I missed Steem and the beginning of Steemit by about two weeks. I read that when it first launched and you joined Steemit, you had 10,000 Steem in your wallet. Just imagine a month later and that's worth 30 or 40 grand! This got me paying closer attention to Synereo and AMP. Luckily my dad invested in AMP way back in March of 2015 during the first crowd sale. I myself, invested when AMP was still pretty low in price. We love altcoins and trade them actively. It's a hobby if you will. We have also been chasing the "Next Bitcoin" for a few years now.
So, I had told a friend, Jon, about Steemit and he joined. We talked a while later and I mentioned Synereo to him. First , know that my friend is a complete virgin to crypto currency and such. His first contact with the like, being here on Steemit.
So I told him where he could score bitcoin, Coinbase and he's all set. I've been investing again lately in AMP and he wanted to also. I buy mostly on Bittrex, just my preference currently. My dad and I use others exchanges for certain coins. Anyways, Jon wanted to buy also and decided to buy into the "pre crowdsale" and then again at the official "Second Crowd Sale'. He waited to get a portion of the million bonus AMP they offered the first 24 hours.
I had warned him back then of buying his AMP only from a bitcoin wallet, preferably Omni wallet, as that's where AMP was created. Another reason is that Synereo sends the AMP back to the the bitcoin address the Bitcoin was sent from. If it's from an exchange or from any wallet that has more than two sets of private keys, you can't retrieve your AMP.
This had almost got me before the first crowd sale. I had used a blockchain wallet and was able to import my keys to Omni. My dad actually messaged Dor with Synereo on Facebook in 2015 and asked questions about why they weren't more outright in telling people which wallet and why? We think they were ashamed that it was a crypto asset or token on Omni's blockchain and not a real coin. Anyway, my dad told him plainly then that he needed to simplify the process or he was going to deter the average Joe investors forever.
Their Conversation:
dad: so if I send Btc to that address, how will they know which email address it is tied too? or where to send my amps? or will they come to my btc wallet?
him: to your BTC wallet.
dad: not very clear for non-tech folk
dad : it says this on the page. 🙂 "You must send BTC from an address under your direct control. Can you export your private key? If not, please set up a new account at omniwallet.org. We will not be responsible for funds that are sent from wallets you cannot fully access."clear as muddy water seems almost like ya'll trying to be too technical for your own good,people aren't going to spend money on something they clearly don't understand,imho
him: care to help phrase this better? what's the main thing here that's not clear?
dad: just my 2 cents,scared me away,proceed as you wish
him: I want to fix this. what scared you?
dad: You must send BTC from an address under your direct control. Can you export your private key? If not, please set up a new account at omniwallet.org. We will not be responsible for funds that are sent from wallets you cannot fully access." please use a personal wallet,one that you control(not sent from an exchange). Once we receive your BTC and the crowdsale ends,your amps will arrive via the same wallet make it crystal clear imho
him: thanks. we'll move the more technical stuff to the FAQ. much appreciated, sorry for your trouble earlier
Knowing this, leading up to the pre crowd sale, I asked Jon questions about how he was purchasing and all and he explained he bought in early through Bnk to the Future who is hosting it and was able to pay with a cash transfer and was holding his bitcoin for the Crowdsale to get in on the bonus AMPS. He won't even recieve his AMP until the funding is over in October..kind of scary already. Well he bought them and we talked today and I about freaked! When you click on their page to buy AMPS, it prompts you to click not, Bnk to the Future, but to Synereo sale instead if you're using Bitcoin.
So, Jon followed the link for Bitcoin purchases and it didn't take him to Bank to the Future, where he had been buying, but to:
The smallest writing on the entire page says: Synereo cannot send AMPs elsewhere. We recommend using Omniwallet for your AMP transactions. You can later keep them in cold storage. Well, unfortunately, it appears Jon missed the fine print and sent his bitcoin to sale.synereo straight from Coinbase. A year and a half later and still this level of confusion or trickery!
My dad messaged Dor of Synereo again on Facebook today, on Jon's behalf :
dad: Hey man congrats on the huge sale today. My friend who I told about amps, bought with cash from banktothefuture,where will his amps be sent? He's new to crypto and worried. Also,he sent bitcoin today from his coinbase account buying more, how will he receive these as well? thank you for your time.
him: He'll have an email request for an address at the end of the sale.
dad: Even for bitcoin sent from coinbase?
him: Yes, but that only using BTTF.
dad: Thanks for answering I know you must be really busy today
I then relayed the above messages to Jon and then began to think. Why would they direct you to buy bitcoin anywhere but from a foolproof seller? Why have "Bitcoin purchases here" if it's a booby trap? When clearly from his message today, you can send the Bitcoin from anywhere when buying from Bnk to the Future and still get your AMP?
Clearly there's a problem. Why wasn't the disclaimer about the Omni Wallet only, in BOLD RED print at the very top?
Jon's out a Bitcoin it seems and I feel like I didn't warn him enough. How do you think Synereo feels with that free Bitcoin? I know, out of 2.5 million dollars of purchases in the first 6 hours, that Jon wasn't the only one. I seriously wonder just how many people got burned? I leave you with this... Why would a site talking about revolutionizing social media make it so damn hard to be a part of it? The average joe would never know what to do.
as far as I could tell, it creates a flag with the public key (bitcoin address) based on whatever is sent to their multisig wallet. as long as you own the private key for the bitcoin address you sent the funds from, which should be automatic with an HD wallet, you should be able to sign the tokens to be released and sent to whatever other public address you want.
it was confusing for me as well, but I would bet this friend 'Jon' didn't lose it, based on what I could gather.
I sure hope so.
exactly , sounds too damn difficult to me
I know AMP will be valuable in the future but they could have a way bigger audience if it wasn't so difficult. I keep wondering when the actual site will drop and we can start using it..
Dude I'm even confused just by what you've said in your post. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that I didn't buy through the official sale? (I also dabble in altcoins as a hobby and have a few amps on poloniex that I play up and down with right now)
I didn't buy directly from the site and don't recommend it to anyone. I got them all on bittrex when the price was down.
I don't like the look of things with Synereo/AMP. They're already selling AMP at an inflated price, since it was going for .00031 on Sept 19, and could be had for as low as .00029 yesterday. Even with a 1,000 AMP bonus, .00033 isn't a great price.
After the bonus round, there's no real incentive to buy AMP at their asking price.
I don't think they'll be around for the long-run. When AMP bottoms out, I might pick some up to trade, hoping for a bounce, but I won't be risking more than .2 BTC.
But on topic with the article, your friend will probably be ok and should probably get his AMP...eventually.
I just think after being developed for 2 years and raising over 2 million the first day..AMP should be a big deal.
seems like they are using the investors money to trade and profit with before having to return it in the form of amp at the end of the sale..... these guys are slick...
Made the same mistake. Sent BTC directly from Kraken exchange.
When the sale is over, I will ask Kraken if there is a possibility to get my AMPs, but I have not much hope. Its clearly my fault but you are right, there MUST BE a big warning!
Uff, as it was 2 weeks ago I didn´t remember correctly, I also sent through http://bnktothefuture.com/ :)