Online Betting Site Intrade Faces Liquidation

[alp227]

Source: NYT

The online betting Web site Intrade, which gained widespread notice for serving as a predictions platform for elections and non-sports-related events, is facing liquidation because of a $700,000 cash shortfall, a development that comes a month after it halted trading and froze its customer accounts.

Intrade’s director, Ronald Bernstein, said in a statement that the shortfall resulted from unspecified actions by two other parties, whom he did not name. The potential liquidation was first reported late Friday by Business Insider,

“We are now very confident about the reasons which caused the current circumstance of the Company; however, for legal reasons we are not yet at liberty to document them to you,” the statement said. “I can confirm that the company, if it is able, intends to vigorously pursue two substantial monetary claims against two distinct parties for an aggregate amount greater than $3,500,000.”

“If the Company is not able to rectify this cash shortfall position very quickly, the Company will become insolvent and therefore is very likely to go into liquidation,” the statement said.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/online-betting-site-intrade-faces-liquidation.html

[tomm2thumbs]

1. I'd wager they didn't see this coming nt

[TXcourtney]

2. Rally cry! I beg of you...

I'm sorry but I have to hijack this thread because I don't have enough posts to start one of my own. I am not a Democrat but I ventured to this site in hopes and engaging in some stimulating conversation. I am a person who respects other peoples perspectives and is just interested in hearing viewpoints opposed to my own In hopes that we can have an intellectual and hopefully eye-opening conversation that will better each and everyone of us.

From what I've read so far on this site I can see that you are all frustrated with the current state of how the government is run, and the lack of accountability of representatives by constituents. As a former Republican I can say I had the same concerns, and I still have the same concerns now as a libertarian.

The biggest concern for me, and I think for a lot of the American public, seems to be In regards to the amount of power that big corporations and lobbyists have over the Legislation that our government produces. As the party in power, I urge you Democrats to please demand that the influence of big corporations and lobbyists be eliminated from political power.

I know that we may not agree on all issues, but one thing is certain and that is that if the corporate and lobbying powers continue to to control influence with the government, We will never have a free market society or any chance at individual prosperity.

[TexasTowelie]

5. Welcome to DU.

You will find plenty of posts on DU that are mindful of your concerns about the corporate agenda so I urge you to read on, especially in the Good Reads forum. While a variety of topics are discussed here and you may not agree with others, for the most part people exercise civility in the various groups and forums.

This Website has a dim view on the Citizens United ruling by the SCOTUS. It also tends to favor progressivism/socialism versus plutocracies/fascism so please try to maintain an open mind to the opinions that are discussed.

I also encourage to select the Forums & Groups tab to select various groups to subscribe to that are of interest. Of course, I'll also push the Texas Group. There are times that I'm serious, but I'll also attempt to employ some humor into my posts and a few of us pick on each other in jest. Note that if you see "NSFW" in a post title it means "not suitable for work" so use your discretion before clicking on it.

I hope that you enjoy yourself on your visits and look forward to future posts from you.

[OKNancy]

6. did you read this before you signed up?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

[Cooley Hurd]

8. guessing not...

[In_The_Wind]

10. Another oops!

[SunSeeker]

12. I call bullshit. Sorry.

If looking for "eye-opening conversation" on the issue of corp. abuse of power is the reason you joined DU under false pretenses (you admit you are not a Democrat and apparently vote libertarian, as a "former Republican&quot then why did you choose to hijack this thread about Intrade's financial troubles? It is odd that this thread would be your choice as opposed to all the other threads that actually do talk about corp. abuse of power, such as this thread just a few posts earlier in the same LBN forum: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014446108

If you were really concerned about corporate abuse of power, you would not be a libertarian, and you sure as hell would never have been a Republican. We already have plenty of trolls here. We don't need more.

[SunSeeker]

18. Yes, you are confused.

You are not a liberal. You are not working to help elect Democrats. You joined under false pretenses and are violating the Terms of Service.

I did not criticize you for changing your political views. As far as I can tell, you have not changed your views; you just went from one conservative party to another conservative party. I criticized you for being a libertarian while at the same time claiming to be against corporate abuse. The Libertarian party, like the Republican Party, believes in corporate free reign, which has been disastrous for our country.

This is not a forum for conservatives to engage liberals. It is a forum of liberals by liberals for liberals. If I wanted to engage with conservatives and Paul-bots, I would go over to HuffPo or any MSM site.

You are of course free to read the posts on this site, as any nonmember would be. But you are not welcome to come here and proselytize your conservative viewpoints.

[cyberswede]

20. Excellent post!

[geek tragedy]

14. Fuck Ron Paul. nt

[w4rma]

15. I agree, TXcourtney. (nt)

[NutmegYankee]

3. Serves them right

They canceled all accounts of US citizens a few months ago.

[Uben]

4. I trust no on-line betting sites.....

If there is a way to cheat they will find it....and do it. It always happens. Anyone who places a wager on-line is a fool.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

7. this is sad to me. I think the whole idea of Intrade is briliant and hope

they somehow stay afloat. I had tried to join - but they didn't accept US debit cards

[Sunlei]

9. This was a very interesting website to watch at the last election. What was really strange,

at the very last few days of the election a couple of people? entered a lot of money on romney to win. "Two substantial money claims against two distinct parties"

wonder if those 2 people with that kind of cash to squander on a game, expected to win and then gamed the payment.

[sofa king]

11. I'll bet one of those parties was the Republican Party.

I don't know this, but it seems fairly safe to guess that last year the GOP, awash in cash, much of it difficult to trace, freely engaged in manipulation of Intrade last year, possibly more than we already know about:

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/10/intrade-manipulation-fail.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/10/should-presidential-campaigns-spend-more-money-manipulating-intrade/264000/

And of course as soon as the GOP was whipped, the money would be instantly cut off, and their artificial influence would partially deflate the entire operation.

The Donald Trump wing of the party, which probably controls the front company or individual(s) in question, would prefer to walk away from the debts and fight it out in the courts while they continue to make interest on the owed money. If you can kill the company in the process, the debt collection can be delayed for years and years.

[SunSeeker]

13. I agree. The Repukes are always looking for ways to game the system.

Looks like Intrade is their latest victim.