Your2ndPlace

I've been quietly tracking things as they happen at the VSTEX stock exchange within Second Life, and the latest issue is between Atlas Venture Capital (AVC) and VSTEX. From following Second Life finance, I know that AVC has a colorful history - and it is hard not to judge based on the history of it. And there is the issue of SLC, as well. But first, AVC.

Atlas Venture Capital

When Aldon Huffhines wrote At least one virtual stock exchange showing trouble in the wake of the banking ban, I noted that Tyrian Camilo sold a lot of shares. This probably coincides with the Second Life banking ban, which affected his bank, as well as the fact that ad farm extortion practices are no longer considered tolerable by Linden Lab. It seems sensible that he would try to become liquid by selling shares of... anything. So I'm not sure that the sell off that Aldon mentioned is really a big deal - but it did seem to help spark the present situation with AVC. I've been getting so many notecards that my auto-spin control is keeping me from publishing any of them.

It breaks down to this: VSTEX halted AVC because it seemed unstable. When the CFO and the CEO of AVC do not see eye to eye, something probably isn't right. A stock exchange loses money it accrues through trading fees when it halts a company.

I'll wait until this all settles down before writing further on it. The trouble with Second Life, as in real life, is that there are plenty of rumors and different angles to the same issue.

I will add that Monkey Canning may want to reconsider his notecard strategy. As a neutral observer to the unfolding drama, he's losing the ground that some might say that he is throwing. A spellchecker might not hurt, either.

Second Life Creations (SLC)

SLC has been off the radar a lot. Ronisu Rotaru became the CEO in late November of 2007, and apparently started off strong. However, he has become less and less communicative, and there seem to be legitimate concerns about the future of SLC. To make matters worse, there was a Secondary Public Offering (SPO) that got more investors into the company.

I spoke off the record with a representative of VSTEX, as well as a few SLC investors. SLC investors are not happy, and it seems that they want to get their money out of SLC. The trouble is, with initial investors and SPO investors in the mix, the path to liquidating SLC is not an easy one or one that should be taken lightly. Further, VSTEX has said that Ronisu Rotaru has been doing things, however small, in the past and seemed to be acting in good faith.

The VSTEX representative, agreeing to go on the record, stated, "The process is taking longer than it should, but it is partly because we are trying to do the right thing and follow our own guidelines." When I asked if this situation might cause a revision in policy, the same representative said, "Definitely, yes."

Whatever is happening at VSTEX is worth keeping an eye on - especially if you're invested in AVC or SLC at this time.

I'll follow up as more facts come to light. As it stands, it does seem to this neutral observer that VSTEX is trying to do the right thing, and seems to be open to the fact that it needs to deal with things more quickly.

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