Comments on: Ginko Financial Suspends then Limits Withdrawals; Head ‘Nicholas Portocarrero’ Calls it a “Bank Run,” Tells Depositors to “Calm Down” http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/ Legal Issues That Impact Virtual Worlds Tue, 13 May 2014 04:03:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Second Life, First Bank Run « econ101.de blog http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-7011 Second Life, First Bank Run « econ101.de blog Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:31:58 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-7011 [...] Second Life, First Bank Run The Bloggers from Virtually Blind cover this story: One of Second Life’s high-interest, self-styled ‘banks,’ Ginko Financial, suspended withdrawals this morning. Ginko head ‘Nicholas Portocarrero’ (who has not previously made his real identity public, and declined to do so now) said Ginko clients are unable to withdraw funds because Ginko’s ‘L$ reserve has been depleted.’ He continued, ‘we are working to replenish it, but when we add it people drain it almost immediately. It’s a bank run in essense.’ [...] [...] Second Life, First Bank Run The Bloggers from Virtually Blind cover this story: One of Second Life’s high-interest, self-styled ‘banks,’ Ginko Financial, suspended withdrawals this morning. Ginko head ‘Nicholas Portocarrero’ (who has not previously made his real identity public, and declined to do so now) said Ginko clients are unable to withdraw funds because Ginko’s ‘L$ reserve has been depleted.’ He continued, ‘we are working to replenish it, but when we add it people drain it almost immediately. It’s a bank run in essense.’ [...]

]]> By: Virtually Blind - Virtual Law | Legal Issues That Impact Virtual Worlds » Blog Archive » Law Journal Says Ginko Financial Probable Ponzi; Yield Down 60% in 16 Months http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-4250 Virtually Blind - Virtual Law | Legal Issues That Impact Virtual Worlds » Blog Archive » Law Journal Says Ginko Financial Probable Ponzi; Yield Down 60% in 16 Months Sun, 05 Aug 2007 21:37:26 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-4250 [...] [Editor’s Note: On July 27, 2007, Ginko Financial suspended withdrawals, apparently in the wake of Linden Lab’s decision to ban casinos. Because of Ginko’s near-complete opacity of policy and investments, it is unclear exactly how the casino ban is impacting Ginko. As of 9:00 AM SLT, Ginko’s website states that withdrawals are again allowed, although temporarily limited to $L5k ($19 USD) per day per depositor (down from $L300k ($1100 USD)). However, the users I spoke to attempting to withdraw funds today were unable to withdraw even that amount. VB repeats its advice that people thinking of depositing money at Ginko carefully evaluate this company and the risks that they, personally, are willing to take, before depositing.] [...] [...] [Editor’s Note: On July 27, 2007, Ginko Financial suspended withdrawals, apparently in the wake of Linden Lab’s decision to ban casinos. Because of Ginko’s near-complete opacity of policy and investments, it is unclear exactly how the casino ban is impacting Ginko. As of 9:00 AM SLT, Ginko’s website states that withdrawals are again allowed, although temporarily limited to $L5k ($19 USD) per day per depositor (down from $L300k ($1100 USD)). However, the users I spoke to attempting to withdraw funds today were unable to withdraw even that amount. VB repeats its advice that people thinking of depositing money at Ginko carefully evaluate this company and the risks that they, personally, are willing to take, before depositing.] [...]

]]> By: The Forge · Brazil is the new Nigeria http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-3806 The Forge · Brazil is the new Nigeria Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:01:00 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-3806 [...] Ginko Financial Suspends then Limits Withdrawals; Head ‘Nicholas Portocarrero’ Calls it a “Bank Run,” Tells Depositors to “Calm Down - This is where it begins. Ginko Financial was a “company” in Second Life that let people “deposit” Linden dollars (which may be legitimately traded for real money and are, thus, real, legal assets) and then withdraw them from virtual ATMs. It pitched itself as a bank, but the difference was that it was claiming it would return outrageous rates on your deposits. They were promising .19% daily return on your money (compounded that’s 100% annually!). How could they achieve such an absurdly high rate of return? Clearly, they could not, and were simply funding the returns on initial deposits with the money people deposited later on. A Ponzi scheme, in other words, as noted by The Journal of the Business Law Society at U of Illinois Law College.As Benjamin notes in this article, a few days ago Ginko Financial stopped letting people withdraw money altogether and then began limiting their withdrawls to about $19/day, claiming that they had “invested” most of the deposits and couldn’t provide liquidity for their depositors. The head of Ginko, who is so trustworthy he won’t even reveal his actual, real-life name (Benjamin ferreted it out however. It’s Andre Sanchez), advised depositors to ‘calm down.’ After all, when you’re ripping people off you want to do it in peace and quiet. Who wants to listen to a bunch of your scam victims bitching at you? You’ve got free money to spend! [...] [...] Ginko Financial Suspends then Limits Withdrawals; Head ‘Nicholas Portocarrero’ Calls it a “Bank Run,” Tells Depositors to “Calm Down – This is where it begins. Ginko Financial was a “company” in Second Life that let people “deposit” Linden dollars (which may be legitimately traded for real money and are, thus, real, legal assets) and then withdraw them from virtual ATMs. It pitched itself as a bank, but the difference was that it was claiming it would return outrageous rates on your deposits. They were promising .19% daily return on your money (compounded that’s 100% annually!). How could they achieve such an absurdly high rate of return? Clearly, they could not, and were simply funding the returns on initial deposits with the money people deposited later on. A Ponzi scheme, in other words, as noted by The Journal of the Business Law Society at U of Illinois Law College.As Benjamin notes in this article, a few days ago Ginko Financial stopped letting people withdraw money altogether and then began limiting their withdrawls to about $19/day, claiming that they had “invested” most of the deposits and couldn’t provide liquidity for their depositors. The head of Ginko, who is so trustworthy he won’t even reveal his actual, real-life name (Benjamin ferreted it out however. It’s Andre Sanchez), advised depositors to ‘calm down.’ After all, when you’re ripping people off you want to do it in peace and quiet. Who wants to listen to a bunch of your scam victims bitching at you? You’ve got free money to spend! [...]

]]> By: Mr Bean http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-3788 Mr Bean Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:00:13 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-3788 Quote "Our congradulations to Thurston Hallard, who won L$25,622.10 in today's final drawing." Unquote. Maybe Luke Connell at WSE would be interested in this seeing as Thurston is one of the 2 main accounts being investigated for fraud at the WSE. My money is now out of Second Life as i know this is the start of lots more clamping down by LL. ( I might add that this is not down to LL) it is down to the california state law. Please read this article as Gwyn seems to have inside knowledge of LL and is not a Linden. http://gwynethllewelyn.net/articlecategory/homepage Quote “Our congradulations to Thurston Hallard, who won L$25,622.10 in today’s final drawing.” Unquote.

Maybe Luke Connell at WSE would be interested in this seeing as Thurston is one of the 2 main accounts being investigated for fraud at the WSE. My money is now out of Second Life as i know this is the start of lots more clamping down by LL. ( I might add that this is not down to LL) it is down to the california state law. Please read this article as Gwyn seems to have inside knowledge of LL and is not a Linden.
http://gwynethllewelyn.net/articlecategory/homepage

]]> By: Virtually Blind - Virtual Law | Legal Issues That Impact Virtual Worlds » Blog Archive » Commentary: Ginko Bank Run Update - Day Four http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-3739 Virtually Blind - Virtual Law | Legal Issues That Impact Virtual Worlds » Blog Archive » Commentary: Ginko Bank Run Update - Day Four Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:44:31 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-3739 [...] VB’s primary coverage of the Ginko issue can be found in two posts below, but there a few important facts are worth highlighting today. [...] [...] VB’s primary coverage of the Ginko issue can be found in two posts below, but there a few important facts are worth highlighting today. [...]

]]> By: Prokofy Neva http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-3578 Prokofy Neva Sat, 28 Jul 2007 20:20:21 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-3578 More history: http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2005/10/virtual_market_.html http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2005/11/anshe_declares_.html More history:

http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2005/10/virtual_market_.html

http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2005/11/anshe_declares_.html

]]> By: Nobody Fugazi http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-3570 Nobody Fugazi Sat, 28 Jul 2007 17:24:56 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-3570 I interviewed Nicholas last year as well: http://www.knowprose.com/node/16454 His comments on Grameen Bank are interesting. I interviewed Nicholas last year as well:

http://www.knowprose.com/node/16454

His comments on Grameen Bank are interesting.

]]> By: Virtually Blind - Virtual Law | Legal Issues That Impact Virtual Worlds » Blog Archive » Commentary: Ginko Financial is a Fraud http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-3565 Virtually Blind - Virtual Law | Legal Issues That Impact Virtual Worlds » Blog Archive » Commentary: Ginko Financial is a Fraud Sat, 28 Jul 2007 16:40:27 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-3565 [...] At 6:00 PM SLT, Ginko claimed that it had L$192,378,551 in “Total Deposits.”  Three hours later — after a day during which Ginko head ‘Nicholas Portocarrero’ said a “bank run,” occurred — Ginko reported L$194,462,018 on deposit.  In other words, Ginko claims that its total deposits increased by L$2,100,000 (about US$8000) during the three hours between 6 PM and 9 PM SLT, at the end of a day during which depositors were withdrawing money in a what ‘Portocarrero’ described as a “panic.” [...] [...] At 6:00 PM SLT, Ginko claimed that it had L$192,378,551 in “Total Deposits.”  Three hours later — after a day during which Ginko head ‘Nicholas Portocarrero’ said a “bank run,” occurred — Ginko reported L$194,462,018 on deposit.  In other words, Ginko claims that its total deposits increased by L$2,100,000 (about US$8000) during the three hours between 6 PM and 9 PM SLT, at the end of a day during which depositors were withdrawing money in a what ‘Portocarrero’ described as a “panic.” [...]

]]> By: Ginko Fights Bank Run : Metaverse Network http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-3554 Ginko Fights Bank Run : Metaverse Network Sat, 28 Jul 2007 11:46:39 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-3554 [...] While no official explanation for either occurrance was given on the Ginko homepage, a recent interview with Reuters and the story on Virtually Blind gave us a few more details. Portocarrero implied that the run on the bank may be related to the new gambling ban and the recent troubles at the WSE. His advice: “calm down, [and] stop keeping vital day-to-day cash in Ginko Financial”. [...] [...] While no official explanation for either occurrance was given on the Ginko homepage, a recent interview with Reuters and the story on Virtually Blind gave us a few more details. Portocarrero implied that the run on the bank may be related to the new gambling ban and the recent troubles at the WSE. His advice: “calm down, [and] stop keeping vital day-to-day cash in Ginko Financial”. [...]

]]> By: 第二人生银行的挤兑 - 博博客 bobos.us http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-suspends-withdrawals/#comment-3504 第二人生银行的挤兑 - 博博客 bobos.us Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:55:22 +0000 http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/07/27/ginko-financial-suspends-then-limits-withdrawals/#comment-3504 [...] News of the bank run was first reported by the Virtually Blind website, which covers legal issues in virtual worlds. [...] [...] News of the bank run was first reported by the Virtually Blind website, which covers legal issues in virtual worlds. [...]

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