ETA on Agora's return?

Hey, with recent events like these playing out:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/3iveu8/agora_new_announcement_we_have_returned_the_most/

How much longer do you figure Agora will be down? Or do you still think they'll be down for good?


Comments


[12 Points] None:

my guess would be a while. i mean it's one thing to return everyones money (that sure was nice of them huh?) but they also refunded vendor bonds whichs makes me think this will be an extended break. that said i also think if they were done for good they would say so.


[9 Points] knotmyrealname:

I don't think it is coming back. But I loved it while it was up.


[9 Points] Vendor_BBMC:

When you see all the things that happenned to Ross, blackmail and extortion by the police, DDos attacks etc, I think that johnny Tightlips INTENDS to "do a Backcopy" ie retire for good.

We all know that he has enough money, that to lay low and spend the rest of his life in a mansion by the beach would be the sensible thing, and when i used to chat with Agora's owner (it was always one guy. who alluded to a second guy) we discussed what constitutes success or failure for a marketplace.

I argued that the first marketplace where the owner successfully pre-announced retirement, then retired was the sign of a success. At that time, everybody had either robbe all the bitcoin, or tried to go on and on until they were busted (It looked like backcopy had just shut BlackBank for maintainance at the time, January 2014).

That's what he THINKS he will do, I reckon. But consider the nature of the darknet.

The darknet is like your house when your Mrs goes to visit your mum for a week. Your first instincts are drugs and porn

After a week, you look at the haunted eyes of the bearded figure staring back at you from the mirror, and you get your act together. better get rid of these pizza boxes, she'll be back soon.

But lets say she isn't coming back. You are invisible, and you can be whoever you want to be, because you're pseudo-anonymous. Most people would use their invisibility to watch women undress, and to steal money. They can get away with being a scumbag.

Some people, like Agora's owner, decide to be heroes online. But in a virtual environment, there is no limit to the size of scumbag or hero you can be, except for LE.

Johnny Tightips called it "a pause in operations", and Agora is still in beta He may think its over, but he will have a holiday for the first time in years, but on the beach he will be on reddit on his android. getting bored. Missing it.

Sipping coctails. Thinking about code. How to make agora reliable.

Agora was a normal marketplace until a year ago, when it became THE FIRST BITCOINLESS MARKETPLACE. BITCOIN NEVER TOUCHED IT, OR WENT THROUGH IT, SO ITS INSIDES COULDN'T BE MAPPED USING THE BLOCKCHAIN.

How do I know this? Because SheepRoadreloaded2 had it mapped for the British Tor Vendors Association. Then suddenly the commission wallet stopped doing anything. If we trade on your marketplace, expect to get your bitcoin subsystem mapped using a bitcoin barium meal. Then don't steal bitcoin, because unless you've got your own exchange, or you will be fucked. I'm sure all marketplace owners know this now.

The radical thing about agora (apart from being owned by a good man) was that it was like a casino with a merry-go-round outside in the car park. When you deposited bitcoin, they were exchanged for agora casino chips. You used these chips inside to buy drugs, use escrow, pay commission, get partial refunds etc, while your bitcoin went for a ride on the big wheel in the car park (a tumbler)

When the adults cashed in their chips, they were handed lovely clean laundered bitcoins which hadn't done anything illegal. That's quite brilliant. Its a good job he didn't rob us, because he would have got away with it.

Unfortunately, the fairground was just bolted on, with belts and gears and pulleys that used to come loose. People could still trade in the casino, but not get their bitcoins in or out - that's why it had so much down time. That, and because it kept doubling in size.

You can bet that he will sit on the beach, and instead of planning that bitcoin exchange to launder his money, he will be thinking about redesigning agora to be bitcoinless FROM THE START, and how to port over the user database and all the feedbacks

Personally, I think he has only just got started being a hero. Agora (or whatever he calls it) will be the best marketplace from a safety and reliability standpoint. but more importantly, you will know that you can trust it's owner. That's worth all the multikey escrows in the world. it will dominate, and other markets will have to up their game.

MY THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

While you've all been talking about agora, you missed something that TrappyPandora (alphabay's paid "Excusemaker General") said. Coupled with the wallet problems it had yesterday, I think anybody stupid enough to trust professional fraudsters with bitcoin are about to get their second lesson in September 2015. Websites always silently re-code their wallets before an exit scam. There are no BTVA members on alphabay, and there will be no Evo-style marketplace warning. It's russian financiers and Alpha02 will be gone, and trappyPandora will be pretending to be innocent. "I noticed strange things going on, but wasn't sure. I was only doing my job".

Don't let TrappyPandora off the hook, and don't trust the cannabis vendor he was associated with. He KNOWS.


[6 Points] _-________________-_:

Don't hold your breath, my guess would be the beginning of 2016 at the earliest.

At the latest, never. Is there any incentive to return at this point?

People say "they returned vendor bonds because they're going away for good". Maybe, but imagine if they hadn't returned vendor bonds, every vendor here would be complaining about being scammed. I'm still 50-50 if they'll come back.


[5 Points] william_junior:

They said they might need to rewrite major parts of their software stack. Also, it sounded like they're going to reassess the general risk situation associated with tor. So I would guess 3 to 6 months.

They might just as well call it a day though, if they feel they've earned enough and that any prolonged exposure just isn't worth it. Or hand the thing over to a different team.

I'd expect them to make an announcement though, no matter which turn this is going to take.


[2 Points] None:

ive got money on 4 weeks.


[1 Points] Trappy_Pandora:

Once other markets have soaked up enough of their users that their servers can handle the stress.


[1 Points] -lobali:

I believe at the current time they believe they will return but took care of any possible business like withdrawals and vendor bonds in case it either takes an extremely long time to rethink the strategy or it turns out that they believe the risk is no longer worth the income.

I also believe they fear the latter, but believe there's hope of the former, and they've been very straightforward with public announcements as long as they've been in operations and off the top of my head the only mistruth I hear from them is "We will have you dispute solved "soon," which again I suppose is wishful thinking to the point of belief.

I think they will stay in contact minimally but based off pervious behavior I think should they decide to reture they will make a formal announcement.

The only real correct answer to this question in my eyes is "it's anyone's guess". He's laid low since minute one, and I believe that's the reason he was spared Onymous and other issues other markets have. But for now, I think they are doing their absolute best to make it happen.

(Note: totally lobali the poster and not lobali the mod position.)


[1 Points] iwilldeletethisa:

It will depend on HORNET


[1 Points] theevoinsider:

I would be surprised if it ever came back, the "security issues" were a final fuck you to all the other market operators


[1 Points] auto587643:

What they're doing isn't a simple job. My guess is that they'll be down for a significant amount of time. Could be weeks, but it also could be months. There is also a chance they may never come back, but it's too early to call. Just gotta wait and get the details as they come.


[1 Points] SICK_AS_FUCKKK:

Who cares? Go to where ever your favorite vendors are.

Your local McDonald's down the street closed? You don't just not have McDonald's for the rest of your life, you go a bit out of your way and goto a different McDonald's. Same food, different location. Same vendor, different marketplace.


[0 Points] None:

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