“The biggest bank in the virtual world of Second Life has closed its doors after a run on its deposits, putting at risk hundreds of thousands of real dollars of savings and investments.”
Op donderdag is gestopt met het accepteren van storingen, bevroor het alle terugtrekking en zette het de saldo’s van rekeningshouders om in “tradeable debt securities”
Dat een gerucht in de financiële wereld kan leiden tot grote paniek op de beurs is bekend, dat is ook in de virtuele wereld niet anders. Maar de omwisselkoers in Second Life staat onder druk.
Doordat er ineens massaal spaargeld werd omgewisseld bij de Ginkobank is die in de problemen gekomen, de kas van Ginko is flink geslonken. Die vrije val dreigt nu ook voor andere banken waardoor er een economische crisis op handen is.
In a note posted on the Ginko Financial website and on its network of virtual ATMs, the bank said it had been forced to take the action after a run on its deposits that was triggered by a recent decision by Second Life’s owners to ban gambling in the virtual world.
San Francisco-based Linden Lab ordered the ban after reportedly inviting the FBI to examine gambling activities in its 3D world. Legislation passed in the US last year makes it a crime to use credit cards or online payment systems to make bets on the internet.
The Ginko notice said the bank began “experiencing a wave of withdrawals” after the ban was announced on July 26.
“This led the funds we keep in reserve for day to day use to be exhausted, which evolved into a full blown panic depleting even our last line of cash reserves and resulting in the current situation, with about L$50,000,000 [$US185,000] queued up for withdrawal.”
