The Third-Party Linden Exchange Services Two Months Later

It's been about two months since the Linden Exchanger Crisis in which Linden Lab briefly closed down the Third-Party Exchange Services. The result from the residents was an uproar, especially from non-US residents as they often had problems buying Lindens directly from Linden Lab. Most exchangers folded when the Lindens demanded they shut down. But one, the Podex Exchange, instead tried to reason with the Lindens. It was ignored and then shut down by force. Eventually, Linden Lab partially relented, allowing the exchangers to apply for approval as Third-Party "Linden Resellers." After a few weeks, Podex was back in business.

There were concerns that the market would be dominated by Linden resellers that were subsidiaries of real estate businesses, thinking they'd be able to offer the best deals. But this has not been the case. Of the top five exchangers on the Linden Dollar Authorized Reseller Program website, only one was known for it's sales of virtual property. AnsheX, the most well known, never even made the top ten.

In terms of Euros per 1000 Lindens, the top three exchangers were The Teledollar Cash Service, The Podex Exchange, and the ELDEXchange. Teledollar made the top of the list at 3.34 Euros needed to buy 1000 Lindens. Podex was second at 3.40 Euros. But, Teledollar only did business with US Dollars and Euros. The Podex Exchange worked with those and more, British Pounds, Japanese Yen, Russian Rubles, and more. Recently, they have began accepting Mexican and Colombian Pesos and Peruvian Nuevo Sols.

Podex also offer many more payment options, from Paypall, to credit card, bank transfer, and more.

So despite it's rough treatment from Linden Lab earlier, Podex is alive and well, and offering it's customers good deals.

Podex is a sponsor of Second Life Newser.

Bixyl Shuftan

List of Authorized Linden Sellers Expanded, Podex Back in Business

By Bixyl Shuftan

Almost a month after Linden Lab sparked a crisis by changing their terms of service to shut down Third-Party Linden exchangers, and over two weeks since an initial five "Linden Resellers" were authorized to do business, the list of companies residents can buy Lindens from has been noticeably extended. It's possible to once again possible to do business with many of those who shut their doors, or in the case of Podex had the doors shut for them despite repeated attempts to negotiate with the Lab. Podex is among the exchangers now back in business as "Authorized Linden Resellers."

"We are very happy to announce that Podex has been given permission to sell Linden dollars as a member of the Authorized Reseller Program" Jacek Shuftan stated on the Podex Website, "All our clients are welcome to buy Linden Dollars again."

Besides getting it's main source of business in Second Life back, the Podex Exchange has also made a deal with the OpenSim world "Virtual Highway." On this world which recently passed the landmark of one thousand registered users, Podex now offers business buying and selling Virtual Highway Dollars (V$) in addition to Visa cards and the "possibility to earn your own profit in our affiliate program."

Not all of the Third-Party Exchangers have been allowed to return to business yet. Some, such as Moneyslex and the Brando Estate's exchange service are still closed. But for the customers of many once-closed exchangers, their bank is back in business.

The Podex Exchange (http://www.podex.info/) is a sponsor of Second Life Newser.


Sources: Second Life Wiki, Hypergrid Business

Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab to Allow Several Third-Party Exchange Services to Reopen, Podex Still Closed.

In a partial reversal of it's earlier ban, Linden Lab announced earlier today that they will be allowing Third-Party Linden exchange services after all. But so far, only five of the many exchangers have met their approval. Plus, the services now operate under tighter and more limiting terms and conditions.

Now, to give users more options and make it easier to purchase L$, we’re launching a pilot program of Authorized Resellers of L$. These sites are authorized by Linden Lab to purchase L$ on the LindeX and then resell those L$ using a variety of international currencies and payment methods. To be clear: per the Terms of Service, these resellers will not be allowed to purchase L$ outside of the LindeX (i.e. they will not be able to buy L$ back from users and cash people out). The list of Authorized Resellers participating in the pilot program is available here.

So far, only five exchange services, now officially called Linden Resellers,  have been approved by Linden Lab. They are AnsheX, Buildo, vForEx, VirWoX, and ZoHaIslands. As of the writing of this article, only two had operational ATMs, Bulido and ZoHa. ZoHa announced the news on their blog, "We are proud to announce that ZoHa Islands became today an Authorized Reseller of Linden Dollars," followed by a short description of what this means and the conditions.

The Podex Exchange, which was shut down early Friday morning, was not among the approved exchange services. On the Podex site, Jacek announced they had applied to become an official reseller, but were still stopped from doing business. On "Hypergrid Business," he stated, "Undoubtfully, it is a great news for residents who are not able to use Linden Lab payment methods. ... It will lower the profits of independent exchanges but gives a sparkle of hope that we can continue our virtual existence."

The new terms and conditions are more limiting for the exchange services than before. From now on, they can only get their Linden Dollars from the official LindeX Exchange, and nowhere else. They can no longer buy back Lindens from residents for US dollars or any other currency.

These new terms mean Linden Lab now has a more tighter rein on where it's Linden dollars go. It's very likely they were made with the US Treasury Department's FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) new guidelines about virtual currency in mind. Other conditions include resellers taking steps to "take commercially reasonable steps to prevent and deter credit card and similar types of fraud." They're also required to make sure no business is done with or anyone from any country with which the United States has an embargo with, such as Cuba or Iran.

The new terms have one serious weakness. With residents unable to sell Lindens to anyone but the Lab, Second Life business owners dependent on Third-Party exchangers to convert Lindens to real currency are still out of luck. It's possible that there may be changes in the terms and conditions in the near future to allow this.

So why didn't Linden Lab offer something like this earlier? A few residents in forum threads and article comments thought the Lab was genuinely surprised by how many expressed anger at the move and how many were dependent on the Third Party Exchanges. Other posters expressed suspicion that all this was really about FinCEN, feeling profit was their main motive, noting everyone would have to use LindeX, including the resellers, one poster on SL Universe commenting, "This is a brilliant plan to let Anshe stay in business … ACS and the other land barons have all this L$ they get directly they can sell. Everyone else has to buy it on the Lindex, mark it up, and resell it."

Residents are breathing a sigh of relief, but Linden Lab has once again shaken the confidence of Second Life's users.

The Podex Exchange (http://www.podex.info/) is a sponsor of Second Life Newser.

Links:  Official forums, SL Universe forums, Gwyneth Llewelyn,  Hypergrid Business, New World Notes,  Hamlet Au,

Bixyl Shuftan