincerely,
Worldly Bedouin
Sincerley,
Worldly Beodouin
May 30, 2014, 04:05:35 AM
If the site was being DDOSed then surely we'd be getting the Cloudflare version of the site? Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure the login page had the Cloudflare logo.
Ignoring that, to carry out a DDOS for this long is either costing someone some serious cash or they have a sizeable botnet under their control. In which case, they have the ability to make more money from that than from a site like btc-arbs.
I'm all for trying to get our money back but threatening family etc. is just not on. We should be above that behaviour.
Ignoring that, to carry out a DDOS for this long is either costing someone some serious cash or they have a sizeable botnet under their control. In which case, they have the ability to make more money from that than from a site like btc-arbs.
I'm all for trying to get our money back but threatening family etc. is just not on. We should be above that behaviour.
If they are (or have been) indeed protected by Cloudflare, their DDoS part of the story is a joke. Cloudflare mitigated the Spamhaus attack early last year, which was then the most powerful DDoS attack ever. And yes, if under attack sites protected by Cloudflare are showing a Cloudflare splash page.
May 30, 2014, 02:10:05 AM
If the site was being DDOSed then surely we'd be getting the Cloudflare version of the site? Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure the login page had the Cloudflare logo.
Ignoring that, to carry out a DDOS for this long is either costing someone some serious cash or they have a sizeable botnet under their control. In which case, they have the ability to make more money from that than from a site like btc-arbs.
I'm all for trying to get our money back but threatening family etc. is just not on. We should be above that behaviour.
Ignoring that, to carry out a DDOS for this long is either costing someone some serious cash or they have a sizeable botnet under their control. In which case, they have the ability to make more money from that than from a site like btc-arbs.
I'm all for trying to get our money back but threatening family etc. is just not on. We should be above that behaviour.
May 30, 2014, 01:30:33 AM
Scam Allegations
BTC Arbs was not created to be a scam, and was never intended to rip off investors. Bitcoin arbitrage is possible and many Bitcoin users have realized this and have started arbitrage trading on their own. Bitcoin arbitrage trading took place and earnings were made. Anyone who has ever looked at bitcoinaverage dot com can confirm this. The prices vary greatly from exchange to exchange, and there are always variations on the price. Even today, you can buy Bitcoin on BTCE for $556 and then sell it immediately on Bitstamp for $572. That produces a 2.7% profit, which is closer to 2% after exchange fees and transfer costs.
BTC Arbs was not created to be a scam, and was never intended to rip off investors. Bitcoin arbitrage is possible and many Bitcoin users have realized this and have started arbitrage trading on their own. Bitcoin arbitrage trading took place and earnings were made. Anyone who has ever looked at bitcoinaverage dot com can confirm this. The prices vary greatly from exchange to exchange, and there are always variations on the price. Even today, you can buy Bitcoin on BTCE for $556 and then sell it immediately on Bitstamp for $572. That produces a 2.7% profit, which is closer to 2% after exchange fees and transfer costs.
Really? REALLY? How dumb do you think people are to believe that this example legitimizes the impossibly high profits claimed by BTC-Arbs? On the other hand, judging by some posts in this thread you may have a chance...
Anyway, to buy 1 bitcoin and immediately sell it elsewhere, you need to have available both the bitcoin and the fiat money. Your profit estimate is based on the price difference relative to the value of just 1 bitcoin. Since you need an equal value of dollars for this trade, this immediately cuts the expected profit percentage in half.
So if that's where the story ends, it'd still be okay. But it doesn't. Exchange rate differences are almost always one-sided. How often is Bitstamp cheaper than BTC-e? Right. This means that for continuous operation you need to transfer fiat around constantly. And how fast are international wire transfers compared to Bitcoin transfers? Indeed, when operating efficiently you have to have many times more value in fiat money than you have in bitcoins. Most of this fiat money is in transit, through the slow international banking system yet for profit computations it can't be ignored. And while many times more fiat money is needed than bitcoins, it stands to reason that the actual ratio of deposits is the other way around, which would mean a large part of the Bitcoin deposits would just be sitting idle waiting for fiat to move around, yet still counting towards the total value of the investments and therefore affecting profit percentages.
But even disregarding that last point, since I have no insights into how much of each currency was actually deposited, the fact remains that with a price difference between exchanges of 2.7%, you can consider yourself lucky if you can reach a profit on the total value of the operation of 0.5%. Lower is much more likely.
The above isn't really news, I've made these rebuttals of BTC-Arbs' profit claims since the first page of this thread and noone has been able to offer a reasonable counter.
I second your information I had been monitoring this thread just to make sure if I should invest or not and decided not to as I agree what you say. I mean just to get money out of btc-e even with visa it takes for 72hours? that to 7% cut. Then you have to transfer that to bitstamp? I dont see the point either... while you might claim to transfer via different methods all seem to have at-least 1% withdrawal fees and when you enter into bitstamp there will transfer fee which will negate the 2.7% he claims.
May 30, 2014, 01:25:28 AM
He knew he was bullshitting about the takeover and all. He is a liar. Seriously, someone do something. I have no sympathy whatsoever if someone actually hurt his daughter, cruel thing to say but seriously admin, you know what you do. It just so happens u got caught this time.
If your parent was involved in something that went very bad, would you want to be attacked for it?
If someone is doing these threats and/or DDOSing the site, please stop! You aren't helping. I sure we all want our BTC back, we should give the guy a chance.
The guy only came out to speak from the covers because his family was threatened. He would not even be on this form trying to return back if he wasent.
May 30, 2014, 12:52:50 AM
Scam Allegations
BTC Arbs was not created to be a scam, and was never intended to rip off investors. Bitcoin arbitrage is possible and many Bitcoin users have realized this and have started arbitrage trading on their own. Bitcoin arbitrage trading took place and earnings were made. Anyone who has ever looked at bitcoinaverage dot com can confirm this. The prices vary greatly from exchange to exchange, and there are always variations on the price. Even today, you can buy Bitcoin on BTCE for $556 and then sell it immediately on Bitstamp for $572. That produces a 2.7% profit, which is closer to 2% after exchange fees and transfer costs.
BTC Arbs was not created to be a scam, and was never intended to rip off investors. Bitcoin arbitrage is possible and many Bitcoin users have realized this and have started arbitrage trading on their own. Bitcoin arbitrage trading took place and earnings were made. Anyone who has ever looked at bitcoinaverage dot com can confirm this. The prices vary greatly from exchange to exchange, and there are always variations on the price. Even today, you can buy Bitcoin on BTCE for $556 and then sell it immediately on Bitstamp for $572. That produces a 2.7% profit, which is closer to 2% after exchange fees and transfer costs.
Really? REALLY? How dumb do you think people are to believe that this example legitimizes the impossibly high profits claimed by BTC-Arbs? On the other hand, judging by some posts in this thread you may have a chance...
Anyway, to buy 1 bitcoin and immediately sell it elsewhere, you need to have available both the bitcoin and the fiat money. Your profit estimate is based on the price difference relative to the value of just 1 bitcoin. Since you need an equal value of dollars for this trade, this immediately cuts the expected profit percentage in half.
So if that's where the story ends, it'd still be okay. But it doesn't. Exchange rate differences are almost always one-sided. How often is Bitstamp cheaper than BTC-e? Right. This means that for continuous operation you need to transfer fiat around constantly. And how fast are international wire transfers compared to Bitcoin transfers? Indeed, when operating efficiently you have to have many times more value in fiat money than you have in bitcoins. Most of this fiat money is in transit, through the slow international banking system yet for profit computations it can't be ignored. And while many times more fiat money is needed than bitcoins, it stands to reason that the actual ratio of deposits is the other way around, which would mean a large part of the Bitcoin deposits would just be sitting idle waiting for fiat to move around, yet still counting towards the total value of the investments and therefore affecting profit percentages.
But even disregarding that last point, since I have no insights into how much of each currency was actually deposited, the fact remains that with a price difference between exchanges of 2.7%, you can consider yourself lucky if you can reach a profit on the total value of the operation of 0.5%. Lower is much more likely.
The above isn't really news, I've made these rebuttals of BTC-Arbs' profit claims since the first page of this thread and noone has been able to offer a reasonable counter.
May 30, 2014, 12:36:57 AM
I will definitely be following up here if any action is taken to restore my principal to me.
May 30, 2014, 12:29:21 AM
email and PM sent
I've done the same. If we hear anything we should report back to the thread.
May 30, 2014, 12:28:04 AM
He knew he was bullshitting about the takeover and all. He is a liar. Seriously, someone do something. I have no sympathy whatsoever if someone actually hurt his daughter, cruel thing to say but seriously admin, you know what you do. It just so happens u got caught this time.
If your parent was involved in something that went very bad, would you want to be attacked for it?
If someone is doing these threats and/or DDOSing the site, please stop! You aren't helping. I'm sure we all want our BTC back, we should give the guy a chance.
May 30, 2014, 12:11:15 AM
He knew he was bullshitting about the takeover and all. He is a liar. Seriously, someone do something. I have no sympathy whatsoever if someone actually hurt his daughter, cruel thing to say but seriously admin, you know what you do. It just so happens u got caught this time.
May 30, 2014, 12:08:10 AM
Hopefull the guy pays you guys back. Maybe he is telling the truth or maybe he is scared of being threatened. I had nothing invested in the website but was thinking initially. What makes this guys response weird is that from what I read at their website they were a group of 7 people and now just one guy is replying that he will pay everyone back. I do think it was a scam but since the admin has been caught and is scared he has started paying people back. How much he pays back is yet to be seen. Hopefully you guys get back your stuff but whoever threatened his daughter should get information about this guy from him so you know how to track the admin down. And if he had planed this initially why didnt he come out and just say it in the beginning?
May 29, 2014, 10:32:09 PM
email and PM sent
May 29, 2014, 09:51:40 PM
I find it REALLY INTERESTING that we started getting close, and we immediately get this post attempting to get the dogs called off.
I have been trying to fix the issue behind the scenes, however the idiots who continue to DDOS the site aren't helping. I posted here after one of you guys contacted my daughter and threatened her.
Kevin, I have received your request. If we go off of total lost, you have been paid back approximately 10%. More coming.
Vilepickle, I have received your request.
Of the over 37 bitcoin I had in legacy, I managed to pull out 2.2 bitcoin from the "trickle" payments before the site went down. if we are just talking about loss of principal, I had invested 27 bitcoin...so not to pick nits, but that looks more like 8%.
You will understand our skepticism that this ever would have happened if nobody had done any sleuthing, particularly after the comical fiction of Ron James and his nonexistent hedge fund / investment group. I'm sorry to hear someone made threats against your family, obviously not acceptable but I know guys have posted losses here that double mine, so the anger should be understandable.
The "we were hacked" story has been mulled over at length here. Highly implausible, considering that all deposits and withdrawals were processed manually...and not one user came here claiming that their funds had been withdrawn without authorization, that I have seen. Regardless, the withdrawals should not have made the enterprise so insolvent that I was only getting repaid .03 bitcoin per day, at the end. I also don't see any way that wallet addresses for incoming Bitcoin could be changed...it is not plausible because the site was not a wallet. I just find it way too convenient and the made up story of an acquisition by a nonexistent entity (this is the internet age, seriously) only casts doubt on every claim.
But as I said, I am glad you are now willing to make it right, regardless.
May 29, 2014, 08:51:51 PM
I find it REALLY INTERESTING that we started getting close, and we immediately get this post attempting to get the dogs called off.
I have been trying to fix the issue behind the scenes, however the idiots who continue to DDOS the site aren't helping. I posted here after one of you guys contacted my daughter and threatened her.
Kevin, I have received your request. If we go off of total lost, you have been paid back approximately 10%. More coming.
Vilepickle, I have received your request.
May 29, 2014, 08:34:12 PM
I've sent an email. Assuming that's real, thank you for being honest and finally posting.
May 29, 2014, 07:13:28 PM
I find it REALLY INTERESTING that we started getting close, and we immediately get this post attempting to get the dogs called off.
I have sent an e-mail. As one of those seven investors you claim had more than 20 bitcoin invested and a LONGTIME supporter and defender of the site, I was among those feeling MOST betrayed by the site.
I hope you really DO intend to make this right ("Ron," "Adam," or whoever you are), because this put a lot of us in a really tight spot.
My principal investment was 27 Bitcoin, with interest when the site shut down, I was owed 35.6 or so. I had not, contrary to what the admin has posted, received a "good portion" of my Bitcoin out of the legacy funds balance. I had received about 2.2 Bitcoin out of it.
I have sent an e-mail. As one of those seven investors you claim had more than 20 bitcoin invested and a LONGTIME supporter and defender of the site, I was among those feeling MOST betrayed by the site.
I hope you really DO intend to make this right ("Ron," "Adam," or whoever you are), because this put a lot of us in a really tight spot.
My principal investment was 27 Bitcoin, with interest when the site shut down, I was owed 35.6 or so. I had not, contrary to what the admin has posted, received a "good portion" of my Bitcoin out of the legacy funds balance. I had received about 2.2 Bitcoin out of it.
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