Raymond Baxter created BRO, LGN and CINE.
(Source)
What he ultimately intended for them only he can speak to, but what they became is a disgrace on Hive. While those of us who invested in the tokens may not care to remember these events, we must record this moment in Hive history. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and this cannot happen again.
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The BRO Discord
This server no longer exists in its prior form. It does, however, live on as The Pub. The BRO server was a place where everyone could relax, chat, have fun, talk about investments and other happenings on Hive in a carefree environment. It's what most people could've dreamed of in a Discord server. This spirit still lives on in The Pub. If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, then join us: https://discord.gg/ZHsT4pahkT
(Created with Bing)
The Flame
In the last few months leading up to the collapse, things started to change. Raymond Baxter seemed mostly himself, but others like @opidia AKA Cherie joined the group. The two seemed especially fond of each other and close, despite Raymond being married. Whether this was romantic or merely platonic, we may never know for certain.
Suddenly, channels started to change. Things took on grandiose names akin to something out of Dungeons and Dragons. Raymond began to speak in riddles and alluded to a "Harvest" coming. The Flame was created as a community where invite-only members posted and received curation. Raymond Baxter began promising great rewards and, once unveiled, telling people not to worship him. He said it was happening tomorrow and to be prepared. Many thought Raymond had lost his mind.
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Descent Into Madness
A few days passed. Messages promising a Harvest continued, and we all just needed to wait for "the spark" to trigger it all. We waited, others questioned, and it seemed nothing was happening.
I woke up one morning, checked the Discord and Raymond Baxter had abruptly announced that BRO and LGN were worthless, and to sell all of our tokens. A panic ensued and people dumped their tokens, causing the prices to crash. Raymond began kicking people out of the Discord channel for questioning what was happening.
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Further Down The Rabbit Hole
Raymond began posting bizarre messages from his @brofund account, alleging that various Hive users were conspiring against him. He threatened to expose these suppsed "networks" for all to see.
It came to light that Raymond had taken out substantial loans with @neoxian and @themarkymark. He was robbing Peter to pay Paul in a desperate attempt to stay afloat long enough to see the surge in popularity of The Flame. Raymond declared he would not repay either of the two who had loaned him funds.
Opidia AKA Cherie migrated to The Pub. It was discovered she was very close with Raymond. She claimed to be innocent of what was happening. Others said she played a part in Raymond's undoing.
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Chairs and Crowns
Raymond Baxter proceeded to post from the @brofund account and started offering a "chair" in his kingdom to people he felt hadn't wronged him, slandered him, etc. Most of those in The Pub were of course excluded from these "benefits."
Raymond created a new BRO server. It had fewer channels, and either the channel was set to delete messages after a period of time, or he and/or others were deleting what he/they didn't like. New characters like "Brittany" and "narcokiller" popped up there and in The Pub. Opidia AKA Cherie joined as well. Cherie and narcokiller hurled insults at anyone in both servers who asked questions about what happened, since one of the theories was she was in on all of this given how close she was with Ray. Theories abounded and confusion was everywhere.
(Created with Bing)
The Mad King Arrives
The entire time all of this was happening, Raymond Baxter referred to himself as the "Mad King." He arrived in The Pub and started talking with people about what happened. He offered no apologies. He gave excuses and promised he would pay Neoxian and Marky (themarkymark) back.
Suddenly, "Brittany" revealed herself to be a friend of Raymond from Snapchat. Narcokiller claimed to be Opidia AKA Cherie's lover. It was discovered that @stickupboys, who had left Hive months earlier and systematically replaced all of his posts and comments with a single "a," had helped Raymond by creating @thevaultoffire to keep ownership of the Hive-Engine tokens.
Raymond agreed to return the SWAP.GIFU tokens but retained all other tokens. With no real apology, he then left the server.
(Created with Bing)
Embers in The Ashes
It seemed Raymond Baxter was gone. Members of The Pub were rebuilding GIFU. Things were getting back to "normal" as we all moved forward as best as we knew how.
A week or two went by and suddenly @brofund posted again. Raymond declared he was moving to Blurt to rebuild. Some tried to reason with him. I tried contacting him to return the 2000 DUO tokens he had originally traded us 2000 LGN for, which were now worthless. He responded with insults and threats to expose "receipts" and "dark web searches" if anyone attempted to try and press charges against him. Raymond went quiet after that.We thought this was the last anyone would hear from him. He never appeared on Blurt. In the same manner that @stickupboys left Hive and tried to erase every post and comment he made, Raymond did the same by replacing everything with "." The only problem with this is the edit history and original data are there forever.
(Created with Bing)
The Fraudulent Phoenix
Weeks later, a member of The Pub found Raymond Baxter was building again. They posted a link to his Discord server (https://discord.gg/ZHsT4pahkT). I joined and started talking with him. He asked if I came as friend or foe. I told him I was neutral and curious what he was building.
He explained realized he couldn't build on Hive or Blurt. He was starting with Web2 and his website, Alchemy Defined. He planned to gather a following like he did before. Loyalty of those who joined would be tested through a series of trials. After he amassed enough followers, he planned to build his own crypto token and platform, just like Hive, but something he controlled.
We talked and surprisingly enough, he apologized to me. He explained that he went crazy and told everyone to sell their tokens, which set off this series of events. As a gesture of goodwill he returned all of the DUO tokens he had been keeping in the @vaultoffire account out of spite. I thanked him and I even wrote a post in his new server as part of the first "trial."
Then, I caught a glimpse of the same strange talk that sparked theories of Raymond going crazy. It was Raymond typing, but the text said it was "Queen" talking. He said they were aware of each other and she protects him, and once Raymond's wife had passed and he was done mourning her, they would be united.
(Created with Bing)
Epilogue
I relayed to others in The Pub what Raymond Baxter was doing and building. It wasn't anything nefarious, but to simply help others make sense of things more and help other find closure. We all lost money. Raymond apologized to me but not to many, many others. Soon after, I found I had been banned from his Discord server. I'm sure he's working away, thinking he'll be able to build his dream platform.
There are multiple problems with his idea. The biggest one is his use of this Queen persona in the Discord server. It gives the appearance of him being schizophrenic, which he admitted he is and struggled with in the past. That doesn't inspire confidence. In chatting with @hurtlocker, I believe his theory. He and I believe Opidia AKA Cherie is still involved, watching and telling Raymond what to say, which he then posts from his account. It gives the appearance of being schizophrenic, but when you consider all of the history between the two it would make sense.
The other problem with his idea is what he wants to build is essentially what STEEM is now. Justin Sun owns it and Hive was created as a rebellion against this centralization of the platform. People will never accept it.
Lastly, you can't build anything successful on fraud, lies or deception. Just like dark, stormy days never last forever and the sun eventually shines through, the truth illuminates and exposes misdeeds of the past. When people realize what everything is built on, the foundation crumbles and everything collapses. The truth always wins.
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