However, I truly hate to see Patrick's name being drug through the mud. FWIW, I don't think for a second think he is scamming anybody. I know everybody said the same thing about Pirate, but I believe that 1% a week (R.I.P. Starfish 
), as outrageous an IRL rate as it may be, is very manageable given what I've gathered about the lending economy here. For now, at least. Of course it isn't (wasn't) risk-free, but Patrick seems intent on treating his depositors right, even when it costs him.
If he has some source of money that's so amazing that he can afford to pay 1% a week interest and still make money, why doesn't he use the money he is making to pay off his debt? Nobody has ever explained why such a scheme would require a constant flow of other people's money other than that it's a scam. Any rational businessman who was making a ton of money would make paying off his high-interest debt his number one priority. There is exactly one known explanation that perfectly explains all the observed facts -- it's a scam. ), as outrageous an IRL rate as it may be, is very manageable given what I've gathered about the lending economy here. For now, at least. Of course it isn't (wasn't) risk-free, but Patrick seems intent on treating his depositors right, even when it costs him.You seriously believe that Patrick is so smart that he is the first person to figure out a way to reliably make ultra-high profits at low risk and is simultaneously so dumb that he borrows more and more money at *way* above market rates? How do you manage to pull that off?