Doubt it. I'd like to see Pirate draining gov't funds, but he could do that better on Welfare. Any money he has is useful, but keeping him locked up with white-collar smugglers, launderers, and political prisoners for a few years probably won't help any of us.
I think we all learned a lot from Pirate, and I'd love to have a beer with him. -Or I just have Stockholm Syndrome.
It's not like he never did anything wrong before. He's a notorious liar and scammer and will most likely continue this business unless a line is drawn. It would also show other would-be scammers that you can get into real trouble.
Either he turns everything he has into coins until he paid back the losses, or he goes to jail for a few years. If you fuck something up, you take responsibility for it.
His notorious lying and scamming makes us wiser, so we can avoid being in such situations in the future. If Pirate's allowed to continue operating as-is, he will continue to breed a smarter (though poorer) species... Plundersapiens, sculpted in his image!
If you want to really show would-be scammers you can get in "real" trouble (if you take more than $1m worth), shoot him in the face. Who gives a shit if the SEC might send you to prison in a year if you stay in the same country? He still got away with millions, even if only temporarily. He should be idolized by the scammers, and he's fascinating. Why was he where authorities could find him? Was he that cynical? By the way, isn't it funny that even Bitcoin is reversible if the SEC seizes his assets and returns them to us? Maybe in Gavin's next visit with the FBI, he can announce the new government-only chargeback functionality.
If Pirate's forced into jail (and he would be whether or not he returns money, unless the SEC really sucks with plea deals - he's made many technical law violations outside of not returning money), he's still not taking responsibility. And really - did he do anything "wrong"? We were the idiots who gave him the money. His premise was plausible and he had a solid reputation, but a vague business plan would only appeal to the most undisciplined of investors. His scam was executed pretty well, I think.... certainly way more sophisticated than the usual ones we're exposed to.
That said -- we fucked up, and we should take responsibility for it. We misjudged, so Darwin took our money. We've misjudged a lot of people, but so far, Pirate's the only person who might go to prison. If fairness is the goal, Pirate should be allowed to plunder booty as all the others have been allowed. Or maybe in this case, justice is "too big to fail."
(TBH, my real, much more left-field feelings on the matter: I don't believe society should penalize anyone as a group because it declares "we" think he should be punished, indicating unanimity, which is pretty much never the case. Since I find the very idea of "bureaucrat-determined punishment" horribly offensive, I object to all USG imprisonments, fines, seizures, murders, etc., meaning there is indeed never unanimity. I would much rather see a passionate society where individuals punish individuals. I wouldn't personally imprison Pirate in my basement, so I think it's ridiculous that it should be a more "civilized" idea for a government to, shielding me from having to personally condemn someone who I kind of admire. Normally, I wouldn't have an outburst like this, but I think that since I've lost so much, I am less likely to be thought insincere. Or kill me. [No -- I'd argue rapists should be shot in the face, ideally by the victims, though never on behalf of the victims without their explicit consent to the punishment])
