5 ms·

The experiment is over. We will pay back everyone we can. We are not making money from this. And it's down.

FiloSottile 13y ago
People are still sending money in (!?) https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1vE64q https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1... Paybacks seem to have halted https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1vE64q?filter=1 https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1...
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
utuxia 13y ago
Here's another one: http://igjam.com/?pool http://igjam.com/?pool
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- icpmacdo 13y ago
  heres the correct blockchain info on it. https://blockchain.info/address/1AQxcdPgMTTQghPXt1EXHU8vEjSn2kYrPQ https://blockchain.info/address/1AQxcdPgMTTQghPXt1EXHU8vEjSn...
- ll123 13y ago
  Except that one is just a copy of the html and nobody is going to get paid, the chat doesn't even work.
  - jacob019 13y ago
    actually I just put in 0.01 BTC, got back 0.015, put that back in again, and now I have 0.0225. I dare not try again, quite pleased with my USD$7 profit. There is definately something much scammier about it. The # of transactions doesn't increment, and with 150% payout it will die much quicker.
    - hrrsn 13y ago
      They're not incrementing because all of their HTML is still pointing to ponzi.io's web sockets. All I can see from their address on blockchain is lots of receiving and one sent transaction. https://blockchain.info/address/1AQxcdPgMTTQghPXt1EXHU8vEjSn2kYrPQ?filter=1 https://blockchain.info/address/1AQxcdPgMTTQghPXt1EXHU8vEjSn...
- runn1ng 13y ago
  now this one is a complete scam.
galvin 13y ago
Here's a cached version: https://web.archive.org/web/20140208200431/http://ponzi.io/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140208200431/http://ponzi.io/ Edit: With numbers: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://ponzi.io/ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...
- eterm 13y ago
  They still have the site up at http://ponzi.io/index2.html http://ponzi.io/index2.html anyway
1Ponzi 13y ago
New address: 1PonziAwQpnfj15Br4YFJHygWtd5LQKgN1 (without 1Ponzi in the wallet is not legit).
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  Interesting... This may be the first time someone's tried to use HN as a platform for phishing.
  - avn2109 13y ago
    I foresee a low conversion rate here. HN probably attracts almost the complement of the audience you want to phish in.
  - ohashi 13y ago
    There is a spammer in the chat room spamming a new address too.
- maaku 13y ago
  And this is why no one should ever use vanity addresses.
curiousgeorgio 13y ago
I'm curious - anyone know what happened to cause the (inevitable) end? From what I can tell, it doesn't seem to be the lack of new interest/money. Possibilities I can think of: - Author got scared (of legal repercussions) - Author got greedy (pocketing much of the last deposits) - For some reason (research?) it was intended from the beginning to only run to a certain point - Technical scaling issues Anyone know?
- rangersanger 13y ago
  What makes you think it ended? People are still paying in and it appears to still be paying out.
  - curiousgeorgio 13y ago
    I'm looking at the huge text on the home page saying "The experiment is over." If that can't be trusted, then why in the world would anyone expect to receive a payout at this point (as if it weren't already incredibly risky)?
    - rangersanger 13y ago
      I was seeing a cached version. Wonder why they chose to do it that way.
- rnbrady 13y ago
  Or they realised too late that they had a bug which caused some people to get back 900% instead of 120%. That would break the model. Underpaying is something you could correct retroactively, overpaying not so easy.
- corford 13y ago
  No idea but if I had to guess... author got scared. BTC deposits were rocketing in just before the site went dark and he would probably have shot past the 1000BTC mark in hours rather than days if he'd have left it up. Running a public ponzi scheme that attracted over half a million dollars worth of deposits in a week with no signs of slowing down would have certainly given me sweaty palms :D
eterm 13y ago
It looks like it stopped paying out at 20:27. Money was still flooding in until around 22:55. Overall with 344 BTC recieved, if everything was paid out as expected, the site operator would lose around 69 bitcoins. As it stands, the address still has ~20 bitcoins left in the wallet, but obviously owes a lot more than that even if it were to pay the remaining payments 1:1 rather than 1:1.2.
lucb1e 13y ago
> We will pay back everyone we can. We are not making money from this. Paying people back can be done instantly. Adding 20% needed a wait. If they stopped the experiment an hour ago, I'd say my coins should have returned by now :(
- m_darkTemplar 13y ago
  They already paid back some people at 20%, so it's impossible for them to pay you back now. They are in 'debt,' even if they just gave coins back at 1:1 they can't repay.
- corresation 13y ago
  Waiting out the confirmations does impose a pretty high floor -- see how many of the transactions are still unconfirmed.
  - lucb1e 13y ago
    I already had a few confirmations when they quit, and it would show up in my client without any confirmation (as unconfirmed, of course).
- unclebucknasty 13y ago
  Unless you're one of the guys without a chair when the music stopped.
3rd3 13y ago
Couldn’t one somehow decentralize a ponzi scheme like that? Maybe with the scripting language included in Bitcoin?
- phreeza 13y ago
  this would probably be possible in etherum. might even be a killer app because it establishes a completely transparent and trustable ponzi scheme, which might not work out terribly different from giving loans in the end...

People are still sending money in (!?) https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1vE64q https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1... Paybacks seem to have halted https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1vE64q?filter=1 https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1...

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

utuxia 13y ago

Here's another one: http://igjam.com/?pool http://igjam.com/?pool

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
icpmacdo 13y ago
heres the correct blockchain info on it. https://blockchain.info/address/1AQxcdPgMTTQghPXt1EXHU8vEjSn2kYrPQ https://blockchain.info/address/1AQxcdPgMTTQghPXt1EXHU8vEjSn...
ll123 13y ago
Except that one is just a copy of the html and nobody is going to get paid, the chat doesn't even work.
- jacob019 13y ago
  actually I just put in 0.01 BTC, got back 0.015, put that back in again, and now I have 0.0225. I dare not try again, quite pleased with my USD$7 profit. There is definately something much scammier about it. The # of transactions doesn't increment, and with 150% payout it will die much quicker.
  - hrrsn 13y ago
    They're not incrementing because all of their HTML is still pointing to ponzi.io's web sockets. All I can see from their address on blockchain is lots of receiving and one sent transaction. https://blockchain.info/address/1AQxcdPgMTTQghPXt1EXHU8vEjSn2kYrPQ?filter=1 https://blockchain.info/address/1AQxcdPgMTTQghPXt1EXHU8vEjSn...
runn1ng 13y ago
now this one is a complete scam.

galvin 13y ago

Here's a cached version: https://web.archive.org/web/20140208200431/http://ponzi.io/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140208200431/http://ponzi.io/ Edit: With numbers: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://ponzi.io/ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...

eterm 13y ago
They still have the site up at http://ponzi.io/index2.html http://ponzi.io/index2.html anyway

1Ponzi 13y ago

New address: 1PonziAwQpnfj15Br4YFJHygWtd5LQKgN1 (without 1Ponzi in the wallet is not legit).

sillysaurus2 13y ago
Interesting... This may be the first time someone's tried to use HN as a platform for phishing.
- avn2109 13y ago
  I foresee a low conversion rate here. HN probably attracts almost the complement of the audience you want to phish in.
- ohashi 13y ago
  There is a spammer in the chat room spamming a new address too.
maaku 13y ago
And this is why no one should ever use vanity addresses.

curiousgeorgio 13y ago

I'm curious - anyone know what happened to cause the (inevitable) end? From what I can tell, it doesn't seem to be the lack of new interest/money. Possibilities I can think of: - Author got scared (of legal repercussions) - Author got greedy (pocketing much of the last deposits) - For some reason (research?) it was intended from the beginning to only run to a certain point - Technical scaling issues Anyone know?

rangersanger 13y ago
What makes you think it ended? People are still paying in and it appears to still be paying out.
- curiousgeorgio 13y ago
  I'm looking at the huge text on the home page saying "The experiment is over." If that can't be trusted, then why in the world would anyone expect to receive a payout at this point (as if it weren't already incredibly risky)?
  - rangersanger 13y ago
    I was seeing a cached version. Wonder why they chose to do it that way.
rnbrady 13y ago
Or they realised too late that they had a bug which caused some people to get back 900% instead of 120%. That would break the model. Underpaying is something you could correct retroactively, overpaying not so easy.
corford 13y ago
No idea but if I had to guess... author got scared. BTC deposits were rocketing in just before the site went dark and he would probably have shot past the 1000BTC mark in hours rather than days if he'd have left it up. Running a public ponzi scheme that attracted over half a million dollars worth of deposits in a week with no signs of slowing down would have certainly given me sweaty palms :D

eterm 13y ago

It looks like it stopped paying out at 20:27. Money was still flooding in until around 22:55. Overall with 344 BTC recieved, if everything was paid out as expected, the site operator would lose around 69 bitcoins. As it stands, the address still has ~20 bitcoins left in the wallet, but obviously owes a lot more than that even if it were to pay the remaining payments 1:1 rather than 1:1.2.

lucb1e 13y ago

> We will pay back everyone we can. We are not making money from this. Paying people back can be done instantly. Adding 20% needed a wait. If they stopped the experiment an hour ago, I'd say my coins should have returned by now :(

m_darkTemplar 13y ago
They already paid back some people at 20%, so it's impossible for them to pay you back now. They are in 'debt,' even if they just gave coins back at 1:1 they can't repay.
corresation 13y ago
Waiting out the confirmations does impose a pretty high floor -- see how many of the transactions are still unconfirmed.
- lucb1e 13y ago
  I already had a few confirmations when they quit, and it would show up in my client without any confirmation (as unconfirmed, of course).
unclebucknasty 13y ago
Unless you're one of the guys without a chair when the music stopped.

3rd3 13y ago

Couldn’t one somehow decentralize a ponzi scheme like that? Maybe with the scripting language included in Bitcoin?

phreeza 13y ago
this would probably be possible in etherum. might even be a killer app because it establishes a completely transparent and trustable ponzi scheme, which might not work out terribly different from giving loans in the end...