Thanks for destroying the Economy

This needs to exist on every forum from World of Warcraft to ToonTown...

Amazing as this may seem, in a mature metaverse I can see a (small) need for micro-loan institutions. But how to tell them from scams? Amazingly, amazingly difficult.

Gordon - I don't understand your concerns - surely all those banks that offered those huge interest rates have invested very wisely and can return what they promise.... and pay everyone back. Or maybe not,,,,,

That wasn't necessary or helpful, I'm not sure how to convince you that their not all scams but they aren't and I'm not sure how to prove that to you and dispel your pessimism but I'm trying.

Just because I trust the institutions doesn't mean I have to be happy about the fact that it could be months before they're able to safely liquidate the assets for me to get my money back.

i'm not worried about the paying back desire of the legitimate operators out there....I spent the last 2 hours in IMs with a bank owner tryign to figure out a way to do it.

You all should realize the banks bought land and stocks

the stocks are probably banned under the policy too (read the FAQ).


If banks try to pay back by Jan 22, they will have to unload assets (land) at a phenomenal rate...maybe less than what they paid for it. They may not be able to sell their stocks at all. Thus LL created a classic liquidity crisis. They should never have allowed banks in the first place, it's probably a regulatory violation in many jurisdictions, but to delete them now and so quickly prevents an orderly exit. No one is going to die because of this, we'll each on average be hit for 50 bucks and linden will go on collecting tiers (frankly I doubt they care what land prices are, the tiers stay the same).

If I lose my 50 dollars, I'll revert to an unpaid subscription, so it's a wash for me.

I have one friend who had a lot of money in Ginko. You know what? She laughs it off at how foolish she was looking back on it all. I don't know anyone else who has used one.

Sorry to hear you are being affected by this and thanks for your calm and sobering post.

Disclaimer - I haven't read the FAQ yet. However, it would seem to me that Exchanges would not meet the definition of "bank" - because (a) they do not guarantee a return on investment - in fact, most state that stock is a risk, and may decrease in value, and (b) the money given to stock exchanges is not HELD by the exchange - it is held by the companies that sell the stock. I personally spent 7k investing in a good business on WSE - Parks Fireworks - and haven't regretted it yet. If the WSE does indeed get banned, I plan on going to the person who HAS my money - Allen Parks - and asking him for restitution for my shares, however devalued they may be. I knew when I bought them that the value would fluctuate. If they turn out to be worth pennies, that was the risk I took when I signed up.

Granted, if you did have money in the WSE's "bank", then yeah, you're a fool. Stock exchanges, however, are an entirely different vehicle, and merely facilitate investment in multiple companies. A go-between. And in this case, I /know/ where my money is invested - unlike "bank" customers, whose L$ is "invested" in either undisclosed schemes or, more likely, the new Alienware PC sitting on the "bank" director's desk.

Personally I see the banning of banks as saving the economy, not destroying it.

Why, oh why, are people still falling for "get rich quick" schemes in this day and age of technological advancement when everyone knows you don't get something for nothing.

Whatever happened to good old hard work, or spending real money, to get something you want instead of throwing it at some scam merchant who is 99.9% guaranteed to run off with it and disappear sooner or later?

The more people that get ripped off by these things, the more people are going to leave SL over it. It happens in most online environments, so why should we be any different? The only unfortunate thing here is it's more plainly obvious yet people still fall for it.

Unless / Until LL stops calling all Linden Transfers "gifts" it was all play games with real money.

There simply is no mechanism to keep people honest, nor competent.

I happen to agree with the ban. I never saw how these things were immune to RL jurisdictions in the first place.

Im dismayed Nick isnt going to be prosecuted for what he did.

I don't buy for a minute that "Theft" at WSE was just a coincidence that coincided with the gambling ban. Nor his coincidental he won the last Ginko lottery.

SO it really doesn't matter *now* if you convince me its not all a complex shell game, because these things are banned.

It will simply be easier to deal with RL money off-world for those people loopy to get invoved in this stuff.

I'm sure the WSE exchange gets banned unless they submit the proper paperwork

Which somehow I doubt exists considering this 30 day fiasco.


The other "securities" type stuff will get a similar treatment.

(how ironic is that word when its totally unsecure)

Can I have your stuff?

I TOTALLY agree with you!

If I wanted to "get rich quick" I'd have just as good odds answering the email of the Nigerian Prince who needs a bank account in those emails I get!!!

For folks who invest in these banks.... I have a bridge you might wanna buy.

I'm really curious WHY they'd put money in a Bank in SL?

Do they think it'll give a big return of investment?
Do they think its as legit as a RL Bank?
Do they think its more secure??

If this stupid micro management by the Lindens of what I decided to with my money causes me to lose my money, then f*ck them, I'm selling everything I have and canceling this f'ing account.

This for sure is the best thing LL could do, regarding banks. Since most newbies never heard of Ginko, and probably will trust any bank with a professional logo and ATM. Where they think they loan their cash to a trustworthy institute, they in fact hand over cash at an anonymous avatar who can run with the cash any minute. We all know that, new residents for sure don't. It is kind of too easy to say they are stupid, isn't it? SL is so overwhelming, you cannot expect newbies to investigate everything. How many of us have used a bank somewhere in the past?
No more of that, great!

What I do not understand is why this would ruin economy (again), neither as why the gambling ban ruined economy.

When a couple of banks run off with the cash, it will have an effect on economy for a while of course, that money cannot be spent in-game. But neither could the millions of Linden Ginko took of with. After the initial shock, economy will recover and get stronger then before. Because no one will loose money anymore to so called banks. Just like surgery: no one likes the cutting, but in the end ones health improves

So if the OP's Resident Question was: will the bank closing ruin SL's economy? then my Resident Answer is: No.


Greetings, Marcel

Given the extremely low entry costs for SL, what's the point other than wanting to "play fake bank/exchange" on the one side and wanting something you can walk away from without paying the "loan" back?

Every financially healthy adult can find the money to start their SL business, even if it takes a RL loan or credit card debt. If they can't or won't, why would you ever loan them any money? They either don't think their idea is good enough to use RL funding methods, or they're in such bad financial shape that RL banks don't trust them to be able to pay anything back.

first off, I didn't see this as a get rich quick scheme...JT Financials just provided a simple, low interest rate...I just saw this as a good place to put this "fake" money since it isn't worth any real $$'s right????????

but no, dickweeds, they had to come along and jack everyone off because of the bad seeds, the scumsuckers that really were fly by night ripoffs....so F*ck you people saying I should be dicked over because I wanted a 'get rich scheme'

crashes ad infiitum, permanently lost inventory items, and now getting ripped off even more by the lindens.....who needs this shit.

there's real online games that work out there, and have awesome graphics that don't suck resources up like a $20 hooker.

If JT Financials is an honest organization, you'll get your money back.

If they weren't, you won't, and it was a matter of time.

Don't bust a vessel until you know which one they are.

Can I have your stuff?

OP: Get the fuck over it.

And why are you still here?

Well if some people can't learn from the Ginko scandal, what will they learn from?
Sad, some good will go down with the bad, but the bad was overshaddowing it I suspect.

I still haven't seen demonstrated exactly how this will "ruin" the economy.

In my mind, there were two types of SL Scambank investors. The ones who were very aware of the risk and didn't care because they have money to burn, were RPing, or honestly wanted to help promote banks in SL, or what have you, and then the majority, who were simply suckers. I have no sympathy for either. The writing has been on the wall since they killed gambling, and then you got another shot across the bow when the worms started crawling out of the Ginko apple.

I am just glad that I was able to get a couple of friends to pull out of Ginko over a year ago. I honestly couldn't believe how much blind faith these otherwise intelligent and talented people were putting in that fictitious "bank".

Having worked for RL banks most of my adult life, my first reaction to seeing a "bank" in SL was laughter, then pity for anyone that actually gave them money. First off, even the honest ones are at the whim of LL. Any business can be closed down if it's deemed necessary by LL. So there is risk in everything we do in SL.

But secondly, is what real banks offer as opposed to these SL banks. First - Government Regulations. We are governed by very strict regulations and are tested on them frequently. Second - Knowing exactly who is accountable for what in the bank. If an error is made encoding the amount of a check you wrote, we can trace that error to the originator. If someone is somehow embezzling, it often becomes unraveled as soon as they go on vacation, since they are not allowed access into the systems at those times and can't control what schemes they have. Thirdly - A real, physical presence. Even if you do your real banking online, there is a real place you can go to conduct business, ask questions, or just make sure there are actual people looking over your money. And lastly, there are even very strict rules and regulations for businesses offering bank type services. I.E. From the local convinience store that cashes your check so you have a $20 in your pocket, to the larger check cashing businesses. By closing down the SL banks now, LL prevents possible problems with these regulations in the future.

The SL banks offered NONE of these. And therefore, anyone doing business with even the most legitimate SL bank placed themselves at high risk. Even the most reputable SL bankers, may have to leave SL, taking your money with them or leaving it in SL limbo. They might die, or have to give up the cost of SL cause IRL they fell on hard times. Even PC crashes would cause problems. If they told you there was a full staff, how do you really know? Every staff member supposedly working for John Doe, could just be an alt. We know mass use of alts is already practiced to increase the numbers for some businesses. Whereas in RL, if you want to know who John Doe is or Jane Smith, just come on down to the REAL bank.

I'm sorry if you lose money with the bank closures. But even without the Ginko fiasco, they were extremely high risk. And anyone who thought otherwise, was horribly fooling themselves. Fortunately, most people I know weren't that foolish.