Well, lets see, first up--it shouldn't be a shit fest to ask for some help. All of you bitchers and whiners should let the man have his fun. If you don't like GIL, don't mine it. If you don't like Hydroponica, ignore him.
Next, Square Enix may not have trademarked the word "GIL," but you ARE breaking their EULA, plain and simple.
You do not have any property rights in the service account you use to play the Game (“FINAL FANTASY Service Account”). YOU ACQUIRE NO OWNERSHIP OR PROPERTY RIGHTS IN ANY CHARACTER OR OTHER IN-GAME VIRTUAL GOOD, AND ARE ONLY LICENSED TO USE SUCH CHARACTERS AND ASSETS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR FINAL FANTASY SERVICE ACCOUNT SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS SET FORTH IN THE AGREEMENTS. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR FINAL FANTASY SERVICE ACCOUNT AND ANY VIRTUAL GOODS AND CHARACTERS DO NOT HAVE ANY MONETARY VALUE. SQUARE ENIX MAY SUSPEND, TERMINATE, MODIFY, OR DELETE FINAL FANTASY XI SERVICE ACCOUNTS, CHARACTERS, VIRTUAL GOODS, OR THE SERVICE ALTOGETHER, AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE OR LIABILITY TO YOU.
oh and then there's this gem:
2.2 Real Money Trading, Farming and Power-Leveling. You may not sell, purchase or exchange for real-world money or value any in-game currency, accounts, characters, in-game services, or in-game virtual items. You may not play the Game for the purpose of acquiring virtual items or advancement in game play on behalf of a third-party or for the purpose of selling any virtual assets to a third party for real-world money, specifically including “gold-farming” and power-leveling services. 2.3 Commercial Use. You may not exploit the Game for any commercial purpose (for example, advertising any product or service in-game, or use by the operator of a cyber café) without SQUARE ENIX’s prior written consent.
and one more:
3.5 Naming Right. You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to SQUARE ENIX or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product, or superhero).
So simply by trying to monetize "GIL" vs. BTC, I'm pretty certain Square Enix has a right to slam the door in your face. If SE wanted you to be able to "mine" a cryptocurrency and trade for in-game resources, they would have designed their system that way. You can try to be a middle man if you like, but unless you're already lawyered up, you might think twice. I won't even mention how you already cashed out on GIL when it got listed at Cryptsy, so you could already be in violation of their EULA. To be fair, yes, I'd say BottleCaps has a problem too considering their use of graphics, but the term "bottlecap" is much more generic than "gil," so image copyright aside...
Last but not least, can we all stop picking sides? Guess this goes back around to the first point (and the reason I'm not sharing my future works here directly). You're all so apt to jump on something and bitch about it. YES, these clones are mostly worthless (GIL included, sorry but its true--but that doesn't mean they aren't fun and isn't that what this *should* be about?). YES, we all know how you all feel about them, its a broken record on both sides though. Endless clones, endless bitching.