Reportedly 11,000 BTC were donated toward creating this new forum software.
It wasn't worth much when Bitcointalk started the development of Epochtalk but it's lots of money today. Maybe it was early for Bitcointalk to start the development of epochtalk because back then, web development, app development and UI/UX design weren't as advanced as it is today. I believe that it was a fast decision. Today, it's possible to create lots of amazing things with 11,000 BTC but who knew if the price would go this high?This thread was posted on March 2014 stating work was underway. Rate was around $500-$600 meaning at that time, donations tallied to around $5,000,000-$6,000,000.
I have never heard of a project surpass $100,000 budget before someone asks questions as to why costs are stacking up and why it's taking so long. Heck, I'm sure theymos could have donated $1,000,000 of that to simplemachines themselves and got them to make SMF 3.0 for that amount.
The questions of embezzlement and fraud by the development company (and whoever else is involved) are definitely I'd be asking if I were a donator that care about where my BTC went...but I'm not, just a disappointed spectator.
I think the main question is - how much BTC is left? Did it all go to this software company? Had the BTC just appreciated all this time, and they get to keep the reward for not even completing the job? Even though I'm not a donator, it doesn't feel right letting failed software developers keep what is now valued at over a billion dollars for a job that was never completed.
It's unfortunate that so much was paid for nothing and developers like @PowerGlove was working for free.+1
Why did the forum pool so much BTC together instead of working on the project open-source or in outsourcing with milestone agreements?
Epochtalk is open source. You can fix it up, run a demo, and we'll all pile on to make fun of it.
I'd consider looking into it if it wasn't built on some godawful server-side javascript framework, but for someone who knows that shit or wants to learn, it might be an interesting project, or a complete waste of time.
Sure, give me 11,000 BTC and I'll go right ahead lol. Or, even 1 BTC as a first milestone and I'm sure I'd be able to put a good dent into a solution built from scratch and on modern languages. This begs the question - Theymos raised 11,000 BTC to build new forum software, does that mean I can do something similar?
(Partially joking, I'd love a shot at rebuilding this place but it's also a matter of if it even needs to be rebuilt, I personally love SMF 1)I think the main question is - how much BTC is left?
If you didn't donate any BTC, then its not a question at all as it doesn't concern you.
Oh, really? I could point out plenty of cases on this forum where people were not affected and yet they commented, including yourself, but in this case I can't comment? I'll comment all I want and I don't really see why you have the authority to tell me what does or doesn't concern me.
I think the main question is - how much BTC is left?
Actually it doesn't concern the donors much either, hence the use of the term "donation."Seriously? $1.1 billion at current valuation and the project didn't get to point of completion after a decade. Some people probably donated thinking it would happen within a year, two, maybe three...but for it not to happen at all and project abandoned? Do you think that if this was a explicitly stated possibility that as many people would have donated?