2 days ago, Metta Dread Pirate Roberts announced that Project Black Flag was closing, and that he was taking the funds. To most, this may have arrived as a shock. To some, this may not have caused surprise. To all however, this will have shaken the communitys faith in the Onion Black Market Culture. To those who have lost funds, I hope you manage to recover quickly  weve all taken a serious beating this last month. October has not been good for our community. But let me make this very clear: November will see a new dawn arise, when Silk Road re-launches. Does this mean you can trust Silk Road blindly? No  of course not. In my own opinion, Silk Road is the most reliable of all the marketplaces, and the staff have put thousands of hours and hard work into making it as smooth and secure as possible. But while you wait for this ship to set sail, why not read through these words of advice, written as a result of Project Black Flags recent closure: 1.Never trust blindly, no matter how convincing something seems. Silk Road might be run by the original staff, and it might be the most popular up-and-coming option. But you should never trust anything blindly  the only things that are guaranteed in life are death and taxes. 2.Only ever play with money you can afford to lose. When keeping money in escrow, paying vendor bonds, paying for goods always, remember to only front money you can lose to afford. If you have $1,000 to your name, and you need $600 of that to live off, dont ever keep more than $400 in escrow, spend more than $400 on an order, or pay it as a vendors bond anywhere  assume that the $400 youre playing with be compromised. This is the only way to prevent financial disaster. 3.Always use PGP The deception we have seen proves that there are individuals willing to abuse our trust. In the case of Project Black Flag, this deception was the thieving of your funds. But it could have just as easily been unencrypted addresses, identifying information or more that was exposed and abused in order to turn a quick profit. There are many more lessons we can learn from Project Black Flags recent closure, but in my opinion, these are the most important. Stay safe. V