Update (30 September 2017): I typed the below conversations out instead of using bandwidth-hogging screenshots because the screenshots were already easily findable at the time, but now they’re not, so I’ve uploaded them here if anyone wants to verify anything: https://github.com/JSterling8/jsterling8.github.io/tree/master/images/richard-heart/proof
- TL;DR
- How I Learned of Richard Heart
- The Explosion
- Red Flags I Alluded To
- The Panama Debacle
- Changelog
TL;DR
I asked Richard Heart some questions and told him he raised a lot of red flags for me. He revealed his name as Richard James Schueler with this article via Twitter. I still had questions regarding the red flags. He sent a thinly veiled threat to me. I let people know. I wrote this article to cover everything in an organised fashion.
How I Learned of Richard Heart
I first learned of Richard Heart a few weeks ago when he interviewed Roger Ver. I then went through and watched his interviews with Chris DeRose, and generally liked his content, although I disagreed with some of his points. I got in touch with him to get an outline of his upcoming book, and then joined his Discord community. I learned he was working on a token, and due to my technical background got into his private group of “Certified Geniuses” on his Discord. I liked his content, I liked his book, and his token stuff looked interesting - he had my attention. I read hundreds of pages of his book outline, and privately sent him feedback, section by section. It’s pretty safe to say that I was becoming a fan.
The Explosion
All of the private messages were posted by Richard Heart on his own Twitter. They were also posted in The Briar Patch Telegram group. I’ve publicly left a screenshot of the veiled threat on my twitter. In Chris DeRose’s Telegram group, The Briar Patch, which had about 200 members at the time, Richard Heart was discussing the tech behind what he eventually wanted to do an ICO for, and I asked the question:
@RIchardHeart - if you’re serious about this and are going to be doing an ICO or raising money, why not tie it to your real name and identity? I assume your name isn’t really Richard Heart?
Until stated otherwise, all of this is in a public group chat with hundreds of members. His Response:
What’s tom cruises name?
What’s tony robbins name?
I konw
do you?
Show biz uses better names
not worse names
I’m in da showbiz
When it’s useful, I shall
Me:
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
The point is I can easily find their true identity. Yours I cannot.
Why not?
Richard Heart:
When I start asking people for money
and signing legal documents
I will be using my real name
Or do I need to dox myself early
for you
Me:
Fair enough. Only point I wanted clarifying.
Richard Heart (finishing his earlier point - we were both typing at the same time.):
Why would I do that?
Me:
Did yourself? What do you mean?
Dox*
My name is tied to everything
It’s my real name
Richard Heart:
Why would any oldcoiner dox themselves for shits and giggles?
like there’s no fucking threatmodel
Me:
Because when starting a cause or business, transparency and honesty are vital.
Unless
Richard Heart (threads get a bit mixed here as we’re both typing at the same time):
Out of curiosity, if someone put a gun to your head, and said give richard money right now, or I’ll shoot you
Me (continuing the ‘Unless’ part of my message above):
There is significant threat to you doing so
Richard Heart:
You’d be pretty fucked wouldn’t you
cause you literally can’t give me money
Me (still finishing my sentence):
Like in the case of Satoshi
Richard Heart:
because I literally don’t have a single place where I ask anyone for money ever
at all
so tell me mroe about how I should dox myself…
WHEN I ask people for shit
THEN I will dox myself as is fair
Me:
I understand. Just wanted to clarify that going forward if you want to be the face and leader of this thing, that you’ll use your real name.
Richard Heart:
not a moment before
Me:
I’m sure the internet could dox you anyway if need be.
Richard Heart:
I’m gonna have a token in 30-60 days
so it’s not like they’re going to have a lot of time
before I do it
Nate Anonymous:
dont you have to solve a lot of hard problems before you have a token?
Richard Heart:
lol
you don’t know much about tokens I guess
Nate Anonymous:
well, i guess fuck it. do it afterwards right
fair point
Richard Heart:
I’ve already got too much
by far
I have a real working product
now
that’s already too much
Me:
I’m just saying, publicly, that I think the whole thing is suspect. I’m not saying it’s a scam or it’s not, but I’m saying I see red flags.
Richard Heart:
haha
tell me about these flags plz
Me:
If you address them ahead of receiving money from the project (in any form), then okay. Until then I advise. people to be skeptical.
Richard Heart:
Yeah, I want to hear about da flagz
ok, so the flag is, you don’t have my CV
any other flags?
Me:
I’ll write a blog post about it in the next few days? My gf wants me to actually talk to her.
Richard Heart:
for fun though, and I don’t think this is a good argument
do you have satoshis CV?
Me:
I support your cause. But I have questions and shouldn’t be mocked for asking them.
Richard Heart:
before you invested in his scam?
Well you’re asking me to harm myself
so it’s a little fucked up of you
Me:
I’ll address that point about Satoshi too.
Richard Heart (continuing his point):
because I hold btc
Me:
Anyway, I’m off. Ttyl
Richard Heart:
lol
hey guys, I don’t thikn you’re legit, cause you’re building things
so can you dox yourself real quick for me?
Cuz I don’t trust you
so get them fucking dox out boyz
I wanna send you guys fucking memorysticks with viruses on them
ADDRESSES NAO
I hate that bullshit
Richard Heart fucking scammer! Asking for uh….techincal advice….
scammer!
can’t give him money
no ads, no donations, nothing
SCAMMER
fucking horseshit
I’d left when I said I was off and only saw that last part after the fact. It piqued my interest. The red flags I alluded to before weren’t even necessarily to do with his identity, and I’ll discuss them after I finish the saga. After I’d spoken to my girlfriend for a bit, I then sent Richard Heart this private message (all of the following messages are from our private chat until stated otherwise):
Hey dude. I’m gonna write this blog post over the next few days (if/when I find time - I’m finishing a project and moving to Bali in the meantime). I’m gonna release the full post to you privately beforehand. I sincerely don’t want to damage your reputation - consider this an opportunity to further steelman yourself. I generally like what you’re doing, and find your content thought-provoking and entertaining (even the bits I disagree with). If you see from the post that it might be damaging and there’s stuff you want to do ahead of the public release to alleviate that, I’m okay to give you a few days to sort it out. Again, I’m not here to cause harm; I’m here to ask the questions that are in the back of the public’s mind. If everything gets cleared up/explained, I won’t release the post to anyone and will keep this message and further private discussions we have about it 100% private. You have my word. Sound fair?
Richard Heart:
I’d prefer you spend your time fucking up people who are doing harm currently like CSW and others
but if you want to waste your time fucking with me, it’s your perogative
There’s real scammers really scamming currently
Here’s the CV of the dude who’s my partner on this project
maybe that will be enough to get you to spend your time fruitfully
Me:
I understand. So realistically you should take what I’m doing as a positive for you. If all the questions have valid answers it just adds to your validity and increases your popularity.
Richard Heart:
{Attached CV}
There ya go buddy
have fun!
While you’re fucking with me CSW is on stage giving talks…
Me:
I think CSW has been pretty thoroughly discredited already.
Richard Heart:
lol
nope
not a fucking peep
go read the threads
Me:
Okay for me to contact Dr. Brown to verify that he’s your partner in this?
Richard Heart:
I’ll have him call you
right now
what is your phone number
and then you can call him back
to verify it’s not fake
Me:
{ REDACTED PHONE NUMBER }
Richard Heart:
cool
standby
I’m gonna skip a bunch here because it’s basically me just trying to get ahold of his alleged business partner and verify it’s legitimate (it was). Then the thread continues (still private):
Me:
Why are you so against me going after your true identity?
Richard Heart:
Because I will dox myself when I choose to
when I profit from it
not when you profit from it
I profit from security
I do not profit from attack surface
Me:
How does waiting to release your identity increase your profit? Because you’re trying to build up the mystique?
If anything then this article should help build that?
Richard Heart:
It’s a framing issue
If you throw shit and I have to defend shit
I still lose on imaging
Me:
I’m not trying to defame you.
I’m just asking questions that others have asked me privately.
I’ve had 3 people ask me about you.
And I can’t give them good answers.
The public must be thinking the same
Look. I’m gonna write this thing whether you want me to or not. I’ll give you a chance to respond to it. How you do is up to you. If we can resolve it privately then fine, but these questions aren’t only going to be asked by me.
Richard Heart:
hey buddy
fuck your mother :)
Me:
<3
Do you think there’s anything inherently wrong with incest?
Richard Heart:
https://twitter.com/RichardHeartWin/status/911892341757288448
Richard Heart
Hey everyone, since everyone seems so curious about my non stage name, here’s the worst article I can find on me! https://t.co/DC8be4LeLh
yo dawg
tell me more about your story now
He publicly Tweeted a damaging article about himself (http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20070926122502156) where his real name, Richard James Schueler is given.
Me:
If you had told me that privately
I’d have left it alone
Richard Heart:
nah bitch
Son I am not hiding from shit either
Um, he blatantly was? Anyway. Me:
I’ll probably talk about it on Derose’s podcast on Monday/Tuesday.
All you had to do was say privately
Richard Heart:
Now how bout you do something useful
and fuck with csw
or actual scammers
Me:
Why don’t you want me to look into this more?
Richard Heart:
since all you did was fuck my opsec
into what?
Me:
Like why do you even care?
Richard Heart:
I just dox ‘d myself
?
Me:
This article I was gonna write. What did you think it’d uncover?
Richard Heart:
lol go do town
I guess I’m not clear when I type
I got robbed in panama
the living shit out of me
so now I have to relive that shit
which i’m not really happy to do
but oh well
and I have people that robbed me there that have threatened my life
which I’m not really happy to give them a target
because I stil lhave cases against them in panama
so now basically all you have done
is give actual cock sucking pieces of shit
a better chance of doing me harm
but it’s all good
you profited from it
so you know what actually
Me:
All you had to do was tell me privately.
And then a thinly veiled threat on my life:
Richard Heart:
You are my partner now
if and when gustavo troncoso
Me:
How have I profited?
Richard Heart:
or alfredo vallarino
come and fuck with me
Me:
Oh get fucked.
Richard Heart:
I’m going to let them know that you’re my dude please do give them a google
we’re buddies now :)
Me:
Okay, tell them to come talk to me. I’ve dealt with gangsters before. They’re reasonable people
Richard Heart:
haha
well they killed antonio henry marshall
write these names down
Me:
Okay, I’m going to release this full chat for my own protection. You’re now threatening my life.
Richard Heart:
good
He said he’s going to tell people I’m his partner, and when some gangsters which are known for killing people come after him, he implied he’s going to try to get them to come after me. That is why I released this chat on The Briar Patch - to make it publicly clear I am not friends with him. In retrospect I could’ve handled the situation better, and will learn from this in case something similar happens in the future. This post is an attempt to be fully transparent about everything that happened. I don’t make a habit of releasing private conversations.
Red Flags I Alluded To
So what were the red flags that I was going to write about? Here are 14 of them. I was going to raise both sides of the arguments for all of the following, but now I’m just going to list what caused me to ask questions and what I was generally going to write about (not including anything about his past that has now come to light):
- Mocking people for asking legitimate questions.
- Overly complicating the explanation of what he’s doing with his token. I was in his private, invite-only chats where he posted what he’s actually doing. It’s very easy to explain simply. I’m not going to do it because, again, I think releasing private information and breaking trust is generally bad.
- Encouraging sycophants and actively discouraging dissent/questioning. In his book’s outline, this feels very dodgy: “An open mind learns better, there’s time to argue after… We’re lucky enough when we meet someone who is not only passionate about that which they speak but perhaps even knowledgeable as well. We would obviously want to impress such a person speaking to us, so as to be worth of the conversation… There is an easy way though, a shortcut to feeling important - destruction! Let him know why he’s wrong. Let him know why it won’t work, shouldn’t work, can’t work. This is great stuff, where in the original conversation, if you only added a small icing on his idea cake, you’d seem only to be an accessory. Now that you disagree with him, you are his equal or greater! Screw the quest for truth, that pays off only after many days, feeling important pays off right now! Think about the last time you tried to explain to someone that they were doing something wrong, and remember the mental gymnastics you might have witnessed. It takes a great man to skip the easy route, bide their time in silence, thinking of something great to add. When the gambit pays off, and you can construct with your speaking buddy instead of disagreeing, friendships are made.” Oh how lucky to meet you we are Richard. Oh how terrible it would be for us to question you.
- Virtue signalling (we must protect the dumb. Let’s make the world better by prolonging life, etc.).
- Weak arguments that appear to try and distract for the point (such as in the chat above, “Do you know Tom Cruise’s name?”).
- Generally spamming nonsensical arguments to drown out other viewpoints and to distract from the main point (gish galloping).
- Generally aggressive behaviour with anyone who even slightly disagrees or questions him.
- Claiming that he wants to remain anonymous whilst putting his face on everything. Psuedo anonymity seemed strange. He gave Satoshi as an example of why anonymity is useful, but Satoshi was completely anonmyous, not partially. Satoshi also never asked anyone for money (i.e. did an ICO). Richard’s identity is but one small aspect of what I was going to touch on, and I never planned to doxx him. I think Richard’s got paranoid that that was my goal when he doxxed himself (because in his mind, maybe he thought it was better to beat me to it?).
- It wasn’t only me that thought something may be off. A few of my friends either messaged me or spoke to me face-to-face asking questions about who Richard Heart is, and to quote a friend, “What has he done other than just chat shit?”.
- Further consulting with people that have experience dealing with scammers/conmen and them telling me he gives off vibes they see commonly amongst scammers.
- The whole way he handled me asking questions in general. Playing the victim when he doxxed himself. I was going to write about all of these red flags listed here. Identity was such a small part and I wasn’t going to dig into who he was, only question and put up arguments as to potential motives.
- Refusal to admit any wrongdoing on his part. This is very 48 Laws of Power or Red Pill-esque: “Never apologize. Never admit fault.” Nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. I question people who act like their shit doesn’t stink.
- Editing and deleting past comments. He’s done this in The Briar Patch and people have noticed.
- Mixing science with psuedoscience. Citing numerology and arbitrarily picking the number 3 in his book outline and describing it as “magic”: “3 is a magic number. Think of how many things come in 3’s. The magic of 3’s. We all have height, width and depth. We see color with Red, Green, and Blue light sensing cells in our eyes. We describe sound as the highs, mids, and lows, we describe sizes as small, medium, and large.” He goes on for over a page and a half about 3’s alone. He does something similar for colour. This is all psuedoscience nonsense.
The Panama Debacle
I’ve not had chance to look into it. I don’t even know if I will. A lot of stuff came up and I don’t know if I have the time to go through it. Again, I only intended to question red flags around Richard’s current behaviour, not dig up his skeletons or “dox” him.
Changelog
This article is a work in progress. There may be typos and things could probably be written better (such as the ordering of the red flags), however I believe it’s better to get things out early and receive feedback than to toil away on your own for ages to produce something nobody cares about in the end. This article should be released timely. I’ll update it as I get the time to and keep a changelog here. The important thing is that it’s factual - I have proof of everything.
- 2017-09-26: Chat summary clean up. Include potential best option.
- 2017-09-26: Typo in # of red flags. 14 not 15.
- 2017-09-26: Fix broken hyperlink (forgot a closing angle bracket)
- 2018-01-04: Fix incorrect year in update timestamps (2016->2017)
- 2018-12-25: Fixed typos. Cut down on excessive wording.