LukeConnell Vandeverre, Hope Capital's big boss, probably never imagined how much the name of the company would be appropriate. One can only keep hoping that the World Stock Exchange will open again one day.
On April 27, Vandeverre was telling the SL Newspaper that he was going to announce a WSE relaunch date within 5 days, after a long upgrade process. Yet, 36 days later, the WSE Web site is still saying that it is "shaping today for tomorrow".
My only guess is that WSE, after adopting the World Internet Currency, has decided to adopt a confidential calendar reform to make days longer. Understandably, many listed companies have chosen delisting and leaving since the closing in January. Others see their WSE assets stuck in a no man's land.
As more time goes by, it looks less and less credible that the WSE will be available again. If that it the case, this scam will have been the best planned of all in Second Life. Forget Ginko and the bank runs, those were too spectacular and amateurish.
WSE closed right before the Linden crackdown on "banks" and has allowed people to languish for months. It has forced its users to "convert" their money to the World Internet Currency, saying that the Linden dollar was not stable enough for its needs. Yet, the Linden dollar has been much more liquid and available than Luke's WIC since then, hasn't it? I'm glad I have been doing business with Linden dollars. I was able to withdraw profits and convert them into RL money. Could I say the same, had I been involved in WSE?
What if WSE does resume trading? Then, Mr. Vandeverre is simply incompetent and cannot be trusted with investor money. Major system upgrades take time, planning and parallel development. They shouldn't normally involve closing. In the extreme case that closing is necessary, it should be done for an extremely short period of time. Not months. After all, finance requires fluidity for confidence to stay high.
No matter what happens to WSE, SL finance is losing credibility. Wait, does it have any left?
Podex is officially registered company specialising in exchange of Linden dollars.
