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This is why, in the China project, we publicly pledge, and pay upon the completion of work.
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For future projects: do not pay in advance! Christ, haven't any of you ever done a drug deal before?
We live, and survive, with neither regulation nor recourse. Pay AFTER you've tasted the weed.
Nobody paid in advance, the funds are being held for the developer by me. Anyone who donated can receive their funds back from me. HashEngineering's terms are laid out in the original request for funds. In my opinion "publicly pledging" wasn't going to lure a good developer.