Defcon’s Latest post: We Will Repay The Stolen Funds

Posted by: DeepDotWeb

February 16, 2014

Update: Alleged Silk Road 2.0 Hacker Doxxed!?

I Spent half of this day contemplating if should post this as just another chapter of this drama, and decided why not, we should have this on the record, the latest statement from the hacked Silk road 2 admin, claiming he will make it up to everyone and will no collect any commision from the market until he repay the stolen funds to all vendors:

You can join the full discussion at the OP, here: http://silkroad5v7dywlc.onion/index.php?topic=26475.0;topicseen

===Start Quote===

First, to dispel rumors. We are deep into the investigation of data surrounding the attacks, and it there is absolutely zero evidence of any staff member being involved. We will publish more information as we determine its accuracy, thank you to all who have contributed tips on the attackers’ identities.

After much self-reflection and deliberation with community members we value highly, it is clear that there is only one way forward.

This leadership and this community will not stop until you are completely repaid.

We know you feel defenseless right now. You are naked. Many of you are convinced there is no logical reason any darknet admin would ever fight to get your coins back.

I can stand here and reiterate that all I want to do is defend you, to steer this community towards incrementally safer operation. But my words are no comfort, and I understand that. You will never meet me. We are all anonymous.

I gave a similar speech in December when we met our first impossible situation. You have no reason to trust my words. My actions will prove you wrong.

Here is the current plan. Thank you to the dedicated vendors and buyers who helped draft this approach. This is not necessarily a final plan, we are open to suggestions on how to improve this and want your feedback.

The Plan for Moving Forward as of Feb 15

1. This administration will not earn any commissions until everyone is completely paid back, and will be very transparent about the progress towards this goal.

2. The marketplace will relaunch as no-escrow. We will not re-implement escrow unless it is multi-signature and decentralized to multiple escrow providers (trusted mediators with feedback just like vendors). Never buy from a market which uses centralized escrow again. You will only get hurt no matter how honest the team is.

3. All items will be priced at a flat 5% commission which will go directly into victims’ balances upon purchase.

4. Vendors who lost funds: Commissions from your items will go directly into your wallet until you are completely repaid, then will be distributed to other vendors until they are repaid. Vendor bonds are considered lost funds, and we also commit to paying these back.

5. All vendors can opt-in to give a higher percentage back on their listings, and all buyers will be presented with a “Donate” box on the shopping cart. Vendors’ donation percentage will be publicly visible.

6. We will launch the support system immediately. Resubmit any open support requests you had which are still applicable. All previous messages will be ignored due to our inbound message volume. I have received over 1000 private messages over the past 24 hours, for example. This fresh start will allow us to stay on top of the support queue, rather than paying down a large debt incurred by previous administrators.

7. We will still handle dispute resolution for existing escrow orders until all balances site-wide are in “Pending Balance” category. Your stolen balances and escrows will display as “Pending balance” and “Pending escrow”. Yes, like Christmas. I hoped to never have to take this approach again. All unshipped orders have been cancelled. To the vendors who have shipped orders despite no access to the portal: you are beautiful people. Try to resolve with your buyer directly, and file a support ticket if you do not receive a refund to your pending escrow balance within a month.

The plans above are subject to change as we consider your input.

The statistics are humbling:

26% of our monthly active users have lost their entire SR funds. That represents 47% of users who have purchased or sold items since launch.

Our inbound traffic has been growing at a rapid pace. The first ten days of February saw as many purchases as the entire month of January. By Feb 13, we surpassed January’s total user registrations.

We strongly believe that we can work together and make this right.

Silk Road is not a name easily forgotten, and how we pull through this struggle will only solidify our name as the strongest community in the darknet.

Buyers and Vendors: We are committed to getting everyone repaid even if it takes a year. Do not forget to check your SR accounts frequently for balances repaid, and withdraw them when you see them.

Vendors:  You are welcomed and encouraged to vend on multiple markets. I only trust myself, and will not endorse any of them. But I have failed you. Wherever you vend, may you prosper.

Buyers: do not purchase using centralized escrow. Use markets which have implemented multi-signature, or only purchase with No-Escrow (FE) from VERY trusted vendors. This is not an ideal climate, but it is the reality of the darknet today. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that every market which uses centralized escrow will fail. Centralization makes a market a huge target for attackers, and a huge target for dishonest administrators.

Again, we welcome your feedback on this approach to moving forward, and will continue to refine it throughout the year based on sales data.

I don’t care how long it takes or how expensive it is, we will fight to get this community repaid.

===End Quote===

We are not here to judge, just provide the information and let everyone make their own mind about this situation, keep safe.

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Updated: 2014-02-16