Perhaps this was a real scam initially, then he decided to pretend it wasn't, after-the-fact, to save his skin? It seems to me that leaving a shadow of a doubt as to his trustworthiness was a big, big mistake. Couldn't he have just presented the hypothetical to the community openly if that were his true goal?
Maybe he woke up when he realized he will be killed by the mob of vigilantes that will stop at nothing until he is found. Your life perspective might change when you suddenly have 10,000 people out to kill you.
If it wasn't, I hope he documented it somewhere or let some friends in on the secret. If he has no paper trail that this was always a stunt, I don't see his explanation working too well. I hope he offers his investments back to those who want it.
I am eagerly awaiting the third act in this saga, where it is revealed that the whole exit scam/"PR stunt" was a misdirection and the real scam is uncovered.
It's possible to be both factually correct ("it would have been really easy to scam you people!") and also an asshole simultaneously. The two are not guaranteed mutually exclusive.
FYI: I've put together a little summary with commentary in the Get Rich Quick "Business Blockchain" Bible (Free Online) - The Secrets of Free Easy Money with a Fast Exit Case Study thanks to Savedroid - https://github.com/openblockchains/get-rich-quick-bible Buyer Beware.
Fraud: "wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain."
I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think you can pretend to commit a crime without consequence. If he does generate publicity, it could be considered financial or personal gain. And the deception does seem wrongful, even if it was for a day. Also, there are laws against this kind of thing to prevent people from attempting a crime and then saying "I was just kidding. I wanted to make it look real so you'd know what it felt like if I actually did it."
In the US, suing for emotional distress in this scenario would be a slam dunk I'd imagine.
More than that though, who wants to work or do business with someone who thinks this is a good idea.
Was this shitcoin on exchanges aleady? If so, maybe the shitcoin headmaster in this case decided to change his plans from full on exit scam to massive dump and pump.
