Alana Semuels writes: "Within moments, there was a meltdown."

I have been a resident of Second Life for over a year. The collapse and then ban of banks from Second Life did not even impact my experience. From my perspective, the people who started banks were experimenting. They were trying to make a go of it. The people who deposited linden dollars in a bank were taking an investment risk. The risk did not yield a return. It was a gamble that did not pay off. How is this different from a person investing in stocks using a broker, say Charles Schwab for example? Does the investor get to sue Charles Schwab the investment firm if the stocks fail to produce a profit? The percentage of ...

Alana Semuels writes: "Within moments, there was a meltdown."

I have been a resident of Second Life for over a year. The collapse and then ban of banks from Second Life did not even impact my experience. From my perspective, the people who started banks were experimenting. They were trying to make a go of it. The people who deposited linden dollars in a bank were taking an investment risk. The risk did not yield a return. It was a gamble that did not pay off. How is this different from a person investing in stocks using a broker, say Charles Schwab for example? Does the investor get to sue Charles Schwab the investment firm if the stocks fail to produce a profit? The percentage of people who invested in banks is very small compared to the percentage of active residents in Second life. I only know of one person who lost money in their investment at Ginko bank. Was there a meltdown? Perhaps within the very small, very self contained financial community of Second Life.