[ANN] [888] [SCRYPT] OctoCoin ◦ The Power of Eight ◦ Don't Blink

[brianbbad]

Oh crypto... why you so loco?
#cryptoproblems

[frameLAlife]

word

[djslick]

yeah got the same response:

Hello *djslick*, thanks for your note. Brock Holzer is not a member of my
organization, nor have I had any prior contact with him. We are not
investors in, or have had any business relationship whatsoever, with
OctoCoin.

cheers
Yi-Jian

[SquidsIn]

OK, so I agree that this is all highly speculative, perhaps emotional, and that we shouldn't be accusing bholzer of wrong doing without giving him a right to reply.  I also think to use the word scam is a little tenuous since the only potential scam we're aware of is one of secretive or concealed identity which in and of itself is nothing particularly nefarious though perhaps registering the domain in the name of an organisation that has no links is slightly murkier.

I do hope the Murray Brothers charity is aware that bholzer *might* be less than an upstanding individual just in case it warrants action.  I know they are not directly affiliated but the Murraycoin promotional machine does like to play on the fact that they want to forge a closer relationship.  Maybe scenarios like this are why they are keeping their distance but merely the hint of an association can do untold damage as we see here.  And, it's one thing to "scam" a bunch of greedy speculative crypto "investors" but another thing entirely to do so and involve a charitable organisation.

[Rumhurius]

This thing is atleast abandoned.

Wake the ferk up.
I just cant believe some attitudes.
Letting the whole Coin die , just because there is a small chance that it might be legit backed up by someone else ?

Only Chance i see is to prepare a well done Community Takeover during this bs.

That guy.... he aint coming back and a serious company would have atleast an eye on "their" coin.
Jezz.

[LeFiste]

This thing is atleast abandoned.

Wake the ferk up.
I just cant believe some attitudes.
Letting the whole Coin die , just because there is a small chance that it might be legit backed up by someone else ?

Only Chance i see is to prepare a well done Community Takeover during this bs.

That guy.... he aint coming back and a serious company would have atleast an eye on "their" coin.
Jezz.

I agree...I've written this one off

[frameLAlife]

Yi-Jian Ngo
1:48 AM (8 hours ago)

to me
Kris, I really appreciate you taking the time to share this info. I’m going to consult with a board member of the Bitcoin Foundation on appropriate next steps. Thanks again!
 
cheers
Yi-Jian
 
From: Kris [mailto:kristharp78@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2014 7:34 PM
To: Yi-Jian Ngo
Subject: Re: [Contact Form] From Kris

[frameLAlife]

why does bitcointa.lk only go through up to August 18th for Octo?

[brianbbad]

I got a quick message from swainzag who is part of MRY team so we will get a response shortly.

[bholzer]

As I've been extremely busy lately, I have been avoiding the recent drama/nonsense in here. The more it spiraled, the less sufficient my intended responses would become. It's easy to see why it remains so difficult for the rest of the world to take crypto-currency seriously. I haven't read through the majority but I have received a number of reports. As laughable (and downright senseless) as this may have become, I have chosen to get my attorney and the authorities involved in some capacity.

Why my involvement with OctoCoin and my recent (not even secretive) collaboration to help save the project (and my large investment in it) is grounds for cyber stalking, harassment, and childish character assassination is beyond me... but that is the logic we are unfortunately dealing with. If there is one thing crypto people have proven time and time again, it's that they're great at tearing things down.

So roll up your "Jump to Conclusions" mats because statements will be made soon. Bad timing for everything but I suppose it's time to reevaluate things. For those in the know, I still intend to follow through on my part of everything while doing whatever possible to separate myself, my family, and my ventures (both crypto-related and otherwise) from this forum and most (certainly not all) of the people in this thread. This is nuts, guys. What a bummer this has degraded into.

[shellbunner]

Brock, I'm sorry what this has become.
It's unfortunate that people lost money, but certain people here need to stop acting like 4 year olds having a tantrum. Take your "investment" loss like a man and move on. I'm out over $20k and you don't see me going on a witchhunt. You knew what you were getting into, so suck it up.

[wtf_wtf]

It sucks what this has become. But this is a public forum and we really want more information because of earlier posts in the thread.

Attacking people and harrisment are no good. Unacceptable. But I dunno. Doing research and asking for more information sounds okay to me.

[SquidsIn]

The 888 devs have missed our last two calls with FusionHash... which was slightly concerning... but I just got word that they will be acquiring FusionHash and all of their assets this month for an undisclosed sum. Not sure what that will mean for the in-development Murraycoin Scrypt multipool (not that most of you are concerned about that) but I'm assuming that's good news for their proposed hash rental services as well as the Scrypt-N/X11/X13 GPU OctoCoin pool. Also, the OctoCoin crew appears to be operating under the business name "Alliance of Angels" based on the acquisition paperwork - I'm planning to dig into that a bit more to see if it answers any lingering questions as this is the first time I've seen that business name. Interesting times...

Edit: as anybody who has Googled "Alliance of Angels" has surely realized by now, this is an Angel group in Seattle (which I am aware of and simply didn't make the connection when I glanced at the paperwork today). It's possible this group, whom I believe are invested in OctoCoin, are the ones acquiring FusionHash (and not the OctoCoin team themselves). I have a lot going on and I guess I was under the impression "OctoCoin" was acquiring FusionHash and not just OctoCoin investors. Not that any of this is insanely important at this stage... but I don't want to be spreading incorrect information.

Thought I'd heard that name before, courtesy of bitcointa.lk (which keeps deleted posts)...

SquidsIn said: ↑
Devs...

It might be an idea to change the title of this thread again...

It could be interpreted as "Don't Blink, may hard fork" for anybody who doesn't know the history and that the hard fork has passed without incident. This may cause some confusion / uncertainty as to the future of Octo.

I've been staring at that subject since the day they modified it thinking the same thing

Based on what I know now, something tells me if it's still there it's by design. I swim in some of the same circles as these guys (Alliance of Angels) and was also the one that connected them with FusionHash. I have personally met two of the guys and I've heard rumors regarding who a third team member is. If true, I assure you this guy wouldn't let a detail like that slip by undetected.
bholzer, Jun 21, 2014 #2423

FYI, I was asked by one of the OctoCoin devs to delete that post (which is why I deleted it at the time shortly after making it). No explanation as to why... but of course I complied.

So, bholzer, in the earliest post above you clearly state that you swim in the same circles as Alliance of Angels (who now say they have never heard of you), infer that they are backing the development team and further state that you introduced AoA to the FusionHash. In the later post you'd forgotten all about them and had just made the connection when you looked at the paperwork.  A cynic might suggest you get that selective amnesia looked at, it may trip you up one day.

On top of all this FusionHash.com shared the same IP as Octocoin.org and you are apparently down as the technical contact for the octohub.org domain registration with AoA being the registrant (which they claim is incorrect) .  In your latest post you didn't actually explicitly deny any of the wild allegations either.  it's not hard to see why some people are jumping to conclusions and thinking there's something you're withholding here.  Rightly or wrongly I made those connections myself several months ago and came to that conclusion, I just happened to believe or at least chose to believe it didn't matter because the promises would be delivered on.

Complicit or not, you also encouraged a lot of people to keep buying Octocoin, which in light of the coincidences above does at least arouse suspicion.  If you're just a genuine supporter then that's all good, that's what the rest of us here were and had been until recently but why not just put that out there instead of threatening a global forum with your lawyers?  Either way, save your money, if you were behind Octocoin you didn't make enough from it to pay for those lawyers.

[SquidsIn]

FOR SALE: 1 million x 888

Going dirt cheap for the tiny sum of only 10 BTC donated to a charity of your choice (evidence required). Believers step up.

[BeardedCouncil]

As I've been extremely busy lately, I have been avoiding the recent drama/nonsense in here. The more it spiraled, the less sufficient my intended responses would become. It's easy to see why it remains so difficult for the rest of the world to take crypto-currency seriously. I haven't read through the majority but I have received a number of reports. As laughable (and downright senseless) as this may have become, I have chosen to get my attorney and the authorities involved in some capacity.

Hey bholzer, good to see you're still with us, even if it is in a 'sick of this crap' capacity.

Can you understand why those not 'in the know' might be frustrated? It's certainly no cause to be accusatory but the frustration has lead to predictable investigation, and when something is reasonably suggested (regardless of it's true legitimacy) the wisest option might have been to communicate (from anyone in the know).

Why my involvement with OctoCoin and my recent (not even secretive) collaboration to help save the project (and my large investment in it) is grounds for cyber stalking, harassment, and childish character assassination is beyond me... but that is the logic we are unfortunately dealing with. If there is one thing crypto people have proven time and time again, it's that they're great at tearing things down.

What is/was your 'not even secretive' collaboration? I (and I don't think many others) were even aware of a problem other than the double spend issue at Bittrex. If the coin has been suffering wider issues (other than the lack of progress) they are still relatively secretive. The Devs posts allude to work needing to be done and it being difficult but and no point have they suggested they may need help. If you were aware of their need for help that puts you in a privileged position while everyone else just twiddles their thumbs.

To be fair to 'crypto people' in the case of OctoCoin there is very little to tear down as of yet. The double spend was not as a result of the community but coding. The frustration people have faced obviously manifests differently, some get angry/ranty/accusatory others despair/give up and others seek answers. With any grouping of people on the internet there will be people who take an immature approach (ever seen youtube, twitter or facebook?)

So roll up your "Jump to Conclusions" mats because statements will be made soon. Bad timing for everything but I suppose it's time to reevaluate things. For those in the know, I still intend to follow through on my part of everything while doing whatever possible to separate myself, my family, and my ventures (both crypto-related and otherwise) from this forum and most (certainly not all) of the people in this thread. This is nuts, guys. What a bummer this has degraded into.

Nothing is really in the public domain other than 1) the devs have not communicated since their last update circa 6 weeks ago and 2) the coin has been disabled on Bittrex and the devs hadn't contacted Richie. There is no information for anyone to work with. Other than you and the Devs who else is "in the know"? And what was the requirement to be so? Because everyone here regardless of scale was an investor and kinda deserved to know what was going on, not just a handful of investors. if the coin was struggling letting us know would have given the opportunity to help out. I'm not suggesting it was your call to make, just that whoever made the call could have made it better :-(

Text in bold is my own. It was only 'bolded' to seperate it from bholzers, not for any 'impact'

[langvad]

As I've been extremely busy lately, I have been avoiding the recent drama/nonsense in here. The more it spiraled, the less sufficient my intended responses would become. It's easy to see why it remains so difficult for the rest of the world to take crypto-currency seriously. I haven't read through the majority but I have received a number of reports. As laughable (and downright senseless) as this may have become, I have chosen to get my attorney and the authorities involved in some capacity.

Hey bholzer, good to see you're still with us, even if it is in a 'sick of this crap' capacity.

Can you understand why those not 'in the know' might be frustrated? It's certainly no cause to be accusatory but the frustration has lead to predictable investigation, and when something is reasonably suggested (regardless of it's true legitimacy) the wisest option might have been to communicate (from anyone in the know).

Why my involvement with OctoCoin and my recent (not even secretive) collaboration to help save the project (and my large investment in it) is grounds for cyber stalking, harassment, and childish character assassination is beyond me... but that is the logic we are unfortunately dealing with. If there is one thing crypto people have proven time and time again, it's that they're great at tearing things down.

What is/was your 'not even secretive' collaboration? I (and I don't think many others) were even aware of a problem other than the double spend issue at Bittrex. If the coin has been suffering wider issues (other than the lack of progress) they are still relatively secretive. The Devs posts allude to work needing to be done and it being difficult but and no point have they suggested they may need help. If you were aware of their need for help that puts you in a privileged position while everyone else just twiddles their thumbs.

To be fair to 'crypto people' in the case of OctoCoin there is very little to tear down as of yet. The double spend was not as a result of the community but coding. The frustration people have faced obviously manifests differently, some get angry/ranty/accusatory others despair/give up and others seek answers. With any grouping of people on the internet there will be people who take an immature approach (ever seen youtube, twitter or facebook?)

So roll up your "Jump to Conclusions" mats because statements will be made soon. Bad timing for everything but I suppose it's time to reevaluate things. For those in the know, I still intend to follow through on my part of everything while doing whatever possible to separate myself, my family, and my ventures (both crypto-related and otherwise) from this forum and most (certainly not all) of the people in this thread. This is nuts, guys. What a bummer this has degraded into.

Nothing is really in the public domain other than 1) the devs have not communicated since their last update circa 6 weeks ago and 2) the coin has been disabled on Bittrex and the devs hadn't contacted Richie. There is no information for anyone to work with. Other than you and the Devs who else is "in the know"? And what was the requirement to be so? Because everyone here regardless of scale was an investor and kinda deserved to know what was going on, not just a handful of investors. if the coin was struggling letting us know would have given the opportunity to help out. I'm not suggesting it was your call to make, just that whoever made the call could have made it better :-(

Text in bold is my own. It was only 'bolded' to seperate it from bholzers, not for any 'impact'

At least if they(dev)/him (Bholzer) could get it on an exchange again! Anyway my mind is made up, if I get the opportunity I will sell my 500k!

[LeFiste]

Not talking to us investors/gamblers/whatever is childish/unprofessional behaviour too...1 single post every week or so could have kept this community calm and excited...'proven entrepreneurs' don't act like that. That's also a problem why crypto isn't taken serious in the business world. Too many promises which aren't kept.

[madmartyk]

Not talking to us investors/gamblers/whatever is childish/unprofessional behaviour too...1 single post every week or so could have kept this community calm and excited...'proven entrepreneurs' don't act like that. That's also a problem why crypto isn't taken serious in the business world. Too many promises which aren't kept.

and scam artists

[bholzer]

I have been advised to just make a post in here and see where the discussion goes before escalating the situation or even attempting to have this thread taken down (which I certainly wouldn't want).

This is the last post I'm going to make here personally until everything clears up/improves... but for those of you who are understandably/legitimately panicked and not just going full Grassy Knoll here... I felt it was important to brief you on the situation. A small piece of the original dev team, all of the code that has been written, and a shred of 888 passion among us still exists. Most (if not all) of the original dev team would certainly get involved again if the situation improved considerably. Like most people, I have several other priorities right now but I will personally be putting the finishing touches on the new wallet as soon as possible and then ensuring that 888 it at least back and trading on Bittrex. Several developers, including myself and the developer of another (fairly prominent) altcoin, have gone through the code and there is nothing there that could specifically cause issues with OctoCoin payouts. Regardless, some issue apparently popped up exclusive to Bittrex (after months without incident despite the same code being used) and, as a result, the new wallet will be 100% from scratch.

Once a new wallet is released and things are stabilized, hopefully things will begin moving in the right direction again. Nobody pulled the plug on this project - the wind was taken out of altcoin sails, the people with the checkbooks became less interested, the community grew impatient and demanding while only a select few did anything to contribute, and people had lives they needed to get back to. Unfortunately, businesses fail. Fortunately, worst-case scenario we can open source everything that has been done and through a community effort build something good in the crypto-world (even if that would make it no longer exclusive to OctoCoin... surely it would increase exposure considerably and help it to stand out from the wasteland of failed altcoins and crap).

Being a crypto developer is a thankless nightmare - I received death threats when Bill Murray didn't officially endorse Murraycoin (a promise I never even made - I was 100% transparent the entire time) - it's truly a bummer. People want to get rich quick and very few people are willing to put any effort into it. I was lucky enough to get Brian on board with Murraycoin because he is kicking ass and taking names getting the word out and putting an amazing level of effort into pushing it to the next level. Honestly, just creating awareness is half the battle. Every time I decide to get involved in a crypto project to bail everybody out I regret it. Things take time and talented people are in-demand and busy. There isn't a lot of money in this market right now - I'm staying minimally involved with bitcoin, Murraycoin, and 888 - and while I fully intend to increase my involvement in the near future, I simply have other priorities at this moment.

People wonder why I don't post or don't respond to PMs - I get dozens and dozens of private messages every week and, frankly, most people suck. Everything has been hammered across the altcoin board and this is a volatile, hostile environment that I personally grew tired of being involved with. This is not a lucrative position to be in. The original OctoCoin dev team still holds all of the premine/etc. I have over 2,000,000 OctoCoins personally - there is financial incentive to move this thing forward, of course, but from the minute I was officially contracted to assist with this project I have suggested we distance ourselves from this place (bitcointalk) as much as possible. There are some great people here and I've had some great conversations with many of them over my time here but, for the most part, it's a bunch of greedy kids with bad attitudes and it's certainly no place to grow roots for a business. Most of you have no idea how a business works - let alone attempting work/life balance - I have a family, friends, a very demanding job, and I got into crypto-currency because it was a fun hobby! Yes I was hoping to make a profit - who wouldn't? As soon as it stopped being fun, I started losing motivation. Very few good developers hang around long in this world because everybody wants instant gratification - they will tear everything down if it isn't built fast enough for them. They see dollar signs and those dollar signs quickly turn into blind rage - it's insane. I will have no part of it. I'm obviously sticking with the projects I have committed to but they will progress at my pace and information will be broadcast 1-way in a new venue. You guys can sit in here tearing yourselves apart if you think that is the best way to get things back on track but I refuse to get involved. When I saw the direction things were going, I shook my head and got back to my life. Like I said, when I can put together an organized timeline and make an official statement on things I'm happy to do it but I've worked my ass off for you guys in so many ways you'll never understand and I've lost thousands of dollars in the process.

So the show goes on... and I will continue to help move things forward behind-the-scenes... but on my own terms. Keep in mind, Murraycoin has been my project from the start and OctoCoin simply became something I got involved (or over my head?) in so Murraycoin takes priority. I'm not bailing this thing out on my own - we have real developers involved but we need some decent people to supplement things because this cannot be a full-time job for any of us (and it's looking like it never will be). The only winners in this market right now are the ones who create scams and hide behind false identities. I never once hid who I was because I am an honest person with good intentions. I don't regret getting involved in this project but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me sad to see how this is unfolding. I'm not going to lie - my primary motivation was to protect my investment - but I honestly do care about ensuring the integrity of OctoCoin as much as possible while also protecting the investments of people in this with me.

As for the people harassing my elderly parents who called me yesterday, a police report has been filed. Obviously there isn't a lot that can be done if calls are coming from outside the US but every single incident will be reported to the authorities (I can't believe this is happening - it's beyond pathetic). Over the following few weeks, I will reach out to a number of you to get you inside the inner-circle and involved in our Slack discussions. There is a lot of positive stuff happening despite what's going on over here because we have literally been ignoring it once it degraded into 5th grade recess. If you don't hear from me within 3 weeks and feel you were unfairly overlooked, shoot me a PM and I will review your history. Perhaps we can appoint some people to be the messengers/etc but I'm done with this forum. I work 18 hours/day and sleep 3 hours/night - I've been on this planet for 31 years and the only death threats I have ever received have been from crypto-currency people. Maybe someday I'll finally learn how foolish it is to offer my help when it's needed. Maybe someday I'll learn that nothing that involves strangers on the Internet is ever going to be a fun hobby. Regardless, this entire situation is bullshit. An adult venue is required with constructive input and people willing to do their part if we're going to get this thing on track. We need people who understand marketing, allure, possess common sense, and are willing to put in at least some effort. You guys are like one giant wrecking ball.

To summarize: we'll get there... but I'm done with this forum.

[wtf_wtf]

Whoever called your parents, that’s terrible. There’s no place for that anywhere. Disgusting.

The rest of your post sheds some light on the last couple months, which is interesting. I just joined the forum but I’ve been following Octocoin with great interest for months, and I want to respond to one part. Why people haven’t done more to contribute.

Were we supposed to contribute? Did anyone ask us to? I don’t recall being asked by the developers. If they wanted us to, they should have.

But even if they had, I am not sure I would have.

Personally, while I was excited about Octocoin, I haven’t told anyone about it, because I never knew enough to confidently recommend they get involved. I was willing to risk a little of my own money, but it would have been embarrassing to admit to others I had spent money on this extremely secretive gamble.

Someone suggested compiling a list for the alliance of angels of all the developer promises that have been made and not kept. I laughed at that. Looking at the list, I’d be ashamed to have believed in Octocoin for as long as i did. No one in their right mind would.

But posts like yours here bring me back to thinking Octocoin IS something different. That’s why Octocoin interested me in the first place.

I guess, in sum,

thank you for your hard work. I could never do anything like it, so thank you. I hope it continues because some of the discussed features around octocoin were pretty great and I hope they are released.

I hope you or the developers can give us more concrete proof that octocoin is more than a fantasy. I don’t feel bad about (politely) emailing alliance of angels to try to get to the bottom of things. I couldn’t take things on faith any more. I hope I don’t have to going forward.