Thunes to acquire payments platform Tilia LLC

[Qie Niangao]

2 minutes ago, Paul Hexem said:

My guess is they don't care about SL at all. A company doesn't buy something like Tillia because they think it's nifty and they just gotta help LL and their customers. A company buys Tillia because they intend do something with it to make a profit from it.

Well yeah, Thune isn't a charity for wayward virtual worlds, but Tilia currently has only two customers, one of which matters to the business and holds a minority stake in the venture. Thune surely needs to keep that customer satisfied.

It would be enormously enlightening to see the terms of that five year "partnership" agreement.

[Katherine Heartsong]

8 hours ago, Cain Maven said:

I think we can safely assume that Thunes know what they are getting into, including the adult contents.

There's vanilla adult stuff like Hotwife Hotel and clubs for every type of BDSM or D/s lifestyle you enjoy, then there's Bob and Wanda's Grand-daddy Beach Resort & Farm Experience. And while we're under the radar now, it'll take one good look at the later (made up name) establishment to cause more a stir for a company based in Singapore where there is generally and legally a far more conservative attitude towards thing like that.

But again, let's wait and see. I'm not in panic mode (too old for that), just pointing out the reality of the world today and the pressures on any kind of adult content getting paid through the usual payment processors.

Edited April 24 by Katherine Heartsong

[Sid Nagy]

41 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

It definitely makes sense to create a separate company with the intent of selling it for profit. Profit is good! Profit keeps Second Life going!

But the seperate company will need to make profit too... It will not be made by buying Powerball lottery tickets I presume.
So... keep your wallet at hand over the next few years, ladies and gentlemen.

Edited April 24 by Sid Nagy

[JacksonBollock]

34 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

That's interesting. Are there employment terms contingent on Tilia not being sold? Or is this about the JPMorgan Chase stake, which presumably went along for the ride, right?

I'm not sure what you mean Qie.

The definition of profit is widely accepted and yes, in this case, any profit available for reinvestment in SL would be NET of any returns contractually agreed with investors such as Randy Waterfield et al, JP Morgan, and Dunamu.

JP Morgan and Dunamu alone invested $22million (at my last reading) and they're expecting a return on that investment - it wasn't given as a 0% interest loan (I'm guessing).

As stated however, assuming a profit is made, only a proportion will be reinvested in SL. The Waterfield crew as investors need to eat too, in addition to any salaries they're also pulling obviously - which ironically are costs affecting available profits.

Edited April 24 by JacksonBollock

[Love Zhaoying]

37 minutes ago, JacksonBollock said:

Do you take it in the form of dividends as return on risk, or do you leave it on the table for another spin of the wheel?

I take it however I can get it! I'll take it ON the kitchen table, if that's what's needed.

[Love Zhaoying]

33 minutes ago, Paul Hexem said:

My guess is they don't care about SL at all.

..unless SL is the initial customer. 😉

[Love Zhaoying]

7 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

But the seperate company will need to make profit too... It will not be made by buying Powerball lottery tickets I presume.
So... keep your wallet at hand over the next few years, ladies and gentlemen.

Tilia made money.

The new company, Thune, will make that money instead.  It does not necessitate raising fees, etc. 

Sorry if that sounds simplistic!

[Sid Nagy]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Tilia made money.

The new company, Thune, will make that money instead.  It does not necessitate raising fees, etc. 

Sorry if that sounds simplistic!

Sure, but the investment needed to acquire Tilia, will be written of on the Tilia balance. No doubt about that. That's common practice.
So there is a dept that has to be recovered by.......    (Hint: not by purchasing Eurojackpot lottery tickets either.)

[Anna Salyx]

15 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

There's vanilla adult stuff like Hotwife Hotel and clubs for every type of BDSM or D/s lifestyle you enjoy, then there's Bob and Wanda's Grand-daddy Beach Resort & Farm Experience. And while we're under the radar now, it'll take one good look at the later (made up name) establishment to cause more a stir for a company based in Singapore where there is generally and legally a far more conservative attitude towards thing like that.

But again, let's wait and see. I'm not in panic mode (too old for that), just pointing out the reality of the world today and the pressures on any kind of adult content getting paid through the usual payment processors.

But the question is "why would the necessarily look".  Tilia is it's own company.  If you go to the Tilia website you see only one passing reference to Second Life and Linden Lab.  There a very opaque all between Tilia and the residents and between Tilia and the activity that happens in Second Life.  Tilia (and whoever they become) just moves money around.

So when a person buys some digital currency for Second Life, Tilia takes the money via whatever payment method is used, takes their cut, passes the rest to Linden Lab with a note saying "this is for xyz resident".  And Linden Lab does the calculation to give xyz resident Linden Dollars.

When xyz resident sells some Linden Dollars, Linden Lab does the reverse calculation and sends over a a stack of cash to Tilia with a note attached saying "take your cut and the rest is for the person who owns xyz resident". 

This is the same action take with other digital currencies and companies they deal with other than Second Life and Linden Lab. I highly doubt the companies are going to ask "and this bucket of cash, did it come from some naughty activity?"  no, they shuffle the money and take their fees.

I'd be knocked over unconscious surprised if they look any deeper than this.

[JacksonBollock]

3 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Tilia made money.

The new company, Thune, will make that money instead.  It does not necessitate raising fees, etc. 

Sorry if that sounds simplistic!

Tilia, as a sister company under the Linden Lab umbrella, likely provided services to Second Life at discounted rates.

With the emergence of Thune as a separate entity, it’s reasonable to anticipate that the costs incurred by Second Life (whether absorbed internally or passed on to customers) may rise to align with market standards.

Despite the existence of a 5-year contract, market dynamics could necessitate adjustments to pricing strategies to maintain profitability for both Thune and Second Life.

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, JacksonBollock said:

could necessitate

Would could should. Yep! All true.

Doesn't mean it will happen.

[Love Zhaoying]

All y'all negatory ppls - I bet if LL was on the NYSE or NASDAQ, you'd be shorting it.

The Power of Capitalism!

[Qie Niangao]

3 minutes ago, JacksonBollock said:

As stated however, assuming a profit is made, only a proportion will be reinvested in SL. 

Agreed, re-investing some proceeds of sale into Second Life is up to whomever manages the Linden stake in Tilia.

And without seeing numbers that I assume will never be public, we may be talking about pennies here. I've always thought Tilia rode the hype tide very well, but it's a tiny business and like any buyer, Thune didn't pay more than it had to for it.

Thing is, without knowing more than I do about both the sale and the terms of JPMorgan's and dunamu,'s investments, it's not clear to me that they sold their equity stakes. I'm first to admit that may be obvious, just not to me.

[Ceka Cianci]

Seem like every week there is something to panic over.

It'll be whatever it'll be, I guess.

[Innula Zenovka]

2 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

All y'all negatory ppls - I bet if LL was on the NYSE or NASDAQ, you'd be shorting it.

The Power of Capitalism!

 

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Seem like every week there is something to panic over.

It'll be whatever it'll be, I guess.

NO!! DO NOT BE COMPLACENT!!!

[Anna Salyx]

7 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Seem like every week there is something to panic over.

It'll be whatever it'll be, I guess.

 

4 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

NO!! DO NOT BE COMPLACENT!!!

(failed my resist check with disadvantage)

[InnerCity Elf]

"Thunes, a global cross-border payments company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tilia LLC, an all-in-one payments platform.

Tilia is licensed in 48 US states and territories"

While not in the US myself, I had heard of Tilia, but never before of that global one; talk about bubbles...

19 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

The sky is falling again.

My first thought, although mine was more visual, Majestix under his anti-skyfall shield🛡️.

Well, whether it has indeed to do with the age... verification thing, or not, who knows, doesn't matter either. I've long ago stopped "identifying" with anything bigger than around-the-corner mom-and-pop shop style enterprises, there are just too many companies sold, and just founded to be sold, to get too cosy with them, no matter how much passion the founders radiate in their mission statements on their about pages

I'm sure it will be great for everyone involved, voluntarily or not, and that it won't be just one more step towards the absolute and global financial transparency that we're all yearning. Oh, for those times, when you could just anonymously buy PaySafe cards for your little bit of harmless SLentertainment without having to grant your bank person, finance authority, potential landlords, and whoever knows whom else, insight into where your entertainment budget goes. Transparent new world.

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Anna Salyx said:

 

(failed my resist check with disadvantage)

 

[Love Zhaoying]

5 minutes ago, InnerCity Elf said:

My first thought, although mine was more visual, Majestix under his anti-skyfall shield🛡️.

Is that like Missile Command? Rad graphics! Vectors!!

[Kathlen Onyx]

43 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

There's vanilla adult stuff like Hotwife Hotel and clubs for every type of BDSM or D/s lifestyle you enjoy, then there's Bob and Wanda's Grand-daddy Beach Resort & Farm Experience.

Not all bad in my opinion. I'd love to see some of the smut and disturbing things I've run into on people's profiles removed from Second Life.  THAT can only be a win in my mind.  

[Love Zhaoying]

6 minutes ago, InnerCity Elf said:

Majestix under his anti-skyfall shield🛡️.

Second take:

[Qie Niangao]

15 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Wonder why this wasn't in the recent lab gab?

I meant to mumble about this. What we're hearing now from the Lab must surely be communications carefully crafted by both (all?) parties to the sale. It's not only Lab's story to tell, and there may be ongoing obligations about how they tell it.

The Lab Gab connection here is interesting, though. They announced the new "Community Round Table" communications medium, and lo and behold, the first one will address this Tilia sale—a topic surely in the works at the time that Lab Gab was scripted. Coincidence?

(I can't claim that original thought. Credit where credit due, as usual Inara Pey with the scoop.)

[Arielle Popstar]

People make entirely too much of the sexual in SL. It is the residents that have the kink, not so much the static products that may be on the MP. They could ban and delete all the animations that may be used for sexual poses but with the ability to upload for minimal cost, it wouldn't stop it for long.

From a business perspective, a potential buyer should not be worrying about how much sexuality goes on in SL as it is generated by the resident partaking, not so much the products being distributed.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Qie Niangao said:

I meant to mumble about this. What we're hearing now from the Lab must surely be communications carefully crafted by both (all?) parties to the sale. It's not only Lab's story to tell, and there may be ongoing obligations about how they tell it.

The Lab Gab connection here is interesting, though. They announced the new "Community Round Table" communications medium, and lo and behold, the first one will address this Tilia sale—a topic surely in the works at the time that Lab Gab was scripted. Coincidence?

(I can't claim that original thought. Credit where credit due, as usual Inara Pey with the scoop.)

Yeah, announcements about corporate changes such as the sale of Tilia are very carefully timed.  Even if LL is "privately held", people can be affected on either end by the news.

I did have a paranoid / negative take on the "timing":  If there will be some news release of "recent events", best to get that sale done first. While LL still looks pretty in a dress.