Silkcoin was released in may 2014 after a price surge the original developer left the community holding bags. It was by and through the community that Silk and DarkSilk were initiated. It was opted not to just disregard these investors but to safeguard their investments by making use of a swap.

Although the technological progresses are mostly developed for DarkSilk and the Weaver, Silk will have its place. There have been ideas for the platform using two coins for quite some time making sure that Silk truly is worth the effort. Because Silk is the rightful successor of Silkcoin due to its roots and the fact that it will be swapped through this project, it is desirable te keep Silkcoin tradable. Practical reasons like coin distribution also play the part.

Again there is no developer for the old Silkcoin he bailed! But the ideas/ideals behind the original project are safeguarded and built upon. The Silk Network and its core products including DarkSilk, Silk & Weaver are headed by Spencer who is assisted by CryptoVote, quantumgravity and matthew. There are a few others that are involved as well they are are not as tightly committed as these gentlemen.

Long story short: It is because we don´t want to keep investors hanging that we continue to support Silkcoin, and not as you suggest fleece them.