Bit-U PTS / BTC Exchange

[Silfax]

vegas, looks like you traded and then withdrew your BTC to this address a while back: https://blockchain.info/address/185njiam6kgDncDbmK2BS8t4xBgb5DvTYA

I looked through your logs and everything looks correct.

[vegasbitcoin]

It says my PTS balance is 0 -- but that is definitely not the case...

[Silfax]

Sorry for not keeping this thread in the loop, I've been posting elsewhere.

x-post:

At the going rate of about 0.012 (on cryptsy), with all of the funds that the exchange still has, we can afford to let everyone withdraw 58% of their total balances and orders.

I'll put up the site soon (in around an hour), and give everyone around 36 hours to withdraw all of their funds, and then I will close the site again indefinitely, unless new information from DO comes to light.

In case anyone wasn't clear, you will still have BTC in your balance, but when you withdraw, it will ask you to enter a PTS address instead, and it will send you 0.012 * your BTC * 58%.

If at the end of the 36 hours the site still has some funds, I will pass that out manually to users most affected.

So the site is up for another 20 hours or so, please withdraw as soon as possible. (www.bit-u.com)

[refer_2_me]

What's the word on getting coins back? I had PTS listed when it went down.

[o3u]

So when do i get my PTS and BTC invested there Silfax?

I expect them to be sent back to the addresses in my signature.

[marketp2p]

For the record only.  Don't trust the donation address posted, nothing is verified.

(16:06) pc: http://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=356.msg10353#msg10353
(17:32) nm: hm.. so hacked? instead of deleting an instance?.. walletpassword from source code?.. questions over questions.. lol
(17:34) Sam: and Silfax has vanished
(18:04) Silfax: I'm still here, just trying to figure out as much as possible before releasing a statement.
(18:06) wild: q: is soniq and sonik the same person?
(18:07) Sam: I think so. They are pushing the same scam exchange
(18:07) Sam: also beware of random users who claim they have used the site. They are all prolly soniq
(18:08) Sam: Silfax: at least can you tell us if the PTS is recoverable?
(18:08) wild: i seem to remember you needing to get logs one time from soniq.... now you have no exchange and sonik suddenly has one
(18:13) HOW: Silfax, how could you be so irresponsible as an exchange operator?
(18:13) wild: you lose any money HOW?
(18:14) wild: how could YOU be so irresponsible?
(18:18) Sam: Shouting now wont help
(18:19) lol: nothing will help
(18:19) Sam: I am hoping the coinground folks will cover the loss. Otherwise they are never going to be able to run a business again
(18:19) Sam: We will make sure
(18:19) wild: i know it sucks i'm just saying... trading on a beta exchange, trading a genesis block currency (PTS) of a currency that hasn't been released (Bitshare) based on a beta currency (bitcoin).... with a company currently having a very public dispute with its partners (at coingrounds)
(18:19) wild: nuff said
(18:23) lol: you should all blame yourselves tbh, I know I do
(18:31) FuckingJoke: Yea, slimy Silfax...I'm sure he's doing well now.
(18:31) FuckingJoke: Glad he got a full nights sleep last night.
(18:31) FuckingJoke: Laughing all the way to the bak.
(18:31) FuckingJoke: bank.
(18:35) Sam: Somehow I think Silfax didnt steal it
(18:35) Sam: He was played by his partners
(18:38) lol: who cares what happened?
(18:38) lol: there's only one question whose answer is important, and I fear the answer is not what people want to hear
(19:00) VegasBitcoin: shit i had 1000 PTS in there
(19:14) wild: i'm pretty sure whoever did it had no access officially.... think about it.... as often as we all traded the same BTC/PTS on here .7% transaction fee and .8% withdrawal fee adds up fast.... shutting down is less profit/day
(19:33) markj113: @ wild - not when major exchanges are lauching pts
(19:33) markj113: bte-r and cryptsy
(19:34) markj113: could be this exchange was on its last legs so end on a high and take a big payout
(20:20) Silfax: More details here: http://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=1032.msg10706#msg10706
(20:26) Sam: Silfax: Can I get the PTS back now? If its possible to get the BTC equivalent later then nice too
(20:26) Sam: But right now I will be delighted if I can atleast get my PTS back
(20:27) Silfax: so in terms of getting money back, we still have roughly 60% (maybe?) of the funds, so we'll be giving that back in PTS worth
(20:28) Silfax: other than that, unless digital ocean gets back to us soon, I'm sorry, but that's lost
(20:28) Silfax: gets back to us with useable info, that is
(20:28) gg: gg all your Protoshares
(20:28) gg: mine now
(20:28) gg: geegee
(20:29) Sam: Silfax: Can you set up a donation address and see if you can raise anything?
(20:29) Sam: Was coingrounds involved in any way?
(20:30) Sam: SInce its either your or your partner's fault, you have to reveal who your partner is too
(20:30) Sam: You said you will
(20:32) Silfax: I think setting up a donations address would seem very much like a scam tbh
(20:33) Sam: Get it through a bitsharestalk mod/ bytemaster
(20:36) SomeGuy: To be honest after reading the explanation in the forum... How can someone be so stupid to have the wallet in a VM? Can you lazy developers code the site using an offline wallet? This is really stupid.
(20:57) Sam: Silfax: it says it used a US VPN
(20:57) Sam: Can you use legal recourse?

(20:33) Sam: Get it through a bitsharestalk mod/ bytemaster
(20:36) SomeGuy: To be honest after reading the explanation in the forum... How can someone be so stupid to have the wallet in a VM? Can you lazy developers code the site using an offline wallet? This is really stupid.
(20:57) Sam: Silfax: it says it used a US VPN
(20:57) Sam: Can you use legal recourse?

(21:14) Bytemaster: PTS donation address as suggested : PYLJ65PB66CHDtNQuXGHdWS6hJmGfe4j4j
(21:14) pc: yeah, sure. nice try.
(21:15) Sam: scam address: don't use it
(21:15) Bytemaster: Please feel free to confirm on the forum
(21:16) Sam: Silfax: you need to start a proper legal proceedings
(21:18) markj113: @ Sam, that costs money - not going to happen
(21:18) Sam: he lost our money. Thats the least he can do. Besides, if he posts in the forum, I am sure others will pitch in
(21:19) markj113: Probably be cheaper and more benefit trying to replace as many BTC as possible
(21:20) Bytemaster: PTS donation address as suggested : PYLJ65PB66CHDtNQuXGHdWS6hJmGfe4j4j
(21:20) Sam: 38 BTC is $30k
(21:21) Sam: Besides, he will get the legal costs back
(21:21) markj113: How will legal fees cost, with the risk of zero benefit at the end
(21:21) markj113: they have to catch the guy first
(21:21) Sam: I am thinking Invictus can get involved if enough people shout
(21:25) NoLongerSuportive: I was supportive up to the point where Silfax posted the bit about it clearly being marked as beta. That doesnt give you the right to be lax on security and lose everything =(
(21:26) Sam: I agree
(21:27) Sam: its like, 'Hey its your fault you trusted me and my skills. Tough luck
(21:28) NoLongerSuportive: Yep, its not a get out of jail free card which is how it came across in the post =(
(21:33) lol: but it did say beta

[Silfax]

Reply + more details at that link above ^

[marketp2p]

scammer accusation has been made http://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=1032.0

[TwoKoolFourSkewl]

"We have some sort of big issue"

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS EVEN MEAN?!

[marketp2p]

Hi Lighthouse i did some trades on the coingrounds website and it works as advertised. Just a heads up

Did it seem secure?  I'm very concerned about recommending people to unknown clearly brand new exchanges until Bytemaster or someone with technical knowledge has vetted it.   Seems like it could work as advertised but still steal all your funds after enough people are keeping BTC and PTS on deposit there.

Hey Lighthouse!

Thanks for your concern, it makes sense after all!

I didn't know that other developers were coming out with an exchange, but seeing the disarray in the buy/sell subforums, I decided to pitch in.

The server's written in Node.js, and is doing quite well. I'd be willing to set you have a look at the code if you'd like.

I'm /r/Silfax on reddit, moderator of /r/Jobs4Bitcoins, and pretty well known over there, as well as coder for a couple big group buys.

All that said, the exchange is still in Beta, and might have some security issue I've overlooked, but I'm doing my best to please my customers.

[TwoKoolFourSkewl]

WHERE IS OUR MONEY?!

[marketp2p]

Sounds like not so sophisticated hacking, just got admin/hosting access。

I wonder how much liability DigitalOcean shares, if truth has been told. 


Edit: To send BTCs from wallet, as claimed by OP, admin/hosting account is not enough without knowing wallet password. Who on the earth is so sophisticated to do both?

[Wild0wnes]

Thanks for posting!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bubdubs]

(21:29) Silfax: The VPS instance that we were using to host the wallets (as of 1-2 days ago) got deleted. Why, not yet sure. I talked with the Digitalocean crew, and we're still in discussion about who might have done that.

(21:30) Silfax: There was one IP address that accessed the site that wasn't belonging to any of us, as far as I can tell, so I asked them for more specific details, and they should get back to me soon.

(21:31) Silfax: An IP on the same subdomain also logged into the server, and seems to have stolen the majority of the BTC deposits.

(21:31) Silfax: How on earth this person got access to the site /and/ the digitalocean account less than 24 hours after we set them up is not certain, hopefully things will become clearer when we get more logs from DO.

(21:32) Silfax: I've been able to trace where the BTC went to an IP that's /not/ a TOR node, so theoretically someone might actually be there? But I'm skeptical at this point.

(21:33) Silfax: I really am confused how this happened, and I'll keep you posted as it all unfolds.

[bubdubs]

Silfax any updates you can share?