August 2, 2007 by Nobody Fugazi
Posted in
Today, I popped over to the Ginko Financial ATM and made a quip as I entered. I was rebuffed, told that I was 'whining' when posting here, and so forth. Was it a Ginko employee? The avatar was not, but it could easily have been an alt. Still, is it whining? I don't think so. I think it's a matter of assessing the facts - and what facts do we have? On one hand, we have ATMs that aren't giving people Linden dollars on demand - even sometimes assuring a lower daily withdrawal limit. On the other hand, we have Ginko Financial folk saying everything will be OK.
Bird in hand: 0. Bird in bush: 1.
The truth is that I do not relish a failure of Ginko Financial. In fact, given the fact that the folks are Ginko are still visible is one of the key facts about this which makes it interesting. It would be easy for them to simply not show up, not try to give the hard questions some form of answers. Their mere presence does have value in all of this. But as Benjamin continues to point out, the numbers don't add up.
Is that whining? No. Not really. There is what is said, and there are what are made available as facts.
The truth is that Ginko Financial desperately needs new accounts as much as new deposits to help it recover. But to earn the trust of people so that this happens - at least the trust of people who are paying attention - some more information is necessary. And letting the whole situation fall off the radar is not only implicitly dishonest - it's socially irresponsible. Repressing that form of information is not an option to those with scruples. Sure, I have a balance in the Ginko ATM, and to get my money out these days I need people to put money in - but that doesn't mean I should not write about it. That would be like insider trading.
Could Ginko Financial handle the situation better? I think that they could, but most of what has been said is unverifiable - hearsay - and no one but Nicholas Portacarrero really knows what is going on. That they did decrease the interest rates for bank balances to 0.05% is good - it is a responsible move to help get Ginko liquid again. Oddly, I suggested it at the ATM yesterday.
So when will this story die? I wish it would, because it is quite boring to continue writing about it. It will die when Bird in Hand evens up with Bird in Bush. So far, Bird In Bush is winning, and that ain't whining.
Allowing people to make informed decisions with their money... is that so bad? People have a right to know. If I didn't know, I would hope one of you folks would tell me if I was thinking about banking with any bank - in Real Life or in SL. Frankly, if more people were doing this there would be less need to write about it.
As far as the Ginko issue itself - time will tell.
While waiting around, I did suggest to Hinoserm Rebus that the ATM inform people of when they could next withdraw money - the 24 hour period having elapsed. The ATMs obviously check that information, it should probably tell people and reduce the load.
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Wow.
I'm pretty sure I will never deposit another Linden into a 'financial' institution in Second Life again.
Nicholas P just posted this in the official Second Life Forums
"People's account balances represent money I owe them, nothing more. The accusations of ponzi and fraud don't even apply. This would be true even if I had taken all the money deposited and burned it in my backyard, which I have not. I did not take deposits under a false pretense. I did not promise to do anything specific with the money, or to keep anyone informed of what I was doing. I did not promise any specific time frame within which the loans would be repaid. I have no obligation to release information on my off-world ventures, period. I have no obligation to release information on my in-world ventures, period. I have no obligation to meet any withdrawal request under any specific time frame, period. When I do any of these things, it's as a convenience to those who choose to do business with me and this convenience needs to be balanced against a variety of things, such as my long term ability to honor this debt and my need for privacy. I regard privacy as important, as such I am unlikely to release information from my off-world ventures. I regard the long term as important, as such I will not be liquidating assets to ensure that a few can withdraw "RIGHT NOW". You don't have to trust or do business with me. I will honor my obligations, but I cannot do miracles. Either be patient or cash out (sell your balance to a third party, buy bonds and the sell them on the WSE or keep trying the ATM until you get lucky)"
I posted a response.
You can read it here.
PR Suicide.
That is an indefensible position he has made. Here's the link to that particular post in the thread on Ginko. Rather nasty in there, but still - what he is saying there is that he can keep the money as long as he wants.
Unfortunately, the words 'bank' and 'investment' have implicit time constraints on them.
Not good.