I do not follow this "pirate" thing, nor do I know much about any GLBSE listed "assets".
However, please consider the following hypothetical GLBSE listed company.
Someone places BMMM IPO on GLBSE. The company does not disclose what they do, however they pay rather good dividends. Everyone is happy (for now).
What they do is the following, they convert BTC's into USD's and "invest" it into a piramide scheme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMM-2011 run by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Mavrodi that reportedly currently pays up to 50% per month of "dividends". BMMM pockets 30%, pays out 20% to their "investors". They also hope that with such "profitability" they will be able to accumulate enough money to buy out the shares once the "master ponzi" breaks down.
see also (google translate if needed) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=77316.0
and read up on to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome it might get applicable.
The above is a ponzi scheme by proxy which BTW is pretty close to what all the investment banks out there are doing with the central banks and ultimately the fed being the "master ponzi".
However, please consider the following hypothetical GLBSE listed company.
Someone places BMMM IPO on GLBSE. The company does not disclose what they do, however they pay rather good dividends. Everyone is happy (for now).
What they do is the following, they convert BTC's into USD's and "invest" it into a piramide scheme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMM-2011 run by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Mavrodi that reportedly currently pays up to 50% per month of "dividends". BMMM pockets 30%, pays out 20% to their "investors". They also hope that with such "profitability" they will be able to accumulate enough money to buy out the shares once the "master ponzi" breaks down.
see also (google translate if needed) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=77316.0
and read up on to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome it might get applicable.
The above is a ponzi scheme by proxy which BTW is pretty close to what all the investment banks out there are doing with the central banks and ultimately the fed being the "master ponzi".
My idea exactly and similar to what I'd do if I wanted to create something like this - find a Ponzi that isn't going down yet (though MMM seems to me also burned out quite a bit) and that pays crazy enough rates that it's still possible to earn back the deposits + interest in a short time frame.
Pirate however said the following in this thread:
He doesn't have to run a Ponzi on his own - my guess is still that he "invests" in some Ponzi/pyramid game like MMM. If you read carefully, he never denied that, only that he doesn't Ponzi himself.
I can't believe I missed this one. None of my dealing have anything to do with, related to or managed by anyone running a Ponzi scheme.
P.S. I do like how you read between the lines though, you should be a lawyer or one of my public relations people.
I even asked Nefario recently if it would be ok to list an open Ponzi on GLBSE (stating clearly in the contract that the shares have 0 value and the payouts come only from shares sold) and he declined, so to do something like this you'd really need to claim to have "insider knowledge" + "a perfect but proprietory idea" and disclose as little as possible. Also it might help NOT to pay out 20%. Better call it "mining bond" with 150% PPS returns or so and pay this out. Sounds less dodgy, you have more profits and you can "expand" from time to time to raise more capital.