Quote from: ||bit on August 04, 2013, 01:37:19 AM

Quote from: Phinnaeus Gage on August 04, 2013, 12:14:40 AM

Quote from: Lab_Rat on December 19, 2012, 05:44:29 AM

I would really appreciate being whitelisted. It's in place to prevent bots, spammers, and scammers. I'm none of the above and have a previous account that I no longer wish to be associated with. Going through this process a second time is not enjoyable.

Is anybody curious as to whom Lab_Rat's previous username was, one he has great reason for distancing himself from?

I'm pretty sure his identity is known by several here. And I doubt it's Tom, unless he's using a fake name in his private emails. From what little correspondences I've had with him, he's seems legit at what he is doing. Perhaps, the only thing that bothers me is that it seems he could possibly pull the plug on everyone and keep the hardware. Afterwards, who could do anything to have a case against him? Where's your agreement? So, there appears to be that nagging risk. I'd like to know that if he was to liquidate the company, that he'd pay out to bond holders the proceeds of the mining hardware sales.

You're right, his identity is known by several here. Also, if he is Tom, he's taking playing the long game to the extreme. This thread is run in parallel on the BFL forum, with identical posts appearing from Lab_Rat in both when he makes announcements. His account on the BFL forums has been continuously maintained and in excellent rep for a very long time now, so it would therefore have to have been Tom on the BFL forums all this time, so this really doesn't seem plausible.

Also, his writing style is very different, and Lab_Rat showed no signs of meltdown when Tom was losing it towards the end. They are clearly not the same person, nor is there any reason to suspect that they are.

WRT pulling the plug, I don't think this is issue. People would have a case against him as contracts and lawyers are involved, and there are contractual obligations with respect to keeping the company running unless certain thresholds are passed in the market (minimum BTC value in the case of a crash etc), so I don't see a real risk here. Besides, I don't think this is the kind of thing he would be want to do, growing the business will be more profitable in the long run anyhow. Nobody's saying this is going to be the new ASICMiner, but there is no reason this company can't make good money long term.