KeyserSoze, please don't get offended, but I think you're wrong about MP, and I think many on this forum let their linguistic sensibilities cloud their understanding.
I posted the link to his blog originally. I don't think he's a scam. I agree that he acts like he's retarded but so did Risto last year. He could be an act, or maybe he actually has some grand illusion of grandeur. I know this forum's opinion on him but I disagree. Let me tell you why, from your links:
MPEX -
Despite the fact that the security never actually stole or scammed members the owner Mircea Popescu
is a disgusting person that uses the term "nigger" on his blog while also constantly putting people down and generally being a complete snob. Lied multiple times about being the owner of a successful company, if it wasn't for Satoshidice releasing stock in MPEX this person would be selling potatoes somewhere in Romania.
Plenty of
ad hominem is an understatement. I don't know about his lies, but I would not be surprised if they were trollings given his general attitude. But I'm pretty sure he didn't make his (first) money from Bitcoin.
The second thread you linked is just funny. "You don't create anything, how can you be worth so much?" etc etc. Overvalued, sure. And leaving his snide apart, he does back finances up. Just read the whole thread, seriously. The most vocal voices against him are all derp derp derp. He's an asshole, but so far a legitimate one.
http://trilema.com/2013/mpoe-march-2013-statement/ shows that he took a hit and didn't run away (like many others). I can't vouch for MP but I'd trust him more than many, many others in the crypto world.
And his own "Scam list" is strongly and irreverently worded, but...
Coinlab/Coinbase/Coincrap - Multiple cases of stealing from users through the "canceling BTC sale when price goes up" scam [...]
... he elaborates. In the meanwhile, everyone asks how much money MPEx makes even if there. are. monthly. statements.
I'm not US-born myself. But boy if you're not smiling and pouring honey out of your mind some people just lose reading comprehension.
Just to be clear, I don't know him and don't try to put him in the spotlight. But I've seen no criticism of him which is not ad hominem, "I don't understand so you must be a scammer" or more ad hominem. He's a douchebag, his critics (that I've seen) are barely literate. That second thread has some people asking the same fucking question three times in a row because someone couldn't read the fucking answer and insisted on borderline semantics like "how one never enters naked options positions, while simultaneously never hedging options positions". Just like the answer came immediately (he has BTC to cover them, basically, so they're not naked), the poster asking the same question again writes a 500 word exhibition of not understanding full reserve finance.
I mean, really?
/rant