Important Update (Please Read Before Using the Reopened Market)

[Defcon]

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Silk Road Community,

Merely three months have passed since our marketplace's first incarnation was captured by our oppressors. This was a brutal blow, but we are very proud that such a devastating compromise only resulted in one month of downtime. I chalk it up to an incredible crew surrounded by a fiercely passionate and supportive community.

Our movement's strength has been tested more in the recent months than across our previous two years combined. I am deeply honored to fight alongside thousands of determined warriors, and fight we will.

This past week our ship suffered major damage.

Three of our crew were lost, and our Captain was forced into exile.

Unfortunately as contingency plans were engaged, an even graver situation reared its head below deck.

Will this be the end of everything we've fought for? Will our movement be remembered as a cypherpunk fad, or as an unstoppable force?

I'm here to fight.

But I recommend that you take a deep breath.

Reopening

The market will reopen on schedule today, at 23:00:00 UTC. Your patience has been appreciated.

Our team has worked tirelessly through the Christmas break, and you’ll be pleased to see several new features implemented when you log back into the market. More features will be rolled out on a daily basis, check the Silk Road Discussion forum for daily updates.

But in order for this community to grow it is important that I remain as transparent as possible.

There is a pressing issue I want to make you all aware of. And I won’t play it down – it will affect many of you.

This is a very hard announcement for me to write. It would be far easier for me to follow in the footsteps of dishonest market owners, and blame this issue on a fictional bug. I now understand the inner conflict they were feeling when they decided to lie to their own communities.

I must be honest. Silk Road was built with integrity, and that means continuing to be honest with the community even if it will trigger severe backlash.

So, here is the issue, followed by our plans to resolve it.

The Issue

As you know, DPR has been absent for several days now. The good news is that the contingency plan has been followed precisely, and is mostly on track. I hoped to never need to play more than a silent role in this movement, and I am distraught that we needed the contingency plan so early on: roughly forty-five days after relaunch. But let’s be glad the plan was there.

When we began building the Silk Road's second iteration, we decided that our servers should store as few Bitcoins as possible to minimize risk. The list of marketplaces on the darknet which have been hacked for Bitcoins is far longer than it should be. Lessons haven't been learned by many administrators.

We implemented a cold storage system similar to systems used at many banks and Bitcoin exchanges. This system stored the majority of user and escrow balances on computers completely disconnected from the internet. Throughout the week, we would transfer funds to/from cold storage to ensure enough balance on on each server for projected daily operations.

It was an attempt to learn from the mistakes made on SR1, to protect your funds in the event of a catastrophic hack or server seizure.

Unfortunately this week we learned that this approach was not perfect, and we again find ourselves in the humiliating position of learning from a fresh mistake.

When DPR disappeared, Cirrus wisely encouraged everyone to withdraw all coins from the marketplace. In the aftermath, I ensured that the servers stayed online for an extra day, and deposited the majority of my personal funds into the server to prevent the balance from going negative as orders were finalized in the withdrawal rush.

The contingency plan worked flawlessly except for one critical failure: When DPR hit his killswitch, I was to receive an encrypted message with the keys to access the escrow cold storage. I am still waiting for it.

I cannot elaborate on the specifics of the killswitch mechanism or the Captain's present situation, as it will cause more harm than good. We do know for a fact that he has not been compromised or detained by our oppressors, and that he does not hold any information which would threaten any within this community.

After last week's mayhem, it is now apparent that we have lost ability to unlock the Escrow wallet's cold storage mechanism which contains over 90% of user escrow funds.

All Bitcoins in users’ balances are available and safe.

But all Bitcoins that were left in Escrow over the Christmas period will be temporarily unavailable.

In other words, if you have funds in escrow, you will not be able to access them yet even once they are released/refunded to you.

I take full responsibility for allowing this foolish single point of failure, and will personally commit to repaying all escrow balances within the next four months by working unpaid. All staff is on the same page with me on this.

To be clear: This does NOT apply to your Silk Road account balance, and it does NOT apply to any funds you deposit to the market (or place in escrow) from now onwards – it applies ONLY to funds that were left in escrow before Christmas.

What Will Happen In The Short-Term

For the time being, coins released to vendors or refunded to sellers from pre-Christmas escrow will be placed in a separate wallet on your account, which we will name your ‘Pending Wallet’.

Balances in your Pending Wallet will be temporarily unavailable for withdrawal until we are able to unlock the cold storage mechanism.

I want to be clear here that this restriction of coins will only be temporary – the moment DPR returns to us, escrow coins will be returned immediately. In the event that he does not return (and I am confident he will), we will be refunding coins on a bi-weekly basis from the commission the market makes.

For every two weeks that pass, we will split our market commission earnings between all users with Pending Wallets until everyone is completely repaid. Vendors and Buyers will receive payouts on the 1st and 15th of each month, starting January 15th.

In the worst-case scenario of DPR not returning, ALL coins will be returned by no later than May 1st, 2014. Until ALL coins are made available once more, ALL staff (myself included) have agreed to forfeit all compensation and commission they would normally receive, instead choosing to offer their salaries back to the community for as long as it takes for all users to receive access to the coins in their Pending Wallets.

A Longer-Term Solution

Two new features have been designed to help prevent this loss from happening again:

1. 'No-Escrow' Listings – Vendors will be able to opt-out of the Escrow system by listing items as "No Escrow". This completely bypasses our escrow system and is a truly free market.

This will allow you to bypass Silk Road fees, and forfeit the safety of escrow to deal with other users directly. PLEASE USE THIS WITH EXTREME CARE AND CAUTION – although this option will waive the Silk Road fee and therefore be cheaper for buyers, it should be approached in the same way as finalizing early.

Vendors: be aware that refusing to offer escrow will most likely drive customers away.
Buyers: please be aware that selecting this option puts you at greater risk – only ever deal directly with vendors you have complete confidence in, and even then, only choose this if you can accept the possibility of losing the money.

NOTE: We will be temporarily charging fees on No-Escrow listings until all Pending Wallets are completely refunded, then this will become no-fee option. Our top priority as a staff is to get the Pending Wallets refunded as quickly as possible, and charging fees on No-Escrow listings may help accomplish this before May.

2. Multi-Signature Bitcoin Cold Storage - We have rebuilt our cold storage process to use multi-signature transactions to make it much more difficult for Bitcoins to ever be lost again. This revolves around a voting system, where multiple admins hold the keys to the wallets. Many other improvements have been made operationally, which we will never disclose. We will also never disclose the size of the admin staff.

No-Escrow will be launching over the weekend, with a vendor-specific announcement. Cold Storage improvements have already been implemented.

A whole new set of features will be announced in a separate thread in the hours to come.

This has been a very difficult two weeks for staff, from the DDoS to our fallen crew. We are growing from our mistakes, and know there will be many justifiably-harsh words directed towards us. To the many out there defending our motives and standing by our side: we will not fail you.

Thank you for sticking together, and welcome back to Silk Road. I wish you all the best for 2014. May it be nothing at all like the last quarter of 2013.

On a personal note: I realize that many of you do not know me.

Trust in the darknet is more volatile than any currency, and it cannot be exchanged. It must be earned personally.

I intend to prove to you that leading this movement forward is my top priority in life, and that I will pour any time and energy necessary into ensuring its success.

You may not always see me here under this name but I am completely committed to ensuring this movement's immortality.

I take this responsibility very seriously, but don't trust my words alone. Over the next months, ask buyers and vendors with Pending Wallets if they are getting paid and watch for yourself if I am a man of my word.

While other admins may run away when calamities strike - I'm ready to fight right here alongside you.

May our past mistakes stay fresh in our mind. As often as the sword is sharpened, may we also refine our approach.

Defcon
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[dreadknot]

Thank you for keeping us updated and all your work !

[nzt48givesyouwings]

We understand, Defcon. This wasn't your fault and you're doing your best to resolve the situation. +1 on taking these important measures to continue to allow the site to function despite the difficulties. You're a champ!

NZT

[voxt]

Thanks for keeping us in the loop, Defcon. Any update on new vendor registration procedures?

[ChemCat]

Very Well Said!


Salute!


Hugs 


ChemCat


 

[lashesxo]

Much respect. 

[Raven]

This shit is going down as EPIC in the historybooks. 
Long live Silk Road, ALL HAIL Defcon!

[lostheaven]

Thanks for the info we understand this..Lets work farther with all people in 2014... and all the next years..


Lostheaven

[sniffsniff]

Thanks for the detailed update, Defcon. I'm very impressed with the new updates the team plans on implementing. Keep up the great work!

[Heavypsyplant]

[gammagoblin]

I have some funds frozen in escrow, but other than that, it's great news.

[CaptainWhiteBeard]

Thank you for all your hard work

[InspectorNorse]

Wow massive +1 on the repayment from the cold storage. This is why I love SR!
Not sure on the no-escrow option though... will be interesting to see how that plays out. I probabaly won't ever use it unless I have built a high (and I mean high) level of trust with the vender.
Thanks Defcon and the rest. Legends

[thecatisback]

Wow thats crazy who said they won't come back?

[smity1020]

Thank you Defcon, later if you come over to the green camel i'll buy you a drink on me for all your hardwork

[Revivalry]

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Salute to you Defcon, excellent work!

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[Magic Man]

Very nice to have such a detailed update. Will all current sales that take place in escrow be held until they can be released?

[thecatisback]

Lol I'm being psoitive but I loved the way he said "forced into exile" had to laugh at that.

[smurf2094]

That sounds amazing... I love this place

[worth-strut]

thank you for being so detailed. i'm a happy shopper/stoner   keep up the epic work!

[horse]

Mods/Admins: We can still use our wallets to make transactions normally? I have a sum of BTC I'm waiting to transfer in when the market reopens in a few minutes.

also thanks for being honest Defcon and everyone on the team, especially the three we lost and DPR. I hear Patagonia is nice this time of year

[stem]

thanks defcon for keeping us posted. as a long time sr user we only can hope for the best and see what the future holds.
             
    LLSR

[V]

Thanks to everyone for all your support during these trying times.

V

[Supersaurus]

In the worst-case scenario of DPR not returning, ALL coins will be returned by no later than May 1st, 2014. Until ALL coins are made available once more, ALL staff (myself included) have agreed to forfeit all compensation and commission they would normally receive, instead choosing to offer their salaries back to the community for as long as it takes for all users to receive access to the coins in their Pending Wallets.

If the staff are forfeiting their salaries - what are they supposed to live off for (potentially) 4 months? Surely they must be retaining some of their earnings.

[V]

Mods/Admins: We can still use our wallets to make transactions normally? I have a sum of BTC I'm waiting to transfer in when the market reopens in a few minutes.

also thanks for being honest Defcon and everyone on the team, especially the three we lost and DPR. I hear Patagonia is nice this time of year

Yes, transactions made from today onwards will be processed as normal.

Other than funds that were in escrow since before the Christmas break, it's business as usual.

V

[Revivalry]

In the worst-case scenario of DPR not returning, ALL coins will be returned by no later than May 1st, 2014. Until ALL coins are made available once more, ALL staff (myself included) have agreed to forfeit all compensation and commission they would normally receive, instead choosing to offer their salaries back to the community for as long as it takes for all users to receive access to the coins in their Pending Wallets.

If the staff are forfeiting their salaries - what are they supposed to live off for (potentially) 4 months? Surely they must be retaining some of their earnings.

It's not only an act of kindness, they are sticking to their word and duty as administrators of the road. In my eyes, it's a wonderful thing.

[DoctorClu]

We wish to see the road and everything it stands for succeed. It is a small sacrifice to see the Silk Road carry on.

[Tang]

Looking forward to being apart of this, hopefully for many years to come. Remember to stay secure everyone, PGP for all sensitive information is a must.

[SoCal Connect]

Good to hear. Thanks for the hard work and sacrifices SR staff. VIVA SILK ROAD!

[BigTenInch__Record]

It appears as though I may get to experience the pending wallet for myself!  I should be getting refunded here soon, and I'd rather have the money come back piecemeal as opposed to either loosing it all together, or having it get into the hands of a vendor who doesn't ship.

The transparency is much appreciated.  Once I read the whole thing I felt much better about it.

[Radius2000]

Much respect to Defcon and everyone else involved, and many thanks too for your continued hard work and dedication.

Long Live SR

[Supersaurus]

In the worst-case scenario of DPR not returning, ALL coins will be returned by no later than May 1st, 2014. Until ALL coins are made available once more, ALL staff (myself included) have agreed to forfeit all compensation and commission they would normally receive, instead choosing to offer their salaries back to the community for as long as it takes for all users to receive access to the coins in their Pending Wallets.

If the staff are forfeiting their salaries - what are they supposed to live off for (potentially) 4 months? Surely they must be retaining some of their earnings.

It's not only an act of kindness, they are sticking to their word and duty as administrators of the road. In my eyes, it's a wonderful thing.

Absolutely, but I had always assumed that for at least some of the staff, this was their main source of income. Regardless of how much I wanted to help any cause, I wouldn't be able to forfeit 4 months salary. Thats crazy.

Anyhow, thanks for the update Defcon. Look forward to seeing the marketplace open its doors 

[anontoker]

Thanks for adding staff and trying to keep a viable market for us. The forums got out of control there for awhile.

[AliceInWonderland]

Thanks for the update.

Spoken like a true leader.

Hopefully this will silence some of the trolls (I doubt it, but one can only hope).

[frenchguy]

Thanks for your hard work. You're doing the best !

[RICHARD_KUKLINSKI]

+100 !!

Very well written Defcon! i'm very impressed by your choice of words! Show these LE mofo's that this community has respectable warriors leading the way.

And all these new features and elements that are getting implemented into the market.......I just jizzed my pants. Our ship's sinking holes are being patched up!

Keep up the good work SR mods and others that are helping the community.

LE has lost another batlle in a war that they will never ever win!

Glad to know DPR is safe and waiting for an appropriate moment to return and lead the community to the promised land!


To a prospering 2014!!


RICHARD KUKLINSKI

[DreadPirateMushroom]

This is sad news but I am thoroughly impressed by the extremely professional response we are seeing from the team in these troubled times. Everything went completely tits up the second SR 1.0 got taken down, but in a way, that's when the fun really began. I feel like I am witnessing history, and I feel humbled just to be an insignificantly small part of it. 

I wish the team the best of luck in their endeavours and I do surely hope that 2014 brings a fantastic and triumphant year.

You guys are absolutely heroes of the highest nobility. I love you all.

Godspeed
DPM

[stadanko]

  Is there anyway to see the addresses of the funds in the blockchain tto keep up on the status and see if any movement occurs?
 Does DPR3 have access to these funds?

[hobgoblin]

  Is there anyway to see the addresses of the funds in the blockchain tto keep up on the status and see if any movement occurs?
 Does DPR3 have access to these funds?

No, there's no way to see the funds on the blockchain and read the first post again. It answers your second question.

[hobgoblin]

Props to the team! 

[carlos lopez]

This is truly a war.
Thankyou for your commitment.
I believe that if we survive the next few months the community will emerge as a formidable force.
Let´s stand together and win this fight.

[Cheese on Toast]

Terrific write ups on both recent threads by Defcon.
We cannot thank you and the team enough!

[yamaha123]

thank you and the admin team for their hard work!

[pancake man]

cheers...shame all this has to happen...truly for all the effort and non sense that we go thru for this the stuff shouldn't be illegal at the end of the day...

[misstripzdrugz]

Three cheers for the admins mods and the community as a whole!

[CrazyBart]

wait...what?

you guys transferred coins to and from cold storage every week to offline computers? Are you his roommate or something? even if you get a message with the keys, you dont have the wallets.....

[Breughel the Elder]

Will new vendors be able to list "no escrow" items right away or like FE will they have to complete a certain number of transactions before it's allowed?

[Stealth]

Thanks everyone for the support and thanks Defcon for the detailed explanation.  Together as a community we will continue to thrive.

[CaptainWhiteBeard]

'The Silk Road development team is currently on several different stimulants '

HAHA!

[lashesxo]

'The Silk Road development team is currently on several different stimulants '

HAHA!

Lol, I got a good laugh out of that, too! 

[chemicals_spain]

long life SR 2.0

[axeman30]

this is utter shit leys hope the repayment plan starts in alphabetical order

[Leaf of Amber]

+1 to you Sir!

I am proud to be part of this community. The entire staff really is incredible.

[calcium345]

I stand behind you Defcon.

[StevieHyperD]

Thanks for the update
+1 for using your own funds to let others get theres out.

[ManInTheMiddle]

Thanks Defcon

Glad to know there are still some solid ppl left to fight the battle

+5

LONG LIVE SR

MITM

[mortalwombat]

I have no dog in this fight, as I had no bitcoins in escrow during the affected time period, but, having said that, I truly appreciate Defcon's message of solidarity with people who did have bitcoins in limbo, and his sense of responsibility for getting the problem resolved soon even if it means postponing SR staff personal earnings.

It is a little disconcerting to not have a status update on DPR for over one week, as he holds the key to 90% of the BTC Defcon mentioned, but I'm sure there's a good reason for it and we will know as much as we need to know, sooner than later.

peace love & happiness, or a reasonable facsimile thereof

[Dr,Manhattan]

Im not a vendor so it does not affect me,but if I was I would be very happy with the offer
Cant be any fairer than that!

[charlie0711]

Nice work, Defcon.  I'm impressed.  And best of luck.

[howtodisapearcompletely]

+1 Defcon. And all staff working to pay back escrow that there not even 100% sure theyll even get back. Probably/hopefully they will but either way doing something selfless like this is the way everyone should be around here. That is if we all want it to work and keep working. 
Props to all staff.
Any new update on when the site will go on ?? Or are you guys just going on an amphetamine binge just for fun??  If so may I join??   

[murderface2012]

'The Silk Road development team is currently on several different stimulants '

HAHA!

I laughed my ass off when i read the SR home page!!

Props Defcon!!
Long live SR!!

[misstripzdrugz]

The Silk Road development team is currently on several different stimulants and racing to relaunch the marketplace.


This makes me imagine the 4 or 5 nerds from "Big Bang Theory" in a tech-ed out bat cave snorting meth and drinking redbull typing code until they crack out and start running around with tin foil hats lol

Keep up the good work and dont crash out too soon PLEASE! hahahhaa

[shashimartell]

Thanks Defcon, you are a champion of the community....peace and good vibs to you and the SR Community.....+++

[lashesxo]

Also, I think something people are missing is where Defcon stated he put his personal funds into the server so people could withdraw - that had to be a huge sacrifice for him personally as there was a mad rush of order finalization leading up to Christmas break. That says a lot for the man.

I'm on board.

Cheers,

Nero

This. All this.

[worth-strut]

Also, I think something people are missing is where Defcon stated he put his personal funds into the server so people could withdraw - that had to be a huge sacrifice for him personally as there was a mad rush of order finalization leading up to Christmas break. That says a lot for the man.

I'm on board.

Cheers,

Nero

This. All this.

that. all that

[Therapy]

+1 going to each of our staff/leaders.  I am very glad to be onboard this ship.

[ChipDouglas]

I feel like Defcon has risen to the level of the 'original' DPR, the one some of us were lucky enough to know/read, approx Spring 2012(for me) till late Summer 2013, when whoever that 'new' DPR was, took his place, it really felt like a substitute teacher at a US Public Jr High School.

That's my convoluted way of paying my respect.

Got a tear in my eye for crying out loud!~

Beautiful,  just beautiful man !

The situation is going just as I imagined it. - It's like Kismet man! I was assuring confused noobs (and others who should know better) this shit was going as planned~!

Thank You.

The End

~  Chip  ~

also I'm adopting your sig -  (no pm's w/o pgp)

[alibaba]

Alright,

I'm very impressed with how this has been handled by the staff. A sticky situation to be sure, but there is no better way to instill trust than to jump right in there with the vendors who are affected and give up their pay until the issue is all sorted.

Also, I think something people are missing is where Defcon stated he put his personal funds into the server so people could withdraw - that had to be a huge sacrifice for him personally as there was a mad rush of order finalization leading up to Christmas break. That says a lot for the man.

I'm on board.

Cheers,

Nero

I agree with Nero, if DEFCON put his own funds up, then I am in it till the end !
Anyone who does that has shown that they have what it takes.

GREAT FUCKING JOB, everyone, trying to get this thing of ours off the ground :-)

[quintillion]

Whens this gonna be done? He never put an ETA on the market reopening, aching to place an order

[wearesafe]

God bless all in 2014.
amen

[nw nugz]

Thanks Defcon and crew. I had some escrowed orders come in unexpectedly when the market did not close when I thought it would. I knew it was risky allowing those orders to stay over the Holiday. I can deal with waiting for the Btc and appreciate the commitment from the staff here to get us paid back. If all goes according to plan, we are fine with the explanation and plan. Who knows, maybe Bitcoins will go up by then <fingers crossed> :-)

[snowwhite421]

If you have had no contact with DPR2, how can you be sure that he has not been arrested? I mean really, its hard enough trying to find someone who may be in jail with name, dob, etc if you dont know where they may be. also, cold storage? one not connected to the internet? Waiting on a message with the keys to it? Does the message contain 3D printable design for the key to the physical location of these offline servers or something? I appreciate the work and all but this smells of "let us restore faith, slap some lube on it, and fuck em again.." You guys are asking for a whole lot of trust, and Im surprised the harsher criticisms havent came yet. I just see a lot of dick riding by a lot of people that are just praying their plug to either get money, or get fucked up doesnt disappear. STOP dick riding people, ffs, have some fucking integrity...

[madrocks]

does this mean that thebtc i have in escrow is going to be put in some "cold storage: without my say so and at the cost of the ordrs that btc in escrow stands to pay for? parson m for being rude, but ths is BULLSHIT! ALLOW THE VENDORES AND BUYERS TO FINSH THER TRANSACTIONS BEFORE YOU IMPOSE A HORSESHIT OBAMA TAX ON IT.  fuck this. i'm about to find a nw market devoid of this crap

[Abby]

the cynic in me is impressed, both with the release notes and with your stance on the cold storage.  Pity about the snidery about Sarge, particularly when DPR is airbrushed with a "forced into exile".  I'll give you 8/10 and reserve the right to downgrade when the marketplace is open and we can see if the quality of your deployment is as good as the quality of your words.

For anyone whinging about forcing buyers to encrypt their address, I'll just remind you that the US government takes a scan of the front and back of all mail processed.  With an unencrypted address and an approximate postage date, they can relatively easily go looking for the scan of the package to see if there's anything they can use to go after the vendor.  Xkeyscore makes it very easy for them to then join the dots..  Would they do it?  If the vendor is big enough, I'd say yes.

tl;dr Unencrypted addresses can be more dangerous to a vendor than to the buyer. 

[madrocks]

why cant i get my drugs. i put up the coin and now tyhe market says i get nine. i have 3+ btc frozen and am nit verycomfortable with that. I WANT MY MONEY BEFORE MARCH you chumps

[cactuschomper]

Thank you so much Defcon for all you have done, you are a hero to us all.

It's very honorable that you are accepting no pay to replace what vendors have lost.

The fact that the only thing lost was the escrow, and that being temporary(still a possibility), is really the best outcome of the worst situation. All I can say is PHEW! I'm so glad that is over, and great job team. Please take every penny of that commission, you all deserve it!

I hope you all still manage to have a great new year, roll up a fat joint, everyone here needs it!

[dev-null]

Defcon's message and his response to the problem makes 2 things very clear to me:

1. This a work in progress, that is, there is no such thing as a TOR black market website with a shopping cart prepackaged you can just roll out in a matter of minutes and begin taking orders. A lot of the technologies, its contingencies and failures are cutting edge and are being experienced first hand by all of us. Sort of like having to pay the consequences by needing to use systems that have yet to pass a certain level of professional-grade QA/QC validations, which is why we must always be weary of the technology(ies) and must take responsibility over our own security.

2. Defcon et al are as legit as you will get on this side of the wire. He's done a great job at not only keeping everyone aware of the situation at hand but has been as honest as he can be without compromising himself and others. I myself have not been affected by the escrow situation, but I hope those who have understand why it happened and can feel a bit better knowing that there's a commitment from the market on getting their funds returned to them with a set time line and not a simple "eventually".

EOL

[Furd838]

well I had one in escrow but went ahead and canceled it. I would not expect the vendor to send it and not get paid so I'll just have to wait it out.  Thanks for the update boss

[DrawkwarD]

You have my cutlass captain!

[StevieHyperD]

"1. 'No-Escrow' Listings – Vendors will be able to opt-out of the Escrow system by listing items as "No Escrow". This completely bypasses our escrow system and is a truly free market."

I don't like the sound of this. Have a feeling this will become the norm, but am hoping not.
If it does become the norm buyers will have 0 protection and SR will have 0 income.

There just seem to be to many scams going on recently (abatec, AoR etc). Still sounding the horn for multi sig 3 way escrow between buyer, vendor and SR. Make it optional from the buyer side.

[PureO]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

Silk Road Community,

Will you assure us that you and your changes will be permanent and that you will not be sidetracked, marginalized if DPR2 does come back and tries to gain control of SR??

You apparently have the full backing of the vendors on the vendors forum. 

[iqvirus2]

Wow, I don't know Defcon at all, but if his words and his resolve, is as good as his post then , and he follows thru with it , then I feel like we will surpass these last 3 months of hardship with ease !

LONG LIVE OUR FREE MARKET !!

IQ

[ACE]

Personally I find the words encouraging, but TSC alongside many other large vendors have been put through hell these last few months, first SR1, then SHEEP, BMR and now TORMARKET, We have lost more money in 5 months than many entire families make in a lifetime.  I assume other vendors have gone for a long time with only direct sales earnings coming through relying on the x-mas boom sales escrows to ramp up operations, the fact that we will not make anything from pre Christmas sales will force many of us out of any growth and many totally out of action until you can pay us and we can restock. Personally after the OPSEC measures we implemented in response to the arrests we have little capital left, enough for one more go. I hope for our customers sakes that the residual stock we have ia enough to get us going until we see if you keep your word... Im worried this ship is sinking, an now we have two choices, we have enough stock to start up on a new market. Or give SR2 a last try, if you fail us then we are out of the game. I hope you know that my trust in your promises weighs a lot on my conscience, my staff, many with families depend on the money I pay them to survive, many suppliers whose monthly visits form us ensures health care and food on the table. I really hope you know what you are doing. Your competence has far reaching consequences on real peoples lives, to be free, you need to be alive, I hope you are aware of this. TSCs future depends on you as do my people. I´ve trusted in this site not you, since the beginning, and I will trust you as its representative now. Do not let me down. Please do take this personally. Try explaining to a Moroccan farmer hat this month he will have to go without due to the situation you have mentioned... He has no clue what a cold wallet is, all he knows is that he expects me to come and pick up a delivery in the near future and give him the money he will need for his family to live on for the next month. I don´t blame you personally, but your actions over the next weeks will decide if history remembers us as a fad or or a revolution, no one likes to be remembered as a joke.
ACE

[Whatthefuck420]

Please guys I don't think DEFCON could help this AT ALL .... I fell bad for vendors but all we can do is hope for everyone's sake. This plan will work out for everyone I think.

[HappyEndingAU]

im fairly confident that DPR2 isnt coming back and that the reins will stay with defon and team.

i have money in escrow that i cant afford to keep there as i need it to restock, does that mean i cant buy stock to advertise on SR until
all my escrow is returned over a 4 month period?

i cant do business like that, all orders in escrow have been posted but i wont be totally paid for 4 month?

i understand the team is doing all they can but im guessing they knew about the coins in escrow before the break started but we weren't warned.

i tried to be a good honest vendor by offering escrow before holidays and now it bit me in the arse.

im not a big vendor by any means but what i have is all i have after loosing on sheep and putting everything i had into SR to make up for it and now im being screwed on sr.

just wondering, if we cancel the orders in escrow, will the buyer get his refund?

i hope i get my escrow earlier than 4 months cause i dont think i can keep business going without cashflow.

i already owe my dealer for what i have sold and not been paid for and my dealer doesn't know i use SR so how can i explain to him that he has to wait 4 months to get paid for the drugs that i have already sold.

i hope i still have kneecaps in 4 months when i can pay my dealer, id be better off breaking my owe kneecaps and save my dealer the trouble.

this is going to be a fun 4 months as i cant restock to resell unless there is a vendor out there that can help out by supplying me with stock to sell while paying them back as it sells.

[Euphoria]

I feel so sorry for the vendors, seems like they can never catch a break. I hope DPR returns or at least hope the vendors can get their cash soon. All I can really say is thank you to the Silk Road staff and the vendors for doing such a wonderful thing it's very much appreciated that's for sure. I feel one day these markets will run flawlessly without all the drama, can't wait until that day 

[Fckabich]

Please guys I don't think DEFCON could help this AT ALL .... I fell bad for vendors but all we can do is hope for everyone's sake. This plan will work out for everyone I think.

+1

[axeman30]

i feel bad for me .25 in escrow frozen in pending goodbye happy new year

[Dr,Manhattan]

CLASS,will always prevail

[thedevilhimself]

buggers  I'm glad its back though. I hope not to many vendors are bankrupt because of this.

[PerfectScans]

+ 1 Ace,

Safe to say, Ace had said pretty much it.

For many newer people, it might be easier. But for the veteran vendors, you know who you all are, this is without any shadow of a doubt. Live or die for SR2.

So to echo....

Defcon and crew, you really really better be sure you can and will handle this. As if this fucks up. There will NO faith or confidence left in SR, no SR3 Risen Again, and NO vendor on the deebweb will piss here.

We have all worked like mad men/woman for a year or more now, losses, re-builds, scams, closures and more hassle shit and stress than anyone can reasonably deal with.

We do this because we believe in it !!...and we WANT to believe in SR again, we want our dream back and our place to fight against regimes and give people freedom from the machine.

Defcon and Crew stay true !! loyalty between us is the ONLY thing that will keep us strong.

So...Let's Do This Shit....!!

and Forbes...feel free to quote me again "One More Into The Breach Dear Friends:) "

[Hatter13]

Thanks for the honesty. This is the way a market place should be run.

SR will again flourish.

I am kind of worried some vendors will take advantage of the escrow opt out.

But I hope for the best. Plus I know 1 thing I learned from the time SR1 opened, there are solid vendors that will not fuck you over.

Again thanks to the crew of this great ship we all call home.

[becks2013]

Good news although i think this no-escrow thing is a breeding ground for scamers but its ok its up to the buyer if its used or not. Anyway thank you for your honesty and +1 for the repayment plans.

[doppler]

can i suggest we add back the ability to send bitcoins to users (unless this is already in place and I cant find the option)
that way I can send bitcoins to the vendors I had money in escrow for as a measure of good faith.

[DrawkwarD]

can i suggest we add back the ability to send bitcoins to users (unless this is already in place and I cant find the option)
that way I can send bitcoins to the vendors I had money in escrow for as a measure of good faith.

This feature will be added in the next week or so.

[cRandom]

Just wanted to pop my head into this thread and say thanks to the team for making this choice. I don't know of many people who would make such a sacrifice. I appreciate that  you're trying to do this thing right.

[PillfirePharmacy]

I want to be clear here that this restriction of coins will only be temporary – the momnt DPR returns to us, escrow coins will be returned immediately. In the event that he does not return (and I am confident he will), we will be refunding coins on a bi-weekly basis from the commission the market makes.

For every two weeks that pass, we will split our market commission earnings between all users with Pending Wallets until everyone is completely repaid. Vendors and Buyers will receive payouts on the 1st and 15th of each month, starting January 15th.

In the worst-case scenario of DPR not returning, ALL coins will be returned by no later than May 1st, 2014. Until ALL coins are made available once more, ALL staff (myself included) have agreed to forfeit all compensation and commission they would normally receive, instead choosing to offer their salaries back to the community for as long as it takes for all users to receive access to the coins in their Pending Wallets.

Two new features have been designed to help prevent this loss from happening again:

1. 'No-Escrow' Listings – Vendors will be able to opt-out of the Escrow system by listing items as "No Escrow". This completely bypasses our escrow system and is a truly free market.

I like it Defcon!  I am sure more people will feel better about going through SR2 knowing that we can avoid being caught with our pants down.  I am not computer savvy enough to know how to hack and steal btc (even if I was, I still wouldn't though), but having some safeguards for people who still intend to do honest business appreciate your efforts.   Letting users opt for an escrow exempt listing really simplifies things.  Honest and professional venders know that running off with the quick stolen btc 's is much less profitable than building and honestly serving loyal clientele.  Thanks brother! 

I also really love the soon to be released mandatory PGP change.  I'm still amazed when I get unencrypted orders.    In my limited understanding of how hackers exploit weaknesses, letting an irl name and address be sent over the network and risking exposure is way too dangerous.  Stay safe everyone. 

I hope everyone has a blast on New Years Eve!  May the goods flow freely off the Silk Road!

[Hijinx]

Even though it sucks, this hiccup and it's followthrough may be just what this community needs to pull us all back together and restore some of the lost faith in dark markets...

Thanks for being honest, and keep fighting the good fight! I'm rooting for you, and us all.

[Wa1ter White]

Seems to me like DPR2 ran off to patagonia with the cold storage wallet?


How can staff say they will repay escrow funds by a certain date? What if the btc price goes up drastically, it would take a lot longer than at the current value?

Very impressed with the team if they do work for free to pay back the coin but i really hope something has been worked out now so someone cant disappear with the keys again....

[SimonBerumondo]

Thanks Defcon!

[V]

that way I can send bitcoins to the vendors I had money in escrow for as a measure of good faith.

This is the kind of attitude I love deeply.

Although there is currently no direct send feature, remember that no transactions from now going forward will be affected by this kind of glitch - so if you wanted to inform your vendor in advance followed by a token FE purchase, this could be a way around it?

Just thinking aloud.

V

[staind]

that way I can send bitcoins to the vendors I had money in escrow for as a measure of good faith.

This is the kind of attitude I love deeply.

Although there is currently no direct send feature, remember that no transactions from now going forward will be affected by this kind of glitch - so if you wanted to inform your vendor in advance followed by a token FE purchase, this could be a way around it?

Just thinking aloud.

V

Thankfully we shall be gifted with this feature very soon.

Dec 31st at 23:00:00 UTC - Tuesday Release

Users can transfer BTC Between accounts
Direct account-to-account transfers with no fees, outside of escrow. PGP authentication is required for this.

I am curious how the new features will be accepted by the community. How many percent will ditch the escrow in favor of a slightly lower price? Pretty exciting.

[EuHighz]

i recommend to create a donation feature like there is on paypal during checkout. ($1 donations to non-profits)
make a tick for every checkout where the user can opt to donate a percentage or a self-entered amount of btc (or giving the change they have left in their balance) in forward for paying the vendors.
also make that user-selectable if it applies to the vendor who is currently receiving the order, or donated to all vendors site-wise. also if the vendor doesn't have pending escrow left, donate it to the pool of all vendors.
sometimes even leftover change can make a difference, and imagine if it comes from 10-100-1000 customers daily...

also would recommend a per-order disposable btc address like the one was with sheep. where the leftover change could be donated towards the pool of missing funds

i can program this feature in ~24 hours in php, defcon just let me know if you want my help. i don't need access to anywhere on site, just a quick note that u will use this idea, and i can start

[sildenafil]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

Silk Road Community,

Merely three months have passed since our marketplace's first incarnation was captured by our oppressors. This was a brutal blow, but we are very proud that such a devastating compromise only resulted in one month of downtime. I chalk it up to an incredible crew surrounded by a fiercely passionate and supportive community.

Our movement's strength has been tested more in the recent months than across our previous two years combined. I am deeply honored to fight alongside thousands of determined warriors, and fight we will.

This past week our ship suffered major damage.

Three of our crew were lost, and our Captain was forced into exile.

Unfortunately as contingency plans were engaged, an even graver situation reared its head below deck.

Will this be the end of everything we've fought for? Will our movement be remembered as a cypherpunk fad, or as an unstoppable force?

I'm here to fight.

But I recommend that you take a deep breath.

Reopening

The market will reopen on schedule today, at 23:00:00 UTC. Your patience has been appreciated.

Our team has worked tirelessly through the Christmas break, and you’ll be pleased to see several new features implemented when you log back into the market. More features will be rolled out on a daily basis, check the Silk Road Discussion forum for daily updates.

But in order for this community to grow it is important that I remain as transparent as possible.

There is a pressing issue I want to make you all aware of. And I won’t play it down – it will affect many of you.

This is a very hard announcement for me to write. It would be far easier for me to follow in the footsteps of dishonest market owners, and blame this issue on a fictional bug. I now understand the inner conflict they were feeling when they decided to lie to their own communities.

I must be honest. Silk Road was built with integrity, and that means continuing to be honest with the community even if it will trigger severe backlash.

So, here is the issue, followed by our plans to resolve it.

The Issue

As you know, DPR has been absent for several days now. The good news is that the contingency plan has been followed precisely, and is mostly on track. I hoped to never need to play more than a silent role in this movement, and I am distraught that we needed the contingency plan so early on: roughly forty-five days after relaunch. But let’s be glad the plan was there.

When we began building the Silk Road's second iteration, we decided that our servers should store as few Bitcoins as possible to minimize risk. The list of marketplaces on the darknet which have been hacked for Bitcoins is far longer than it should be. Lessons haven't been learned by many administrators.

We implemented a cold storage system similar to systems used at many banks and Bitcoin exchanges. This system stored the majority of user and escrow balances on computers completely disconnected from the internet. Throughout the week, we would transfer funds to/from cold storage to ensure enough balance on on each server for projected daily operations.

It was an attempt to learn from the mistakes made on SR1, to protect your funds in the event of a catastrophic hack or server seizure.

Unfortunately this week we learned that this approach was not perfect, and we again find ourselves in the humiliating position of learning from a fresh mistake.

When DPR disappeared, Cirrus wisely encouraged everyone to withdraw all coins from the marketplace. In the aftermath, I ensured that the servers stayed online for an extra day, and deposited the majority of my personal funds into the server to prevent the balance from going negative as orders were finalized in the withdrawal rush.

The contingency plan worked flawlessly except for one critical failure: When DPR hit his killswitch, I was to receive an encrypted message with the keys to access the escrow cold storage. I am still waiting for it.

I cannot elaborate on the specifics of the killswitch mechanism or the Captain's present situation, as it will cause more harm than good. We do know for a fact that he has not been compromised or detained by our oppressors, and that he does not hold any information which would threaten any within this community.

After last week's mayhem, it is now apparent that we have lost ability to unlock the Escrow wallet's cold storage mechanism which contains over 90% of user escrow funds.

All Bitcoins in users’ balances are available and safe.

But all Bitcoins that were left in Escrow over the Christmas period will be temporarily unavailable.

In other words, if you have funds in escrow, you will not be able to access them yet even once they are released/refunded to you.

I take full responsibility for allowing this foolish single point of failure, and will personally commit to repaying all escrow balances within the next four months by working unpaid. All staff is on the same page with me on this.

To be clear: This does NOT apply to your Silk Road account balance, and it does NOT apply to any funds you deposit to the market (or place in escrow) from now onwards – it applies ONLY to funds that were left in escrow before Christmas.

What Will Happen In The Short-Term

For the time being, coins released to vendors or refunded to sellers from pre-Christmas escrow will be placed in a separate wallet on your account, which we will name your ‘Pending Wallet’.

Balances in your Pending Wallet will be temporarily unavailable for withdrawal until we are able to unlock the cold storage mechanism.

I want to be clear here that this restriction of coins will only be temporary – the moment DPR returns to us, escrow coins will be returned immediately. In the event that he does not return (and I am confident he will), we will be refunding coins on a bi-weekly basis from the commission the market makes.

For every two weeks that pass, we will split our market commission earnings between all users with Pending Wallets until everyone is completely repaid. Vendors and Buyers will receive payouts on the 1st and 15th of each month, starting January 15th.

In the worst-case scenario of DPR not returning, ALL coins will be returned by no later than May 1st, 2014. Until ALL coins are made available once more, ALL staff (myself included) have agreed to forfeit all compensation and commission they would normally receive, instead choosing to offer their salaries back to the community for as long as it takes for all users to receive access to the coins in their Pending Wallets.

A Longer-Term Solution

Two new features have been designed to help prevent this loss from happening again:

1. 'No-Escrow' Listings – Vendors will be able to opt-out of the Escrow system by listing items as "No Escrow". This completely bypasses our escrow system and is a truly free market.

This will allow you to bypass Silk Road fees, and forfeit the safety of escrow to deal with other users directly. PLEASE USE THIS WITH EXTREME CARE AND CAUTION – although this option will waive the Silk Road fee and therefore be cheaper for buyers, it should be approached in the same way as finalizing early.

Vendors: be aware that refusing to offer escrow will most likely drive customers away.
Buyers: please be aware that selecting this option puts you at greater risk – only ever deal directly with vendors you have complete confidence in, and even then, only choose this if you can accept the possibility of losing the money.

NOTE: We will be temporarily charging fees on No-Escrow listings until all Pending Wallets are completely refunded, then this will become no-fee option. Our top priority as a staff is to get the Pending Wallets refunded as quickly as possible, and charging fees on No-Escrow listings may help accomplish this before May.

2. Multi-Signature Bitcoin Cold Storage - We have rebuilt our cold storage process to use multi-signature transactions to make it much more difficult for Bitcoins to ever be lost again. This revolves around a voting system, where multiple admins hold the keys to the wallets. Many other improvements have been made operationally, which we will never disclose. We will also never disclose the size of the admin staff.

No-Escrow will be launching over the weekend, with a vendor-specific announcement. Cold Storage improvements have already been implemented.

A whole new set of features will be announced in a separate thread in the hours to come.

This has been a very difficult two weeks for staff, from the DDoS to our fallen crew. We are growing from our mistakes, and know there will be many justifiably-harsh words directed towards us. To the many out there defending our motives and standing by our side: we will not fail you.

Thank you for sticking together, and welcome back to Silk Road. I wish you all the best for 2014. May it be nothing at all like the last quarter of 2013.

On a personal note: I realize that many of you do not know me.

Trust in the darknet is more volatile than any currency, and it cannot be exchanged. It must be earned personally.

I intend to prove to you that leading this movement forward is my top priority in life, and that I will pour any time and energy necessary into ensuring its success.

You may not always see me here under this name but I am completely committed to ensuring this movement's immortality.

I take this responsibility very seriously, but don't trust my words alone. Over the next months, ask buyers and vendors with Pending Wallets if they are getting paid and watch for yourself if I am a man of my word.

While other admins may run away when calamities strike - I'm ready to fight right here alongside you.

May our past mistakes stay fresh in our mind. As often as the sword is sharpened, may we also refine our approach.

Defcon
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the right words have been found and we believe that they have been spoken from
a trustable person

[MrCrane]

Thank you Defcon & staff. I am honored to be allowed to fight at your side in this battle for freedom

-MR. CranE-

[DOSEO]

Im not seeing this "no escrow listing" feature yet?

Seems like a really solid plan:)

+DOSEO

[cocaleiro]

From the vendor POV:

* Lost money on SR1
* Lost money on Sheep
* Lost money on Tormarket
* "Pending" money on SR2

And.. we have the BEST prices for coke.
We don't play more than we can, but we are really thinking if it really worth.

I mean...

We trust on customer + we trust on markets.
Customer don't trust us to FE (with some exceptions)
Markets don't trust us even to tell customers they can FE, they tell customer they are taking higher risk.

When a market falls, they run with money, customers gets their product... and we get fucked!

[snowwhite421]

If you have had no contact with DPR2, how can you be sure that he has not been arrested? I mean really, its hard enough trying to find someone who may be in jail with name, dob, etc if you dont know where they may be. also, cold storage? one not connected to the internet? Waiting on a message with the keys to it? Does the message contain 3D printable design for the key to the physical location of these offline servers or something? I appreciate the work and all but this smells of "let us restore faith, slap some lube on it, and fuck em again.." You guys are asking for a whole lot of trust, and Im surprised the harsher criticisms havent came yet. I just see a lot of dick riding by a lot of people that are just praying their plug to either get money, or get fucked up doesnt disappear. STOP dick riding people, ffs, have some fucking integrity...

+1
Oh the criticism has been and long gone. Any posts asking that members read the defcon BS and comprehend it have been long since removed.
Trust is something earnt. Not taken!
here you have been told that your BTC has been misappropriated and you just move through like a flock of SHEEP and kiss ass in respect.
You have been taken by people who have done nothing to earn trust?
How can you respect people who show you none back?
Words are cheap as chips, lets see them backed by action, then thank them when they have earned their thanks.

^^^^this.

Im glad to see some people actually questioning whats going on here. The dick riders know they can only do one of two things, heap praise and ride nuts, or bitch and moan. neither is going to effect whatever the outcome is, Im just glad on my last purchase I FE'd and my vendor got paid. I have nada in escrow, but I think im done with this market, contacting legit vendors direct is going to be the way of the future for me, I may be at risk without bothering to work out an escrow with them, cause I cant be arsed, but at least we can make sure we arent going to get boned by market ops that expect us to believe this shit that sounds like something out of a movie.

[cocaleiro]

We should not believe it!

Its not a church here...
They have to prove!


They should provide us the address on the cold storage wallets... so they can prove they really have the money.
Or... really start paying with big amounts on days to come.

[Defcon]

If you have had no contact with DPR2, how can you be sure that he has not been arrested?

Every public word we post is closely monitored by our oppressors.

Some information will always need to be kept confidential in the interest of playing it safe, protecting this community, and protecting those of us in hiding.

We are positive that he has not been arrested. We cannot elaborate further without risking everything we are fighting for.

[Mr.Charlie]

I have some funds in escrow for a vendor, I feel bad now, but I've never dealt with him so my trust was minimal.

Just like with this market, I haven't seen much success come out of it, so I have little trust for it.
What good is the escrow system IF THERE'S STILL NO RESOLUTION CENTER? Vendors can still use escrow options and let it ride out to auto-finalize.


I'll be keeping an eye on this market, but I don't have much faith in it at this point

[knuckles]

Great! Hope this all works out much better this time around. Long live Silk Road

[undergroundresis]

respect !

[JolBol]

Defcon,
Salute, Thanks for all your work. We very  much appreciate it.

Peace,
JolBol

[Fckabich]

Thanks everyone for the support and thanks Defcon for the detailed explanation.  Together as a community we will continue to thrive.

TRUTH RIGHT HERE!

[wibo2k3]

If you have had no contact with DPR2, how can you be sure that he has not been arrested?

Every public word we post is closely monitored by our oppressors.

Some information will always need to be kept confidential in the interest of playing it safe, protecting this community, and protecting those of us in hiding.

We are positive that he has not been arrested. We cannot elaborate further without risking everything we are fighting for.

We understand. Security is always first to come about our community.

Keep going well Defcon.

Take care,

[43percenter]

WE are Silk Road...we could apathetically let the Road deteriorate and crumble into the river like actual infrustructure in the US or we can collectively take responsibility for maintaing it, and keep the commerce flowing, unimpeded.   Regardless of who is at the helm, it's US that keeps this thing afloat.   As long WE believe in this very righteous cause and make an effort to practice what we preach, WE WILL PREVAIL.      BECAUSE WE ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY.     

[lightshinesthrough]

What good is the escrow system IF THERE'S STILL NO RESOLUTION CENTER? Vendors can still use escrow options and let it ride out to auto-finalize.

Resolution center is coming on 3rd of January...check the feature rollout thread...
So there's hope

Btw.
Too much paranoia on forums lately, and people asking to prove something that is extremely hard to prove without putting themselves to risk.
I personally don't believe that LE is running the place all of a sudden, expanding the market place, making PGP mandatory... don't sound like LE, not to mention I think they would be legally in really shallow ground having full control and making deals happen...
Something/mod being compromised?   Sure, possible, who knows...  expect that it's likely when this version finally gets taken down LE to make similar copies of site action like they did with SR1...
Until then , take care of your own security... that's all you can really do...
And if one looks around , there is lot of positive signs now also next to the more negative ones...   

[Abby]

If you have had no contact with DPR2, how can you be sure that he has not been arrested?

Every public word we post is closely monitored by our oppressors.

Some information will always need to be kept confidential in the interest of playing it safe, protecting this community, and protecting those of us in hiding.

We are positive that he has not been arrested. We cannot elaborate further without risking everything we are fighting for.

Giving them such an emotive name means either you're losing your grip or you're trying to play to the peanut gallery.  Which is it?

just because I can...

[...]
Day number 774 I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other hand has got to be an informant, and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room his safety is assured. But I can wait -- it is only a matter of time...

[SelfSovereignty]

If you have had no contact with DPR2, how can you be sure that he has not been arrested?

Every public word we post is closely monitored by our oppressors.

Some information will always need to be kept confidential in the interest of playing it safe, protecting this community, and protecting those of us in hiding.

We are positive that he has not been arrested. We cannot elaborate further without risking everything we are fighting for.

Giving them such an emotive name means either you're losing your grip or you're trying to play to the peanut gallery.  Which is it?

You new, or just trying to influence people?  They've always been called oppressors around here.

[Abby]

If you have had no contact with DPR2, how can you be sure that he has not been arrested?

Every public word we post is closely monitored by our oppressors.

Some information will always need to be kept confidential in the interest of playing it safe, protecting this community, and protecting those of us in hiding.

We are positive that he has not been arrested. We cannot elaborate further without risking everything we are fighting for.

Giving them such an emotive name means either you're losing your grip or you're trying to play to the peanut gallery.  Which is it?

You new, or just trying to influence people?  They've always been called oppressors around here.

Defcon has a habit of sounding like an adult sometimes, so I forget that SR is based on some kind of post adolsencent angst.

[snowwhite421]

If you have had no contact with DPR2, how can you be sure that he has not been arrested?

Every public word we post is closely monitored by our oppressors.

Some information will always need to be kept confidential in the interest of playing it safe, protecting this community, and protecting those of us in hiding.

We are positive that he has not been arrested. We cannot elaborate further without risking everything we are fighting for.

sounds like something out of a tom clancy novel. I guess I lack the imagination to figure out how you would know he is not in custody, yet have not had communication with him, do not know him personally, are not watching him physically with binoculars, have him gps tagged, or anything. If he has not made contact with you, how could you be so sure? if he has made contact, why dont you have cold storage keys?  you can claim lack of transparency is opsec, but you guys are fucking with other peoples money, which potentially could have huge effects on their livelihood. some people or their loved ones could have retribution aimed at them if they are not able to pay off their debts.

*edit*
And I am not purposely trying to be a dick or ruffle feathers during what is being said to be a fucked up time, but it just kinda makes me wonder wtf is wrong with people when everyone is throwing blind allegiance and praise around.

[Mollycules]

Oh dear. Hope DPR is OK.

Best of luck with everything.

[DrawkwarD]

I still don't understand how DPR could have just forgotten to hand over the password to the bitcoins in cold storage.  I assume that you are sure the coins are still there and he didn't run off with them? 

[daddybee]

Wait, so I have a question and slight concern regarding the No-Escrow option.....

A Longer-Term Solution

1. 'No-Escrow' Listings – Vendors will be able to opt-out of the Escrow system by listing items as "No Escrow". This completely bypasses our escrow system and is a truly free market.

This will allow you to bypass Silk Road fees, and forfeit the safety of escrow to deal with other users directly.

NOTE: We will be temporarily charging fees on No-Escrow listings until all Pending Wallets are completely refunded, then this will become no-fee option. Our top priority as a staff is to get the Pending Wallets refunded as quickly as possible, and charging fees on No-Escrow listings may help accomplish this before May.

So, if every single vendor hypothetically opts for the No-Escrow listings, then how will SR2.0 and the team earn their money? They'd be running a site without any commission nor pay for their time invested in this site. I don't see how that can possibly be a "long-term solution."

It's highly improbable that this would ever happen but I'd think that the admins would want some sort of pay after 5 months of working without any (if the cold-storage is never released)....

I would imagine that if a vendor has  'no escrow' when you pay the vendor the money would go into a SR wallet first and then they would pay the vendor minus the SR commission.

[real pharmaceuticals]

Hello everyone,

Hope you all had a great Christmas, i cannot lie i am pretty gutted considering how incredibly hard we worked to get everyone's order out before the Xmas break, and now to find out we will not get paid , oh well swings and round about's ,  at least we got the feedback .

Thank you for the update. I am sure there are other vendors who have lost way more than us , well not lost postponed , and if the btc rises in value then its all good So will get a new dpr is he coming back ? I agree safety first always.

Happy new year everyone.

Kindest Regards

RP

[cyanspore]

my Christmas holiday escrow is about 50% released now and I can see it in the 'pending' wallet, so at least that is accounted for and accurate, even if it's tied up for the time being. I can also confirm a deposit I made has shown up in the normal wallet so nothing is actually missing

Ironically, because we psilocybe cyanescens hunters have had one of the worst years on record due to bad weather and have extremely limited quantity for the entire 2014 year, we have to be very careful with the little we have. So it's only limited releases at regular intervals, so that not a whole lot is tied up in escrow at any one time

Just over 1 BTC is tied up in the christmas escrow. That was mostly a special release for New Years Eve and even if that is lost it would take about 1 month to replace it

It could be worse like has happened in other markets, so I have respect for the staff under these trying times. As long as it's accounted for and doesn't go missing, I can wait. It's important that SOMEBODY on the deep markets have some integrity otherwise if 100% of the markets were scams the whole thing would go bust. So far as I know only backopy at BMR has proven trustworthy, other than here

I will stick around

[only]

Not good.

Defcon, I think we all deserve to know how much exactly is "unavailable". How much are you paid exactly that you could repay all escrow balances within next 4 months?

To be honest, I don't feel like shipping all my unpaid orders. I lost my darknet balance too many times in a row...

[WickedWords]

Bad news.

Luckily (actually unluckily), I don't see many orders come through, and the only order I got pre-Christmas finalised just in time.

Still, let's just wait and see if the new team are men of their word, eh?

Glad I had no money in escrow, and those who did, I hope things pull through for you!

[astonmarteen]

Thanks Defcon for the update all your hard work is appreciated....
just wondering when vendors will be able to opt for the "no escrow listing" option as I do not see it available. Also wondering how this will all affect the vendor bond deposit refund? Any clarification? Anyone?

[lightshinesthrough]

just wondering when vendors will be able to opt for the "no escrow listing" option as I do not see it available.

It should be coming later today... Checkout the first post in rollout plan thread to see how new features are planned to join the party . . .
   

[Fckabich]

WE are Silk Road...we could apathetically let the Road deteriorate and crumble into the river like actual infrustructure in the US or we can collectively take responsibility for maintaing it, and keep the commerce flowing, unimpeded.   Regardless of who is at the helm, it's US that keeps this thing afloat.   As long WE believe in this very righteous cause and make an effort to practice what we preach, WE WILL PREVAIL.      BECAUSE WE ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY.     

+1 Thomas Jefferson might not have said it better http://silkroad5v7dywlc.onion/Themes/default/images/post/xx.gif

[PillfirePharmacy]

just wondering when vendors will be able to opt for the "no escrow listing" option as I do not see it available.

It should be coming later today... Checkout the first post in rollout plan thread to see how new features are planned to join the party . . .
 

It's still not available.   Defcon any idea when this feature will go live?  It will save a lot of pm-ing and simplify listings greatly.

[Cornelius23]

I've just had a thought...

Would it be possible for commissions to be taken from vendor's Pending Wallets (until depleted) instead of from their live funds?

[Abby]

I've just had a thought...

Would it be possible for commissions to be taken from vendor's Pending Wallets (until depleted) instead of from their live funds?

that's a very good idea but I suspect they've finished the coding for it and probably don't want to revisit it (every time you make a change, there's a chance something else will break - it's the law of coding)

[EL PACINO]

anxious and confident on the planned new features great job

[McTavish]

anyone else having problems withdrawing? My account balance cant be withdrawn....kind of sketchy

[ToubaboKoomi]

Thank you Defcon!!!

[baller69]

Defcon - once again thank you for keeping us, the public, informed with honest information. 

[John Gotti]

instead of saying "we lost 3 of our staff members to arrest this week" why not say "so and so were not arrested but are in hiding"

these poor bastards sitting in jail, denying who they are being accused of and we are saying 'yeap, thats them"

if someone already said this i didnt read all 10 pages.

happy new year

[nw nugz]

instead of saying "we lost 3 of our staff members to arrest this week" why not say "so and so were not arrested but are in hiding"

these poor bastards sitting in jail, denying who they are being accused of and we are saying 'yeap, thats them"

if someone already said this i didnt read all 10 pages.

happy new year

+1^ That needed to be said more than once if it already was !

[Cornelius23]

instead of saying "we lost 3 of our staff members to arrest this week" why not say "so and so were not arrested but are in hiding"

these poor bastards sitting in jail, denying who they are being accused of and we are saying 'yeap, thats them"

+1^ That needed to be said more than once if it already was !

Indeed. +1

[John Gotti]

I guess you are the only 2 that agree. Speaks volumes of your character. kudus.

[nw nugz]

I guess you are the only 2 that agree. Speaks volumes of your character. kudus.

-1 for that ^ (not really -1, that's a joke :-)) I'm sure there are many who agree and few who care to follow this ongoing thread very closely. Also, 2 people saying basically "ya, what he ^ said" is usually plenty :-)

[HappyEndingAU]

instead of saying "we lost 3 of our staff members to arrest this week" why not say "so and so were not arrested but are in hiding"

these poor bastards sitting in jail, denying who they are being accused of and we are saying 'yeap, thats them"

if someone already said this i didnt read all 10 pages.

happy new year

This post should be as a sticky. i agree 110%

[turtlefever]

ERMEHGERD DEFCON THANKS FOR EVERYTHING YOU ARE SO SMART AND WE WILL STAND BEHIND YOU...


Sorry, wanted to see what itd feel like to get in on this circle jerk lol


I have no proof for anything but there are a lot of fishy things going on around here and my gut is telling me things are not what they seem to be

my .02

[DrawkwarD]

anyone else having problems withdrawing? My account balance cant be withdrawn....kind of sketchy

Just try taking out a little less than your full balance and it should work.  Like say you have 3.45 btc just take out 3.43

[javier]

instead of saying "we lost 3 of our staff members to arrest this week" why not say "so and so were not arrested but are in hiding"

these poor bastards sitting in jail, denying who they are being accused of and we are saying 'yeap, thats them"

if someone already said this i didnt read all 10 pages.

happy new year

you are assuming the people sitting in jail are indeed the "right" people.

if they are not, and the staff members are actually still at large, it would make perfect sense for SRs official position to be "yeah, these are the droids you are looking for, you can stop looking now".

maybe not perfectly ok from a moral point of view (as in having someone else go to jail for you) but excellent from a not-having-to-go-to-jail-yourself point of view.

[Cornelius23]

instead of saying "we lost 3 of our staff members to arrest this week" why not say "so and so were not arrested but are in hiding"

these poor bastards sitting in jail, denying who they are being accused of and we are saying 'yeap, thats them"

you are assuming the people sitting in jail are indeed the "right" people.

if they are not, and the staff members are actually still at large, it would make perfect sense for SRs official position to be "yeah, these are the droids you are looking for, you can stop looking now".

maybe not perfectly ok from a moral point of view (as in having someone else go to jail for you) but excellent from a not-having-to-go-to-jail-yourself point of view.

Good point

[biturbo]

This is complete horse shit.  I cant wait to say I told you so when Defcon pulls his dick out.  Praising prematurely will certainly end you with egg on your face.  man egg that is.  stupid fucks,  abandon ship.  I have spoken.

[nurseJackie]

go ahead and take action then and abandon and don't come back.

"I have spoken" no offense but your a Jr member your not some apostle, if you want to leave, then leave.  But don't think you are going to lead some revolution with people walking out the door, people are here for a reason.  There is a LOT of work to do here sure but it is the best chance at a legit honest marketplace!  Maybe you will get lucky and pull a  Jerry McGuire reaction and have 1 person like some secretary type lady follow you in abandoning ship, but most of the community is going to ride out the storm.

[wharrgarbl]

no offense but your a Jr member

I lol'd

[AnTa2f6y]

go ahead and take action then and abandon and don't come back.

"I have spoken" no offense but your a Jr member your not some apostle, if you want to leave, then leave.  But don't think you are going to lead some revolution with people walking out the door, people are here for a reason.  There is a LOT of work to do here sure but it is the best chance at a legit honest marketplace!  Maybe you will get lucky and pull a  Jerry McGuire reaction and have 1 person like some secretary type lady follow you in abandoning ship, but most of the community is going to ride out the storm.

\
what the fuck have imissed in the past 2 weeks since i was here??? am i good 2 buy still?
+1 by the way nurse, im only a junior here but been around quite a while and its the only market i have trusted so im staying on board!
+1 Defcon for keeping us up to date and taking the blame but no need you guys are doing the hard work and trying not get caught so we owe ye

[SCIdmt]

So the first payments are going out January 15th?  An how is it decided who is paid back first is it the people with thousands In escrow or alphabetical?  I'm just curious because being a vendor is hard when funds are locked up

[PillfirePharmacy]

So the first payments are going out January 15th?  An how is it decided who is paid back first is it the people with thousands In escrow or alphabetical?  I'm just curious because being a vendor is hard when funds are locked up

^^^Agreed^^^

Even though SR2 has it's share of problems, I think for the most part the Admin's here are honest people, and although we may be vulnerable to ddos attacks and LE, I wouldn't expect the current leaders to run off with the btc.  We shall see how paying back venders with funds locked in cold storage goes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

And for the record, ALL black market sites have vulnerabilities. None are 100% solid in every way. As Venders/Customers, we have to make the assessment of how much we are willing to spend/lose and proceed accordingly. I think most people at this point have found a handful of trusted venders to do business with, and sticking with them is a best bet.  Even if SR2 goes down, we can still get our product out to them once we have a good working relationship.  I've learned quite a bit from SR1, Sheep and Tormarket(I never went here - never even browsed.  The "Go Here" sign on the hijacked Sheep url was enough of a red flag for me).  I won't make those same mistakes again.

[dreamscape]

Who has the movie rights to this shit!
I tell you this story has more twists in it than any epic novel; that has to be worth the money I keep on loosing I have resigned myself to considering the losses as a payment subscription to an online soap opera ha ha.
Seriously though, getting high has never been so complicated, i loose whole evenings catching up on the state of play and working on how to 'place my bet' with the reward being a payout in drugs.
Might even have to build an Android burner phone with custom TOR ROM soon so i can keep up with it all on the move!

Here's hoping the drip feed of coins lost in cancelled escrow orders makes it way back as promised and that bitCoin prices don't tank before April making them worthless anyway.....

On a serious note, I apprecaite everything the guys are doing here, much more of a geek vibe here than the other glossy dupious markets which appear to have more of a mafia / organised crime backing!

[cocaleiro]

Once said, words can't go back.
We said very, very HARD words about DPR2.
Its hard times to SilkRoad, and it has been hard times to us.
Sometimes mistakes are made, and we (as a team) have made a mistake.
We didn't trusted DPR2, and accused this guy.
Admin didn't acted perfect with us, but DPR2 did !

We have our money back, now!
And we have just because DPR2 proved to be a very HONEST MAN !
Thank god this guy is safe now.
Our trust on Silkroad has been restablished now.
We will continue to sell on Silkroad, and inside escrow.
We love money, we love coke, but we also LOVE FREEDOM !

We choose SilkRoad as home because this have ideology !
We are a team of libertarian cocaine dealers.
We never buy coke from cartels !
We never buy coke from police !
We help farmers from Peru, Bolivia and some chemistry students in
Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
We do fair trade ! (and our product is fantastic!)
This place (Silkroad) deserve people just like us !

DPR2 have our trust again, and we want to excuse for all hard
words said.

Sorry DPR2 !

[Roadie]

Wonderin' if biturbo will decide to come back....................

[broken string]

Very impressive. Well done.

[McTavish]

i think ive already received my "lost in escrow" coins.....staff is working hard and came thru on their word...PROPS

[Cornelius23]

I tell you this story has more twists in it than any epic novel; that has to be worth the money I keep on loosing I have resigned myself to considering the losses as a payment subscription to an online soap opera ha ha.

+1 for this alone

Wonderin' if biturbo will decide to come back....................

[thecatisback]

The site is coming back look out look out!

[holog1n]

site is up and down or is just me?

[thecatisback]

Its just you although I have to admit the Vendors use to be a tad more relaible in the first SR.

[1ntoTh1nA1r]

I personally don't believe that LE is running the place all of a sudden, expanding the market place, making PGP mandatory... don't sound like LE, not to mention I think they would be legally in really shallow ground having full control and making deals happen...

    I agree fully. Guys... this is not a shill site. People are getting their gear and vendors are getting paid. What more do you want? Yes all of these features are fantastic! The mandatory PGP, Escrow, Resolution Center, Updated Forums, Attentive Staff etc.... Lets not forget what is actually going on here. YOU ARE BUYING ANY SUBSTANCE YOU WANT FROM YOUR COUCH AND IT WORKS!!
    I'm not saying that constructive criticism isn't useful and necessary, but all of this whining and paranoia? Not needed. This site has literally handed everything to us on a silver platter. The most important thing that we can do as members of this community is get to know your vendors, admins, and your peers [and fucking read once in awhile.. jesus]. Save their PGPs to verify. Make lasting friendships. This site is simply a personification of a network of people with similar interests who have come together and have actually made something of it. Imagine if the road disappeared overnight. If you were diligent in your trusted vendor contacts then you could STILL get everything you need. The Silk Road is an amazing SERVICE that does a lot of the legwork for us. Never forget that every time you place an order and get it in the mail, thousands upon thousands of man hours are spent behind the scenes to keep that process possible. Thanks admins, for EVERYTHING! I am afraid you may never see the praise you truly deserve, but know that you are deeply appreciated by the core of this community.

"There are truths and untruths, sometimes it is better to be a minority of one." ~Roughly Paraphrased Orwell

[WhiteOne]

site is up and down or is just me?

Site was overloaded for a moment but the second time it worked for me

[Nodnow]

I personally don't believe that LE is running the place all of a sudden, expanding the market place, making PGP mandatory... don't sound like LE, not to mention I think they would be legally in really shallow ground having full control and making deals happen...

    I agree fully. Guys... this is not a shill site. People are getting their gear and vendors are getting paid. What more do you want? Yes all of these features are fantastic! The mandatory PGP, Escrow, Resolution Center, Updated Forums, Attentive Staff etc.... Lets not forget what is actually going on here. YOU ARE BUYING ANY SUBSTANCE YOU WANT FROM YOUR COUCH AND IT WORKS!!
    I'm not saying that constructive criticism isn't useful and necessary, but all of this whining and paranoia? Not needed. This site has literally handed everything to us on a silver platter. The most important thing that we can do as members of this community is get to know your vendors, admins, and your peers [and fucking read once in awhile.. jesus]. Save their PGPs to verify. Make lasting friendships. This site is simply a personification of a network of people with similar interests who have come together and have actually made something of it. Imagine if the road disappeared overnight. If you were diligent in your trusted vendor contacts then you could STILL get everything you need. The Silk Road is an amazing SERVICE that does a lot of the legwork for us. Never forget that every time you place an order and get it in the mail, thousands upon thousands of man hours are spent behind the scenes to keep that process possible. Thanks admins, for EVERYTHING! I am afraid you may never see the praise you truly deserve, but know that you are deeply appreciated by the core of this community.

"There are truths and untruths, sometimes it is better to be a minority of one." ~Roughly Paraphrased Orwell

One of the few posts I agree with 100%

[Berry]

Defcon for president!
Well, it was jk but i think you are right man on right place.
Stay strong!

[anonymousGuy57]

Dunno bout u guys but i got a 'SITE OVERLOAD' Message linking me here..No new announcements..


O BTW when have any of these new features started that the poster a few above speaks of? Yes their great ideas. but an idea is just tht til something happen's..

[DoctorZoidberg]

Dunno bout u guys but i got a 'SITE OVERLOAD' Message linking me here..No new announcements..


O BTW when have any of these new features started that the poster a few above speaks of? Yes their great ideas. but an idea is just tht til something happen's..

Yeah that link needs changing

[redalloverthenet]

The site overload message is no big deal, I always get in the second try if that happens.

Onwards and upwards

[mastodonte]

sorry for posting out of topic but i actually been trying to get into SR all day its been 3 hours and half of smashinf my F5 i still havent been able to get in it is the first time that this happens that much time for me... usually as many of you said at the second try you get in... if anyone could bring some light about whats happening it would be great!
thanks in advance.

[CandyShop]

SEPARATE LOG IN FOR VENDORS PLEASE!!

[The_bandit]

Havent been able to get on all morning either. . .hope my vendor can get on so he can ship product though!

Is anyone currently on the market?? and if so is it running extremely slow? Refreshing usually works but hundreds of people mashing f5 probably isnt helping the situation. . .

[LysergicMagic]

Much respect. Shows how trustworthy the site is.

[ahh bisto]

SEPARATE LOG IN FOR VENDORS PLEASE!!

Candy just sent u a PM

[DrStrange]

sorry for posting out of topic but i actually been trying to get into SR all day its been 3 hours and half of smashinf my F5 i still havent been able to get in it is the first time that this happens that much time for me... usually as many of you said at the second try you get in... if anyone could bring some light about whats happening it would be great!
thanks in advance.

I haven't been able to login all day either, but it is probably because of the update launch. There's more information about it here:
http://silkroad5v7dywlc.onion/index.php?topic=15845.0

[mastodonte]

ok ill try again after 2000hs
 

[pancake man]

glad to hear about the dispute center this week...

[immortalQ]

anyone else having problems withdrawing? My account balance cant be withdrawn....kind of sketchy

McTavish is trying to blackmail me into FE'ing on a order he say's in shipped and now lost but he still wants me to release the funds , WTF is going on here???

[murderface2012]

anyone else having problems withdrawing? My account balance cant be withdrawn....kind of sketchy

McTavish is trying to blackmail me into FE'ing on a order he say's in shipped and now lost but he still wants me to release the funds , WTF is going on here???

Don't finalize until YOUR satisfied!!

[Christian2356]

where is this here announced NO ESCROW option ?

it is not available.

what must i do to get it/ use it ?

[dingwall_3]

escrow should be there matey   -)