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Topic: [BTC-TC] BTC Growth: Capital Growth via Hedge Fund-Style Investing - page 12. (Read 251449 times)

sr. member
Activity: 470
Merit: 250
Like I said, Neither pirate nor Madoff ever intended to run a ponzi scheme.  They just got sucked in once they started lying about their profits.
Pirate's scheme was a textbook high yield ponzi. It would be perfectly reasonable to think he planned it that way from the start.

Ultimately it comes down to trust. Anyone looking to invest in the largely unregulated world of bitcoin securities should do their own research and draw their own conclusions based on the information that is available.
sr. member
Activity: 356
Merit: 255
Of course he may not be doing a actual ponzi scheme.  He may just be a delusional idiot who will lose your money.
False dichotomy. He may also be a smart guy who will lose your money, or he may be a smart guy who will make you a lot of money, or he may be an idiot who makes you a lot of money.
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
The next Pirateat40. Anyone who invests in this is going to get destroyed.

I can't prove that you're wrong but I would at least ask you to ask yourself why someone who has had an impressive career in academia, the professions and industry would 'do a' Pirateat40. Greg would be giving up a lot to do that.

What impressive career in academia?  I only see a single paper from him on Google scholar, some new-agey gobbledygook about 'quantum minds' written in the 90s that isn't even formatted like a proper academic article.

I have friends in academia.  A quick Google search of their name and you can find dozens of paper's they've co-authored.

If he really had a successful academic career where are his published papers?

Of course he may not be doing a actual ponzi scheme.  He may just be a delusional idiot who will lose your money.

It seems a lot of the work he did was for a research lab or something (I have to look into it more), not available on Google Scholar. http://mulhauser.net/lib/research/

If you don't have academic papers published in journals, then you don't have an "Academic career".  Period.

Even if I concede your point on academia, I think my argument still stands, unless you want to have a crack at the rest of it. Oh, I see you now just think he may be an idiot. Well, you're entitled to your opinion on that.

Rest of what?  There's no evidence for any of this other then random websites I've never heard of, which he could have setup himself.


I'm not sure I want to wade into the crossfire here, but I feel obligated to point out that pirateat40 DID give up a lot in real life to pull off his scam. I believe he is now being hauled off to jail. Also, Bernie Madoff was very successful prior to his ill-fated ponzi scheme.

Interpret that however you like.

Yup. And like Madoff and Pirate he's probably thinking he'll actually make money with his "hedge fund" - and maybe he will. Or maybe he'll make a lot of money and keep most of it for himself. But the problem is this guy is a huckster, pretending to be some uber-smart "Professor Dr." when in reality he's just some ridiculous SEO faker (IMO - again, since I don't see an academic trail in places that they'd normally show up).

and my own conclusion is that the chance that he intends to run a ponzi is low.

Like I said, Neither pirate nor Madoff ever intended to run a ponzi scheme.  They just got sucked in once they started lying about their profits.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
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I'm not sure I want to wade into the crossfire here, but I feel obligated to point out that pirateat40 DID give up a lot in real life to pull off his scam. I believe he is now being hauled off to jail. Also, Bernie Madoff was very successful prior to his ill-fated ponzi scheme.

Interpret that however you like.

Yes, he did and he is. So much of this business is drawing inferences from incomplete information, a bit like poker. I have read as much as I can about the manager of this fund, and my own conclusion is that the chance that he intends to run a ponzi is low. I could be wrong, though. If I get information to the contrary I will reevaluate my hypothesis.

It's just like I used to think that AsicMiner was worth a lot more than I do now. The more I read, the more I thought about it, until I eventually decided I was wrong.
sr. member
Activity: 336
Merit: 250
♫ the AM bear who cares ♫
The next Pirateat40. Anyone who invests in this is going to get destroyed.

I can't prove that you're wrong but I would at least ask you to ask yourself why someone who has had an impressive career in academia, the professions and industry would 'do a' Pirateat40. Greg would be giving up a lot to do that.

What impressive career in academia?  I only see a single paper from him on Google scholar, some new-agey gobbledygook about 'quantum minds' written in the 90s that isn't even formatted like a proper academic article.

I have friends in academia.  A quick Google search of their name and you can find dozens of paper's they've co-authored.

If he really had a successful academic career where are his published papers?

Of course he may not be doing a actual ponzi scheme.  He may just be a delusional idiot who will lose your money.

Even if I concede your point on academia, I think my argument still stands, unless you want to have a crack at the rest of it. Oh, I see you now just think he may be an idiot. Well, you're entitled to your opinion on that.

I'm not sure I want to wade into the crossfire here, but I feel obligated to point out that pirateat40 DID give up a lot in real life to pull off his scam. I believe he is now being hauled off to jail. Also, Bernie Madoff was very successful prior to his ill-fated ponzi scheme.

Interpret that however you like.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
CryptoTalk.Org - Get Paid for every Post!
The next Pirateat40. Anyone who invests in this is going to get destroyed.

I can't prove that you're wrong but I would at least ask you to ask yourself why someone who has had an impressive career in academia, the professions and industry would 'do a' Pirateat40. Greg would be giving up a lot to do that.

What impressive career in academia?  I only see a single paper from him on Google scholar, some new-agey gobbledygook about 'quantum minds' written in the 90s that isn't even formatted like a proper academic article.

I have friends in academia.  A quick Google search of their name and you can find dozens of paper's they've co-authored.

If he really had a successful academic career where are his published papers?

Of course he may not be doing a actual ponzi scheme.  He may just be a delusional idiot who will lose your money.

Even if I concede your point on academia, I think my argument still stands, unless you want to have a crack at the rest of it. Oh, I see you now just think he may be an idiot. Well, you're entitled to your opinion on that.
sr. member
Activity: 279
Merit: 250
The next Pirateat40. Anyone who invests in this is going to get destroyed.

I can't prove that you're wrong but I would at least ask you to ask yourself why someone who has had an impressive career in academia, the professions and industry would 'do a' Pirateat40. Greg would be giving up a lot to do that.

What impressive career in academia?  I only see a single paper from him on Google scholar, some new-agey gobbledygook about 'quantum minds' written in the 90s that isn't even formatted like a proper academic article.

I have friends in academia.  A quick Google search of their name and you can find dozens of paper's they've co-authored.

If he really had a successful academic career where are his published papers?

Of course he may not be doing a actual ponzi scheme.  He may just be a delusional idiot who will lose your money.

It seems a lot of the work he did was for a research lab or something (I have to look into it more), not available on Google Scholar. http://mulhauser.net/lib/research/
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
The next Pirateat40. Anyone who invests in this is going to get destroyed.

I can't prove that you're wrong but I would at least ask you to ask yourself why someone who has had an impressive career in academia, the professions and industry would 'do a' Pirateat40. Greg would be giving up a lot to do that.

What impressive career in academia?  I only see a single paper from him on Google scholar, some new-agey gobbledygook about 'quantum minds' written in the 90s that isn't even formatted like a proper academic article.

I have friends in academia.  A quick Google search of their name and you can find dozens of paper's they've co-authored.

If he really had a successful academic career where are his published papers?

Of course he may not be doing a actual ponzi scheme.  He may just be a delusional idiot who will lose your money.
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 500
It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye
The next Pirateat40. Anyone who invests in this is going to get destroyed.

On the face of it, I see very little in common with what Pirate was doing. But if Greg comes out next month with a statement saying "We had profits of 50%, probably going to do that again next month, and now we are selling another 10000000000 shares" then I guess you could start comparing them.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
CryptoTalk.Org - Get Paid for every Post!
The next Pirateat40. Anyone who invests in this is going to get destroyed.

I can't prove that you're wrong but I would at least ask you to ask yourself why someone who has had an impressive career in academia, the professions and industry would 'do a' Pirateat40. Greg would be giving up a lot to do that.
sr. member
Activity: 356
Merit: 255
The next Pirateat40. Anyone who invests in this is going to get destroyed.
Possibly. Perhaps. It might even be likely - but it's a small pond still, and someone has to be the first one to come up with a security like this.
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
The next Pirateat40. Anyone who invests in this is going to get destroyed.
sr. member
Activity: 356
Merit: 255
We have no idea what he is investing in, so there is no way to estimate if it is doing well or not. Only Greg knows how the fund is doing, and so he can use his insider knowledge to make trades advantageous to himself just before releasing the monthly report (which we just have to believe him is accurate). Then, whoever sees the report first will be at an advantage to buy or sell at the best rate before the market catches up.

In a couple months we may be able to look back at the reports and see the types of things he invests in, and how well he performs vs the overall market. Until then it is basically gambling?
Think of it this way: just 20BTC will get you a full 1% stake in the fund (at least until he decides to allow another round of funding, but that's supposed to happen at the then-current NPV, so no harm to early adopters.) If you want to be able to take a chance at the first, real, publicly available pseudo-hedge-fund for BTC that is (presumably) professionally managed, this is your security.

If you don't, then it's not.
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 500
It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye
full member
Activity: 181
Merit: 100
From the contract at BTCT:
Quote
Periodic Public Reporting on NAV

Approximately once per month, the fund's investments will be marked to market, and the issuer will publish the fund's Net Asset Value (NAV) and an overview of its current strategy and investment types. Net Asset Value will provide the basis for determining fund fees as well as providing subscription and redemption windows as described in the following section. The frequency of NAV reporting may be adjusted so as to occur more or less frequently, in accordance with participant interest; any decision to adjust the frequency of reporting will be announced publicly at least 7 days in advance.

In the case of individual equity options, for which a bona fide market does not exist, open positions will be valued using the best available data at the time -- for example applying the most recently available implied volatility for the nearest match offered in terms of strike price and expiry. Debt for which no secondary market exists will be discounted for any potential impairment as estimated by the fund manager. Investments in unlisted businesses will be valued on a case-by-case basis, with adjustments relative to original book prompted by changes such as significant changes in cashflow or new valuations implied by the unlisted business's subsequent funding rounds. The fund manager is well aware of the hazards implicit in attempting to value illiquid assets such as unlisted businesses, and therefore adjustments to original book will be made only where the case is compelling.

As a general rule, hedge funds do not disclose full trading histories, and they disclose snapshots of specific holdings only weeks or even months in arrears, if at all, so as to minimise the adverse impact on returns caused by publicizing their ongoing investment strategies. Participants who rely on portfolio snapshots to infer underlying investment strategies, or who otherwise require detailed updates on portfolio changes, should probably not invest in hedge funds in general and should not participate in a Bitcoin-denominated fund operating in a hedge fund style.
full member
Activity: 153
Merit: 100
Am I missing something DrGregMulhauser, or is there no place to check the balance sheet for your fund?

Please advise.

Have a look at Greg's post from August 29.

performance, then?
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
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Am I missing something DrGregMulhauser, or is there no place to check the balance sheet for your fund?

Please advise.

Have a look at Greg's post from August 29.
full member
Activity: 153
Merit: 100
Am I missing something DrGregMulhauser, or is there no place to check the balance sheet for your fund?

Please advise.
sr. member
Activity: 356
Merit: 255
The SEC also doesn't allow non-qualified investors to invest in Hedge Funds either.
That's one of those "wink-wink" rules that the SEC puts in place to keep the good old boys' club intact... they claim it's to protect the retiree from losing it all in one swipe, but it's really about keeping the big money where the big money can watch over it.  The rules are written by the ones with the most to lose, after all.
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
...What I am missing here is the SEC (or any variation of it)...

As some participants might be aware, up until a certain threshold fund size, the SEC does not require that hedge funds disclose their holdings or their trading activity; thus, analogies based on whether the SEC or some variant is present or "missing" don't seem to bear directly on the question of disclosure for a fund of this size.

The SEC also doesn't allow non-qualified investors to invest in Hedge Funds either.
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