Ok, so lets consider for a moment if Hashfast did not do what was good for Hashfast... Hashfast refunds the BTC at the current rate, presumably having to purchase them off the open market. Where does that money come from? They probably don't have it, as it's already been spent on development... but lets say they do have the cash to purchase at least some of the BTC back. They exhaust all of their cash to do this and issue as many refunds as they can. Now they have zero cash to continue operations (people don't generally work for free and suppliers sure as hell don't give away product for free), have not paid back everyone and are forced to go out of business.
The end result of your solution: Some people get paid back, others get nothing. No one gets hardware.
At least to me, that sounds like a much worse solution than everyone at least getting your hardware, even if it is late. If I were a customer, I'd rather have guaranteed late hardware than a crapshoot of a 1 in ten chance of a refund or nothing. Maybe you have a different opinion.
How do YOU of all people, don't get that their problem isn't with their actions. It's with their communications.
If they kept communicating honestly every few days saying where the real problems are, when we can expect hardware, upgrade kits, MPP etc. there would be much less people asking for refunds, and they would be able to pay the rest out even at current rates. After all, only a small percentage of people actually paid with BTC, right? (According to THEIR communications.)
At the start, you could
only pay for babyjets with btc. So I would guess that most of their customers paid in BTC.
Also, no, the problem is with their actions. They deliberately scammed people out of millions of dollars worth of BTC, knowing full well they'd never ship on time. Same thing that BFL just did recently with their Monarchs, with a claimed October delivery date "estimate" with zero probability of hitting anything like that target. By the time the hardware will be delivered, it will be completely worthless. Josh knew it, Hashfast knew it, and they deliberately scammed people.
As an impartial observer in this situation,
If asked, he might be willing to try to talk to the Hashfast management, if only to try to get them to communicate with their buyers. He has a much better chance of doing so than any of you. I know it's not how these things normally work, but both companies and Hashfast's customers could stand to gain from a bit of pragmatism.
How about it, Josh?
Wow, that is a truly intelligent and cogent post and probably pretty accurate given the US legal system. Thank you for taking the time to make it.
As far as the request goes, I doubt anyone here would listen to anything I would gain information wise, since it would likely contradict their own personal biases and the crusade née witch-hunt that is going on right now. Very few people here want to hear the truth, they just want their beliefs confirmed and the truth be damned.
As bad as their reputation is, I seriously doubt they'd want to sully it further by actually having anything to do with Josh.