Despite this, the GLBSE kept growing. Three days after Lambert’s fateful declaration, Nefario announced that the GLBSE would be releasing a new version of its interface – GLBSE 2.0. The new interface would be a major step toward pushing the GLBSE into the mainstream, and included a number of improvements in usability. First, the original GLBSE’s authentication system, based on users storing private key files on their computers, was removed, and replaced with a traditional username/password authentication system. Nefario describes the motivations behind the original setup, and its replacement, thus:
The mistake made was that we (at GLBSE) thought the issue was to provide an anonymous asset(stock) market/exchange, so thats what our time effort and money went into. What we should have been doing was building a market for people to raise capital for their business or idea in bitcoin, and make it as easy as possible for people to do that while trying to keep investors safe.[5]
Along the same veins, the GLBSE introduced a voluntary identity verification system, by which sellers could submit one or more pieces of identifying information, including address, phone number, email, Facebook account and a photograph of a widely recognized type of ID, to link them to a real-world identity. Users would see this information and be able to make judgments regarding their investments with this information in mind. Many legitimate businesses did submit such information, and trust in them improved, but many others continued operating anonymously.
The summer of 2011 saw a new type of security appear on the GLBSE: the Pirate Pass Through (PPT). Pirate was the name typically used to refer to a forum poster who went by the names Trendon Shavers and his forum handle pirateat40. He managed Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BST), an investment scheme that offered interest rates of up to 7% per week. The scheme expanded quickly, and evidence suggests that, as it was approaching its peak, its deposit
