I noticed in another thread he put a link to this email. Mods, if you wish you can move, delete, or what have you to this post.
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Subject: A Public Letter about Bitcoinica
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[nameterrific.cmail4.com]
A Public Letter about Bitcoinica
Why?
You are receiving this email because I, Zhou Tong, want to update you about Bitcoinica's recent events, and clarify some frequently
asked questions by Bitcoinica customers.
I still have your email address because Bitcoinica shared the available account information with me so that I can help them process
the claims. I won't use your email address for purposes other than communicating Bitcoinica-related matters.
Apology
First all, I would like to apologize to all affected users. As many of you know, I'm reaching 18 years old this year, and even though
the Bitcoinica venture was extremely exciting and eye-opening for a teenager, I have to admit that I could have displayed a higher
level of maturity and professionalism in some matters.
Also, I also have to admit that a lot of the business circumstances were well beyond my scope of understanding. I assure you that I
have learned the relevant lessons and I will do a much better job in my next project ? NameTerrific [nameterrific.cmail4.com].
The "Mt. Gox Hack"
Bitcoinica experienced the third major hack on July 12, 2012. According to Bitcoinica's announcement [nameterrific.cmail4.com],
40,000 BTC and $40,000 were stolen.
It's regrettable that the master password of Bitcoinica's LastPass account, which includes the crentials required to access its main
Mt. Gox account with all unpaid funds, was found to be the same as one API key in the source code leaked on July 7, 2012
[nameterrific.cmail4.com].
On July 26, AurumXchange has posted a statement [nameterrific.cmail4.com] publicly stating some information found in the recent
Bitcoinica hack. I was pointed to be an important suspect due to a link of this hack to one of my "sockpuppet" email addresses used
for anonymously testing websites. After a short period, I have replied to emphasize this fact [nameterrific.cmail4.com] and also a
possible email hack.
It's important to note that I have never used this email for any official purpose, and it should not be used to identify me
personally. The email password was a heavily re-used one because nothing inside was intended to be private.
On the same day, I have posted another statement [nameterrific.cmail4.com] about my findings of the evidence left in the email
account. Chen Jianhai has used a credit card of Chris Heaslip (which was also present in the LastPass account) to place an order on
Amazon.com. He was using a freight forwarder address with his real name. Later this order was canceled by Amazon due to fraud.
Chen Jianhai has agreed to return at least $140,000 and 20,000 BTC under the condition that Bitcoinica LP will not start a police
investigation about the hack. I have made it clear to him that I will have zero tolerance on this wrong-doing and if the promised
amount is not paid back, I will make his identifiable information available to the police, and possibly public.
Fund Recovery
Patrick Murck is an experienced lawyer who is also very familiar with Bitcoin. He was asked by some creditors and stakeholders of
Bitcoinica to broker the transactions. I was supposed to be act as an intermediary between the hacker and Patrick Murck to faciliate
the recovery of stolen funds.
A great progress has been achieved in fund recovery and we can expect the funds to be returned to Bitcoinica LP, or its creditors as
soon as the end of next week.
Liquidation
Tihan Seale, who represents Wendon Group (the limited partner of Bitcoinica LP), released a statement [nameterrific.cmail4.com] on
August 2, 2012 detailing the abandonment of legal duty by Bitcoinica Consultancy, the general partner of Bitcoinica LP.
Mr Seale has confirmed that his investment firm will appoint a legal receiver in New Zealand to return all remaining assets owned by
Bitcoinica to creditors, which include all customers with an account balance and/or a position and a verifiable claim. He has also
mentioned that all assets subject to Wendon Group's ownership will be contributed to Bitcoinica customers proportionally.
To my best knowledge, Patrick, Donald or Amir has not responded to the above-mentioned statement publicly.
My Personal Appeal
Here, I would like to appeal to the community and all Bitcoinica customers for acting rationally about recent events.
With the accusations from some active parties in Bitcoin community, I have lost a lot of confidence in myself and my life has been
significantly and negatively impacted. I'm an Agnostic and a Libertarian who believes in living one's life for others' good, and the
accusations are clearly against my value judgement.
Furthermore, there are repeated threats of violence and informal investigations that can put my family, friends and myself into
dangerous situations.
Regardless of your stand in the debates, I appreciate your respect. Whether I'm guilty or not, I have closely experienced the power
of justice and I can assure you I will hate living a life of a criminal. I deeply believe that I can make good use of my web
development skills and business experience into valuable innovations for the society, rather than illegally obtaining properties from
other hardworking people.
My Bitcoinica Experience
In my previous post about leaving Bitcoin [nameterrific.cmail4.com], I mentioned that I didn't really enjoy the outcome of
Bitcoinica:
"I failed at one thing though, that is generating value for the society. Bitcoinica did create a place for people to trade more
efficiently and provide liquidity to the market. However, speculation is a zero-sum game (or negative-sum, strictly saying). I know
there can be many justifications for Bitcoinica's value, but all of them are against my intuition and values."
I want to make it clear (again) that I stand in line with the interest of Bitcoinica customers because you have made me proud of my
creation. Without your support, I wouldn't have moved to Melbourne, and I wouldn't have been so confident about my potential. To me,
like it or not, Bitcoinica was a life-changer, and very possibly an opportunity that I would never encounter again in my whole life.
My first major aim in life is to become a millionaire (in US Dollar) by the age of 21. I set this aim when I was 15. Here, I also
want to thank Tihan for his wonderful acquisition offer, which contributed to the achievement of this aim (though I still have a lot
to go).
Moreover, I have interacted to many Bitcoinica customers personally and I have to say that there's no better way of accumulating
business experience. I'm lucky to have known so many high-net-worth individuals in this community and I believe that many of the
Bitcoinica customers will be helpful in some ways in my future adventures.
Last Words
So, I have:
* lost my job
* seen my own baby fail
* been stuck in a situation beyond my control
* been accused of stealing customer funds
* contributed most of my Bitcoin savings into personally compensating customers
* thought about committing suicide
* never had a satisfied sleep since 3 months ago
* lost some confidence
* felt insecure and nervous for prolonged periods
* affected some friendships
* delayed the development of my new project significantly
* spent a large amount of time in the 200-page debates
* skipped a few classes
* ruined my professional reputation in some ways
I'm still surviving after all. There's always hope in life, right?
In these three months, I have learned a lot, and experienced all kinds of human emotions, thoughts and value judgements. In one
occasion, I cried over the phone, and my best friend (a 18-year-old student) told me (translated):
"You're already very successful. Not many people can have your experience as a youth entrepreneur, and be such a mature expatriate
and global citizen. The reputation damage will at worst make your future successes arrive later, but they will still come to you,
because you deserve the successes."
I won't give up. I'm not running away. I'm still here to help you get your precious savings back. I know how important the money
stuck in Bitcoinica is to you. It truly means a lot to me.
Meanwhile, I appreciate your support towards my new startup NameTerrific [nameterrific.cmail4.com].
Thank you very much for your support. I hope we can all survive this difficult period together. You are welcome to contact me anytime
at
[email protected].
Best Regards,
Zhou Tong
Founder of Bitcoinica (Yeah, I hate to be the founder.)
You're receiving this because your email is included in my copy of email addresses shared by Bitcoinica's owners.
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