Quote from: GizmoMiner on Today at 06:45:56 PM

The Truth About OSMU: A Warning to the Bitcoin Community

I feel compelled to address the Bitcoin community about OSMU Open Source Miners United , a carefully disguised operation that benefits a select few at the expense of its supporters and contributors. While many see OSMU as an open-source movement for the greater good, my experience paints a very different picture.

I was one of the original founders of what would later become the OSMU. It began when I created the Gizmo discord server alongside Skot, intending it to be a place of free knowledge-sharing and collaboration. Early on, however, I saw troubling signs from SirVapesAlot, who hijacked the server, was more interested in monetizing the community than staying true to open source ideals. I implored him, explaining that this was not the purpose of this community, but he went on trying to sell things in the discord and scheming to generate money from the community itself. later SirVapesAlot, establish the OSMU Discord with a clear focus: leveraging influence for financial gain and Skot went right along with him.

After battling illness for a year, I was invited to join OSMU as an admin. Initially, I was excited, hoping to contribute and help the community grow. As I spent months reading through the private admin channels, accessible only to myself, Skot, Ben (“Public Pool”), and SirVapesAlot , I was shocked. The discussions were focused almost entirely on money, influence, and disparaging some of the most respected figures in the Bitcoin community, including legends like Adam Back, Dr. Con Kolivas, Luke Dashjr and many more, It was deeply disheartening. This was supposed to be a community focused on "freely" advancing ideas and open-source Bitcoin mining concepts, not one filled with trash-talking and finding ways to exploit the community. One of the first statements I made to the other admins was, "I will never ask for money. I am here to help, not to take. Looking back now, the awkward silence in the channel didn’t hit me until later, when I realized I was among people with completely opposite ideas and plans. This was before I began reading the entire private admins’ Discord channel from the very start of the channel and OSMU discord. Everyone in the admins' channel did, in fact, dox themselves in the private OSMU Discord by posting pictures of themselves alongside whitetail deer and other images, along with real names. So, I doubt they will rug the OSMU community, as Skot has their true identities. Ben from "Public Pool" is also an admin and one of the largest manufacturers of the Bitaxe. If you have a Bitaxe, it’s very possible that he manufactured it. The majority of Bitaxes distributed in the US likely come from him. A lot of Pre-sales, though indirect, originate from him by proxy through a third party, and the largest sellers of the Bitaxe are also tied to him. At least at the time when I had access to the private channel, many months ago. I’ve since been locked out of the private admins’ channel and banned from the Discord because I refused to stand by while they trash-talked some of the most active contributors in the OSMU community, for no apparent reason other than sheer malice.

Wantclue, an OSMU admin with a history of involvement in shady altcoin scams, holds a leadership role of the OSMU. His digital trail reveals questionable scammy altcoin projects, yet he somehow occupies a prominent position in OSMU with a claim to Being Bitcoin centered?

WantClue:Solomining Kaspa to your OWN Node
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_TTZAks1C4
WantClue:Helium stake explained and constant vs decaying lockup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDSLkyrdNAA
much more on the Youtube Channel....

and Skot also known as skot9000 https://x.com/skot9000?lang=cs
The Bitaxe project was started by Skot, but the substantial breakthroughs in the past and today were largely a collective effort by many well-known developers of Bitcoin hardware who supported and guided Skot along the way.

Skot has abandoned many projects- bitcrane, AntHat, aditBoard, bitcart, bitcart-node and many more but if another developer in the OSMU takes a subarticle, it admittedly gets archived with haste without chance for others to contribute, yet not Skot’s abandoned projects not archived? The fact remains, Skots projects that truly succeed "Bitaxe" and go on to become shippable hardware are those heavily collaborated on by others. Why is that?

Behind the scenes in the private admins channel of the OSMU discord, Skot is no different from the rest of the admins. He enables the grift while maintaining a polished public image, carefully positioning himself to advance his personal interests. He benefits from donations, sponsorships and grants while privately mocking community members and Bitcoin legends, stating, “We need to remain cool with them,” as if they are pawns to be manipulated for future leverage. He is complicit in the trash talk of OSMU members and Bitaxe contributors along with legendary figures who have paved the way for Bitcoin. The hubris is astonishing.

Grifts include, but are not limited to, those not seen in this list.

Demanded funds for “private tiers of support,” requiring payment for so-called “premium” access. It’s unclear if these tiers still exist, but they were in place at one time.
Mocked and slandered respected Bitcoin contributors behind closed Discord channels while publicly pretending to show respect.
Exploited the community’s goodwill under the guise of open-source development, funneling funds without transparency.
Employed strong-arm tactics, implying that if you don’t pay them from your Bitaxe sales, you’ll be seen as illegitimate.

The Lack of Transparency

For years, members have demanded transparency regarding OSMU donations.The reality is, they take in far more money than they disclose and continue to grow their influence under false pretenses. Many members of the OSMU have raised the alarm for transparency, only to be ostracized or ignored. Members of the OSMU community who speak up face slander, backdoor rumors, and other politically motivated reprisals from the OSMU admins.

My Motivation

I agonized for over a year about sharing this. I didn’t want to undermine the good that comes from projects like the Bitaxe, which have genuinely benefited many Bitcoiners. I can no longer stay silent while a small group exploits the community. I hope that shining a light on this will encourage others to demand transparency and treating people with dignity and respect earned not just by merit but because it is the decent thing to do, it should be fundamental. The way the admins of the OSMU treat people when they think nobody is watching is appalling.

Final Thoughts

This is my personal experience, but I urge the Bitcoin community to take a closer look at OSMU. Ask hard questions. Demand transparency. Support the actual contributors, the coders, the builders, the people who genuinely work to advance open source Bitcoin hardware ideals, not those who leverage influence.

Open-source Bitcoin hardware will continue to flourish, with or without OSMU. Eventually, the grift will collapse when the money dries up or they get into trouble for shady dealings but until then, the community deserves to know.

If this is the only meaningful contribution I make to the Bitcoin community, so be it. I love Bitcoin and its community too much to remain silent any longer.

well this is a sad thing to read. thank you for the info.

PM sent.