Comments on: Law Journal Says Ginko Financial Probable Ponzi; Yield Down 60% in 16 Months

By: Violence, Sex and Ruin: 3 stories of virtual economies. « The Virtual Economy Project

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:35:45 +0000

[...] to pay off initial investors? “Yes!” claimed lawyer Benjamin Duranske, who ran Virtually Blind, a blog dealing with legal issues that impact virtual world. He was soon proven [...]

By: Virtually Blind - Virtual Law | Legal Issues That Impact Virtual Worlds » Blog Archive » Ginko Financial Suspends, Then Limits Withdrawals

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:03:44 +0000

[...] Although this doesn’t fall under VB’s typical coverage, I’ve been following Ginko Financial since February, when a Law Journal concluded that it was probably a ponzi scheme and I noticed that Ginko’s yield had dropped 60% in 16 months. Though the rate has been raised since I ran that piece, red flags still exist, chief among them the fact that Ginko’s management categorically refuses to discuss Ginko’s investments or policies and, according to an interview Reuters conducted with Ginko head ‘Nicholas Portocarrero,’ Ginko keeps only around 5% (and “sometimes less”) of its deposited funds available in-world in $L for immediate withdrawal by depositors. [...]

By: Benjamin Duranske

Benjamin Duranske — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 19:01:24 +0000

I’m not sure if the above comment comes from someone affiliated with Ginko or not, but if it does, please consider getting in touch directly. I’d be happy to talk to you about Ginko if you are willing to provide more information.

Answering the concerns of skeptics like me would go a long way toward legitimizing Ginko, but so far, Ginko has categorically refused to talk about its business model, leaving me and many others basically no choice but to conclude that Ginko is hiding something.

By: HelloWorld

HelloWorld — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 14:49:26 +0000

Peace people

We love you

By: Pelanor Eldrich

Pelanor Eldrich — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:58:37 +0000

I agree wholeheartedly with you Ashcroft. You know, gentlemen, that we should really think about banding together to do this “right”.

By: Ashcroft Burnham

Ashcroft Burnham — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:27:04 +0000

There is an extent to which people are getting what they ought expect from such a scheme: a very high-risk, high-return investment. The difficulty is that it seems that Ginko goes out of its way to hide information that people ought to be able to use to make decisions about whether to invest: that, as distinct from merely not telling people where the money is going, is probably a sufficient reason in and of itself to stay away from Ginko, as deliberately hiding information creates a strong impression of dishonesty.

As to legal and political implications, I should suggest that problems with in-world investments suggests the need sophisticated in-world governmental systems capable of passing in-world laws, enforced in in-world courts, dealing with in-world financial services regulation.