(NOTE: If you have been away, you should catch up on recent events: http://silkroad5v7dywlc.onion/index.php?topic=12055.0 ) Silk Road Community, As you are aware, a critical part of our emergency Contingency Plan failed last week. Despite this failure, staff received a message yesterday which imparted incredible news. The Captain is a man of his word. He has returned the majority of the escrow cold storage wallets, and is working with us to restore the remaining private keys from backups. 70% of all pending balances and escrows will be repaid within the next twelve hours, and the remaining 30% will be repaid on Monday. We are distributing the escrow to the top 70% of users first who had the most BTC at risk. This involves custom accounting code, so I am pushing back today's release of new features to Sunday to ensure no corners are cut. You will notice thirty minutes of market downtime today while we reconcile the balances. On behalf of staff, we are incredibly grateful for your support during this very stressful time. Your supportive reactions to our grim announcement were very unexpected, and made this fog of war way easier for everyone to navigate. This is one incredible community. I am now confident that, had the worst case scenario occurred and if today's date were May 1st 2014, most of you would still be here supporting us. That level of commitment is completely unheard of in the darknet. If we can remain this strong during difficult times, I have no doubt that this movement will withstand any trial thrown at us. The Captain has decided to remain in hiding until further notice. He is safe, and his PGP key was not compromised. He has confirmed his identity using all of our contingency methods. Captain - thank you. You have made massive personal sacrifices for us, especially over the past month. May none of us ever fully know your story. May your mother never post from your Facebook account. You had the opportunity to take everything like a true "criminal", yet you remained loyal to our cause. Such an exhibit of admin honesty is unheard of in darknet history and a huge inspiration to us. Let our Captain's selfless actions reaffirm that we are a movement first and a marketplace second. You are Silk Road. By participating in this community, you are playing your part in a pivotal turning point in world history. Governments are losing control. Power is in the hands of the people. We will tirelessly defend free trade and free speech until it's no longer a crime to do so. If you're only here for money, go ahead and become an FBI informant. Our movement does not live for profit. Silk Road exists to liberate the world from economic oppression. Defcon UPDATE: 100% of cold storage has been returned.