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Topic: My response to the community - page 5. (Read 17818 times)

newbie
Activity: 36
Merit: 0
September 11, 2012, 11:04:06 AM
In hindsight, I no longer see this bet as being funny and I think it was in horrible taste. The community members who were my friends who are standing up against this are right in doing so I and I have no place in the bitcoin community as I clearly don't take it as seriously as everyone else. I am happy to have learned so much from Bitcoin and I'm glad to have shared in many experiences as well, but I cannot discount the claims that I have some issues with manicism as there is no other explanation for my often irrational behavior. I'll be seriously looking at my life and exiting from the community with my sincerest apologies.

Mihai Alisie will be speaking for the Bitcoin Magazine at the London conference. I am in the process of exiting the company completely equity and all in addition to already having resigned as a director and Editor in Chief, as it seems the right thing to do for the future of the magazine.

Ellet's IP is being handed over to a more capable party and I will be exiting any involvement with it.

DCAO is being dismembered and the existing heads will start another organization a bit more seriously toned.

I will not be involved in any businesses in this community any longer. It is clear my immaturity is hurting the community more than I am helping it, and the position I have been in has only resulted in hurting myself and those around me. I'm glad to see that many people did get my joke, but I ask that they not defend me as even I see now that it was crossing all sorts of lines that should never have been crossed and I have absolutely no excuse for it.

I'm sorry I let so many people down that I never even realized actually cared and I hope I can somehow serve as an example of what not to do so that all of this was not a complete waste.

I will now leave how I came.


Apology seems legit, he posted this just before posting his apology thread:

legendary
Activity: 1036
Merit: 1002
September 11, 2012, 07:28:37 AM
Quoting some posts to sum up the analysis others were so kind to make:

I am surprised that you thought it would be a joke even after Theymos and Mage made their bets. I thought it was our lesson, but somehow it became your lesson.

They placed their bets relatively early.  Looking back at Matt's posts I am convinced he created an honest bet to begin with.   The "technicality" he escpaed payment from (in his mind only) is so lame it can only be an afterthought.  He made an honest wager, was sure Pirate would pay and when it became clear he wouldn't rather than face the music he raised the cap racked up another 70K BTC in bets, and came up with his exist strategy.

If you look at his early posts he was selected in who he took bets from, requires some younger members to escrow their portion (why have someone escrow a bet you know you will lose).  That changed roughly 14 days ago when he raised the cap, and started accepted 1,000 BTC bets from Jr members.

I am very curious how you (since you didn't mention it) interpret Matthew's claim that he would accept the label of scammer should he not hold up his end of the bargain?
That he would accept the label of scammer should he not hold up his end of the bargain, that is, that he understands that not holding up his end of the bargain would in fact make him a scammer and justifiably labeled as such by the community. It reads as reinforcing the seriousness of the bet as an enforceable agreement such that violating it would constitute scamming.

I wish it wasn't so, but I do believe that Matthew, at least in the beginning, believed that Pirate was going to pay people back and had he won, would have gleefully accepted any funds paid to him and pursued scammer tags for anyone who didn't pay him back. If he didn't believe this, he faked it *incredibly* well.

He was seeking easy money, not to improve society. Nor was he joking. Didn't look like a joke, didn't sound like a joke. Looks like a scam, was a scam. Not a joke.

The way to confirm this as a joke would be a signed message of a trusted person. The message would confirm the timing of a signed message by Matthew N. Wright that he is not to be paid in case he should win. It seems such a message does not exist.

Ending this with fancy con talk is worse than admitting to be a scammer.
hero member
Activity: 518
Merit: 500
September 11, 2012, 06:14:41 AM
TLDR : Time for another sockie account just like Atlas dood ...
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 564
September 11, 2012, 03:32:32 AM
I don't see why Matthew should have to leave or exit or whatever. His reputation is now well established, rightfully labeled, and he will be treated accordingly on this forum. So if he stays, time will pass, people will calm down, forget, or forgive, and he'll just have to rebuild his rep from scratch.
He's already done that once after being labelled a scammer previously. Anyone who believes him the third time, well...
hero member
Activity: 530
Merit: 500
September 11, 2012, 03:24:00 AM
#7
Why is your Internet Honor/ forum rep worth 10,000btc to you? Or, to clarify, Why wouldn't you cut and run if you lose?..we are talking about a shitload of money on a gamble with strangers.

#7
Why is your Internet Honor/ forum rep worth 10,000btc to you? Or, to clarify, Why wouldn't you cut and run if you lose?..we are talking about a shitload of money on a gamble with strangers.
I have holdings and deep involvement in too many businesses in bitcoin to ever walk away.
I'm long. Uber long. It's about much more than a forum rep, and I've never even attempted to be anonymous. Do the math.

You let me down Matthew. Sad
member
Activity: 85
Merit: 10
September 11, 2012, 02:39:34 AM
Please forgive my noobish ignorance... but I would never give BTC to a user with the name "pirate." Huh
But you'd be fine giving them to someone called "Honest-Ernest"?
hero member
Activity: 560
Merit: 500
September 11, 2012, 12:02:43 AM
I continue to have a gut sense that you sell him short (though the evidence that he thought he might win his sham bet has yet to be explored...)

There is some grain of truth in my feeling he could start a religion. He has many of the requirements: he's delusional, charismatic, manipulative, energetic, intelligent and I believe there's some mental issue at play that I don't know the definition of. And he does have that background in religion ostensibly. I don't think he's physically harmful, or odd enough to be "sociopathic" or whatever, but he does have delusions of grandeur at a young age. But I have a soft spot for that. There's nothing really wrong with aiming high.

With you and the infamous thread, I continue to hold the opinion that I came away with: that he always intended to pay but momentarily forgot that he had no fucking clue about how to even obtain a BTC...though in his mind he knew how to put together a datacenter full of GPU mining rigs...

This must be something akin to Stockholm Syndrome but for scammers, where people see the scam come completely to light and still say, "aw, he's a good guy, he's just a little mixed up." And then they give him their money. Again. Maybe he's not a serial murderer, but it should have been apparent to anyone who read that thread and then learned about his school and other claims, that he wasn't to be trusted. I will say he worked hard to earn trust after that but isn't that exactly how a scam works? I guess people are just eager to believe others easily change for the better.

I do think this recent scam was mostly harmless. But it again reveals his nature. He either does not understand, or cares not to choose between, right and wrong. He skirts the edge of it until those edges blur and disappear.

I think that he probably did have every intention of being a real, valuable, upstanding citizen when he donned the Matthew N. Wright tag and tried (amusingly) to start the Bitcoin Better Business Bureau thing.  Unfortunately for him the reality of our world and neuro-physics smacked him upside the head...within days iirc...

it wasn't until the magazine that I thought he might have been headed in a not-so-scammy direction, but then it kept stalling. When folks started receiving it I was pleasantly surprised.

Matthew, like Bruce, has actually done some actually valuable things for the Bitcoin ecosystem and it would be immature to completely ignore these though it does not excuse their various malfeasance.  (Atlas, OTOH, has not done a damn thing of value that I can think of.)

One thing's for sure, Bitmole's done more for bitcoin than me. I have no claim aside from buying and selling some and telling a few friends about it.

I have considered a bitcoin business but I use Drupal and the last I checked the bitcoin module was buggy. And frankly its asking a bit much to have to run some bitcoin client on the server as well. Maybe if BitPay makes an Ubercart payment module I'd reconsider.

I also have it in my email sig that I accept it for my design work, however it is something I seem to reconsider from day to day. Bitcoin is so tied to scamming I'm concerned that advertising I'm involved could have negative impact on me.

Will Matthew be back?  I could see it going both ways.  If I were a betting man, I...um...wouldn't bet one way or another.  As far as I know he's not banished as Matthew N. Wright on this forum so there would be no reason to use a sock puppet.  For Matthew's sake, I hope he explores some other things before the negative aspects of his condition(s) outweigh the benefits of his energy level.  I suspect that what achievements he had in the Bitcoin world were valuable to him and potentially to others.

I was always pretty certain he had sock puppets but then one day it occurred to me that might just be impossible since he seems to spend nearly every waking moment posting under his own name, or working up a project.
member
Activity: 148
Merit: 10
September 10, 2012, 11:34:48 PM
I still won't buy the magazine, because I don't believe you.
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
September 10, 2012, 11:16:30 PM
You are MNW and what you done has done more negative effect on the community
than atlas and his  suicide note
Nope.  I am not MNW.  Guess again.  Matthew's in Korea.  I'm not.

who would care if atlas troll  was swinging from a rope really ?
If I knew his locale, I'd do him the courtesy of calling the local EMS.  That's about it.

(*edit* to be honest I thought that Atlas and MNW were having a gay lover's quarrel for the longest time, but then MNW started his "child modelling" business)
legendary
Activity: 1316
Merit: 1000
Si vis pacem, para bellum
September 10, 2012, 11:12:17 PM
(Atlas, OTOH, has not done a damn thing of value that I can think of.)

I managed to delete over 10,000 Bitcoins in 2009. You're welcome.

You also posted a suicide note on the internet.

You are MNW and what you done has done more negative effect on the community
than atlas and his  suicide note

who would care if atlas troll  was swinging from a rope really ?

member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
September 10, 2012, 11:04:27 PM
(Atlas, OTOH, has not done a damn thing of value that I can think of.)

I managed to delete over 10,000 Bitcoins in 2009. You're welcome.

You also posted a suicide note on the internet.
sr. member
Activity: 312
Merit: 250
September 10, 2012, 10:21:10 PM
This does not absolve you of anything.  You are in debt to me 1000 BTC.  I expect it to be paid.  You will never restore your credibility until all your 80k BTC debt is paid.

Nice sig.
jr. member
Activity: 56
Merit: 1
September 10, 2012, 10:08:34 PM
(Atlas, OTOH, has not done a damn thing of value that I can think of.)

I managed to delete over 10,000 Bitcoins in 2009. You're welcome.
legendary
Activity: 4690
Merit: 1276
September 10, 2012, 10:05:43 PM
Fear not, folks. I would be surprised if Bitmole hasn't been building post count with a sock puppet for previous months. He's probably even been arguing with himself in threads. He gets far too much attention to leave it all behind. And the community is very open to being scammed.

I seriously think the only thing that would keep him from coming back (staying as sock puppet?) is if/when he realizes the next natural step for him is to create a new religion with him at the center. "The Wright Way Church" or some such, tithes due in bitcoin only. You all do remember from his Bitmole posts that he claims his family is from the midwest U.S. and he left them at a young age because they were super religious. He understands all religion is a scam. That's where the real money is.

I continue to have a gut sense that you sell him short (though the evidence that he thought he might win his sham bet has yet to be explored...)

With you and the infamous thread, I continue to hold the opinion that I came away with: that he always intended to pay but momentarily forgot that he had no fucking clue about how to even obtain a BTC...though in his mind he knew how to put together a datacenter full of GPU mining rigs...

I think that he probably did have every intention of being a real, valuable, upstanding citizen when he donned the Matthew N. Wright tag and tried (amusingly) to start the Bitcoin Better Business Bureau thing.  Unfortunately for him the reality of our world and neuro-physics smacked him upside the head...within days iirc...

Matthew, like Bruce, has actually done some actually valuable things for the Bitcoin ecosystem and it would be immature to completely ignore these though it does not excuse their various malfeasance.  (Atlas, OTOH, has not done a damn thing of value that I can think of.)

Will Matthew be back?  I could see it going both ways.  If I were a betting man, I...um...wouldn't bet one way or another.  As far as I know he's not banished as Matthew N. Wright on this forum so there would be no reason to use a sock puppet.  For Matthew's sake, I hope he explores some other things before the negative aspects of his condition(s) outweigh the benefits of his energy level.  I suspect that what achievements he had in the Bitcoin world were valuable to him and potentially to others.

donator
Activity: 1731
Merit: 1008
September 10, 2012, 09:56:39 PM
I had great respect for your intelligent posts and sense of humor.  But lately I was getting worried about your state of mind, seeing the frequently of your posts especially in #BTCST, (Following your posts would have been a full time job).  You suffered from an overdose,  In some ways I see myself being a bit like you, I've lost way too much time focusing on keeping track of every aspect of BTC as if it was a soon to be ending gold rush.  I think the part were we diverge is ,while you seems to be risking everything as if it was your last days on this earth, others are piling up for worldwide economic collapse / SHTF.  From that angle it is obvious your trolling with people's money has affected some to the core.  

You were a great motivators for gearing up new initiatives in the DCAO and had many qualities of a leader, unfortunately your egocentric sarcasm surfaced back.  

Hope you get yourself some much-need vacation and find peace with yourself.
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
September 10, 2012, 09:48:32 PM
Fear not, folks. I would be surprised if Bitmole hasn't been building post count with a sock puppet for previous months. He's probably even been arguing with himself in threads. He gets far too much attention to leave it all behind. And the community is very open to being scammed.

I seriously think the only thing that would keep him from coming back (staying as sock puppet?) is if/when he realizes the next natural step for him is to create a new religion with him at the center. "The Wright Way Church" or some such, tithes due in bitcoin only. You all do remember from his Bitmole posts that he claims his family is from the midwest U.S. and he left them at a young age because they were super religious. He understands all religion is a scam. That's where the real money is.

Will he wash everyones feet with Dove soap ?
hero member
Activity: 560
Merit: 500
September 10, 2012, 09:44:49 PM
Fear not, folks. I would be surprised if Bitmole hasn't been building post count with a sock puppet for previous months. He's probably even been arguing with himself in threads. He gets far too much attention to leave it all behind. And the community is very open to being scammed.

I seriously think the only thing that would keep him from coming back (staying as sock puppet?) is if/when he realizes the next natural step for him is to create a new religion with him at the center. "The Wright Way Church" or some such, tithes due in bitcoin only. You all do remember from his Bitmole posts that he claims his family is from the midwest U.S. and he left them at a young age because they were super religious. He understands all religion is a scam. That's where the real money is.
sr. member
Activity: 336
Merit: 250
September 10, 2012, 09:33:54 PM
Buying pirate debt on the basis of someone else's actions is ridiculous - you have no way of knowing whether they're just trying to inflate the price for their own benefit.
You're seriously arguing that if you take a loss because you trusted someone, it's your fault for trusting them? Or are you saying it was ridiculous for anyone to trust Matthew? Are you secretly trying to make him look worse?

I'm not repentance but I'm going to address this since I like the questions.

You're seriously arguing that if you take a loss because you trusted someone, it's your fault for trusting them?
Yes, there is some fault in making a bad decision. Solely blaming the trusted person misses out on a learning opportunity.  This doesn't absolve the person who lied or mislead of the direct blame. Fault and blame aren't a limited resource or restricted to some maximum value for the purposes of distributing among participants.

Or are you saying it was ridiculous for anyone to trust Matthew?
Some have been saying that before any of this and they continued to say it when the bet was posted. That doesn't make his bet a joke though. Personally, when the bet was at 10K I thought it was possible he was just flush with coins and doing some sort of quirky promotion.

Are you secretly trying to make him look worse?
Matthew looks terrible with this bet without secret help from repentance. Most of those who trusted Matthew to honor it and got burned are from the group Matthew appeared to be defending.
donator
Activity: 1464
Merit: 1047
I outlived my lifetime membership:)
September 10, 2012, 09:22:46 PM
Matthew,

What you did was dumb. There is little point trying to teach people a lesson - you are no better teacher than a lifetime of experiences, and your lesson won't be learned. There will always be this exact type of situation everywhere you go. Everywhere. I'm sorry you hadn't realized that.

I must admit I liked the Bitcoin movement far more before your stunt. This has brought out the bad side in so many of our community...we've gone from revolutionaries to whiny brats, big dreamers to big babies, bright individualists to a herd of thoughtless beasts...how are we gonna get anywhere if all we do is rip each other off or trick the stupid in to ridiculous bets? There are better things to be done and in your absence perhaps it will be easier to get good things done...or maybe we will just keep gambling and scamming...
legendary
Activity: 1680
Merit: 1035
September 10, 2012, 08:34:50 PM
You're talking about people who think a ponzi isn't a scam if they tell you up front it's a ponzi.  Why?  Because bitcoin.

*cough* what?
Quote

scam/skam/
Noun:   A dishonest scheme; a fraud.
Verb:   Swindle.

If someone is honest and totally up front about how they will distribute everyone's money, clearly stating that new deposits will be used to pay the profits of older account holders, how is that being dishonest? The whole reason ponzis are scams is because people who operate them don't tell anyone they are running ponzis.
Or are your definitions only valid when applied however you want them to, because SA goons?

Funny, but how many of the "insured" schemes continued to pay out after the ponzi chain dried up?  For example: hashking

I.... don't know because I wasn't involved and don't care?
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