Iron Ree
African Astronaut
[my flyspeck near-blind refund]
« on: October 31, 2013, 01:00:31 pm »
I will be making an announcement in the next few days which I have no doubt will echo around the world media and I feel as the new Dread Pirate Roberts, this will be the last time I can communicate with everyone from the old community alone to reflect on the bad times we have faced and the challenges we have overcome to get here.
We have lost some of our comrades and we lost our old market - this is saddening news but it is also something we now cannot change. As a community we have to mark where we will leave the weights of the past behind and now is the time to move on so we can focus on the bright future ahead of us. We've had difficult times in the past, but then we will also have difficult times in the future. This isn't the end of our struggle, and I can hope we can all carry on fighting with the same vigor, courage and dedication as we have these past few weeks.
You have all been very kind and patient to me in my first few weeks in this new role - for this I cannot thank you all enough. There have been times already when I have wanted to quit and hand over the keys to the first person I seen, but I only need to look at the many shining examples of characters here to keep me going with all the support we have had. This is in my opinion the hardest job in the world - but looking back at what we've already overcome now gives me strength, not grief. Somebody come and torn away our home, but like the faithful people we are, we are now standing our ground to rebuild it again not to be put down just because we were knocked back.
I cannot say how long I will be around. I do not know if law enforcement have some kind of secret methods of attack which will find me tomorrow. But I do know I will fight this to the end, whatever the cost may be. When you join Silk Road, I like many of you dreamed about being the Dread Pirate Roberts thinking it would be great for how many bitcoin you can earn and you don't have to do much except sit behind a computer. As time went on though, I realized the money isn't what you're in it for - I have actually made a substantial loss so far getting this up and running and I intend to place most of the revenues of the site into investments for our future. I think when you look past the money aspect, that is where the true wealth is, knowing you have stood for something you believed in and that even if it is your downfall, you were not afraid to defend to the death everything you have come to love.
If/when I do fall and probably locked away for the rest of my life, do not think of me please, I am just a single person proud to do this - I would ask you all to remember the idea which has driven this community forward through what was almost the destruction of our friendships. Dread Pirate Roberts is now immortal and if you devote yourself to that ideal, and our enemies cannot stop it, then the idea becomes something else entirely.
They may have sunk one ship, but now they have awoken the kraken.
I look forward to speaking to you all with my next big announcement and godspeed to everyone in the quiet before the storm, for we will rise again.
Iron Ree
African Astronaut
[my flyspeck near-blind refund]
We are sending a clear message of integrity and justice, louder than the slander our oppressors can push into the news.
We are almost there.
In less than thirty days I will be drafting an unprecedented announcement that your resilience made possible: the announcement that Silk Road has repaid all victims of our February hack.
As of today, May 27th 2014, 82.09% of all victims of the Feburary hack have been fully repaid.
In June the world will be reminded that when faced with adversity, Silk Road's community doesn't run. We unite.
Our enemies may seize our servers, impound our coins, and arrest our friends, but they cannot stop you: our people.
You write history with every coin transacted here.
It is unprecedented for any entity, darknet or clearnet, to completely repay the victims of a Bitcoin hack.
We are sending a clear message of integrity and justice, louder than the slander our oppressors can push into the news. History will prove that we are not criminals, we are revolutionaries.
We are slaving to transform a notoriously-violent industry into a safe online marketplace, removing the risk of face-to-face transactions.
We do not steal the People's money like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley. We bail each other out with our own sweat. We are not puppets of fear or greed. We do not run like the cowards at MtGox, TorMarket, or Sheep. Silk Road is not here to scam, we are here to end economic oppression. Silk Road is not here to promote violence, we are here to end the unjust War on Drugs. Silk Road is not here to submit to authority, we are here to defend a foundational human right: freedom of choice. Silk Road is not a marketplace, Silk Road is a global revolt.
When the news hits that everyone has been repaid, do your part to help tear down the world's misimpressions about what our movement stands for.
Four months of everyone's hard work has almost generated one spark. Throw it into the petrol. Be prepared with your throwaway accounts. Tweet. Upvote. Blog. Email editors.
It is an honor to serve you. Defcon
The following users say it would be alright if the author of this
post didn't die in a fire!
IIRC SR2 was taking 5% of every sale's value as a commission, and when the site got hacked and people lost money he used that fund to pay them back, think it was just over a million USD
