They apparently know money markets and trading in them at the very least. With that in mind, here’s what they say about Second Life:
What you’re left with is lots of people putting USD in, and a small group taking those USD out, leaving the rest with no financial claims on anything - just an imaginatively sexy avatar.
Now that kinda jumps right to the conclusion of the article, but even with all their knowledge and so on, they could have just asked me and I would have told them the deal up front. No one is making money in Second Life. It’s a trick and scam. Well, if you’re looking to make money. If you’re just looking to spend money, it’s awesome.
They do give more details though:
It turns out that inside the game, counterparty risk is tremendous. In fact, entire banks will suddenly disappear. Or banks will simply renege on obligations without recourse. Worse yet, the very people who provide the source of nearly all demand-liquidity within Second Life, those guys at the top of the virtual playpen pyramid, are the same ones who effectively set the SLL/USD exchange rate.
So if you’re trying to make money in SL, you’re not only not has happy as one of those puppies with two peters, you’re also funding a very few people at the top of the “pyramid”. So I was wrong with my no one is making any money in SL statement above, apparently a few fat cats are. That’s great.
So they decide it’s a pyramid scheme and if you’re looking to make money, Second Life is not that place. No matter what Linden Labs would have you believe.
What Would Matt Do: Laugh and point? Yeah, that seems about right.