I can't help but notice that supposed "victims" never raised questions about the legitimacy of the scheme until the payments stop coming in. Despite all the red flags. In other words, they didn't give rat's ass if their payouts were coming from scamming others, child labor, extortion. I understand "victims" feel bitter and angry, but I really cannot feel sympathy, no matter how much I try. I can only hope they learned a lesson. Not about trust, investments, ponzis, but about themselves.
I actually don't think this is entirely fair. Pirate did make a point of saying that he wasn't doing anything illegal or unsavory. So his "investors" had as much reason to think that he wasn't acting illegally as they did to think that he would pay them back. In other words, if you think they genuinely believed he would pay them back (and, if not, why would they lend him money) it seems reasonable to think they genuinely believed that he wasn't do anything illegal.
Of course, this doesn't apply to those people who knew (or were willfully blind to the near certainty) that Pirate was running a Ponzi scheme and intentionally tried to induce others to invest to maintain their own cash flow. Those people are rat bastards to the core.
Alright, that's a fair point. However, it was obvious even to me - and I consider myself relatively ignorant of trading, investments, finances, and related topics - that this was a Ponzi.
What else could it have been with those kinds of returns?! The only explanation of investors not asking this question before investing, and while getting their payments, is that they knew all along. This means they didn't mind that their extra money was coming from later adopters who were going to get screwed with even higher probability. The only alternative theory would be that it was a plot to crash the market and return devalued coins with the interest - and no sane person would knowingly invest to lose.
I would never willfully lend money to anyone without them disclosing what their business plan was, who they are, and without checking their references. I am surprised that so many people here - who sound much more versed in these issues - think and do differently, then utter threats here as if they were mugged at a knife point.
I don't get it. How can grownups sit on their asses watching their investment mysteriously grow at cancer rates without asking themselves where it's coming from, and at what expense?
Having said all this, perhaps investors did hope they were participating in a Ponzi, but Pirate was playing the more legitimate market-crash game, and even though he failed, he might distribute back whatever is left. We'll know soon, one way or another.