Arbitrage Wise
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Arbitrage Wise is the avatar representation of Dallas, Texas (USA) resident Thanh Ho in the virtual world of Second Life. He is a major speculator and business entity within Second Life.
Wise currently operates the SL Capital Exchange (formerly AVIX), SL Reports, SL Market Live, Helpture, and Wise Metaverse. Until the ban of Second Life banking on January 8, 2008, Wise also operated JT Financial Investments & Savings. With the collapse of Second Life's Ginko Financial Group in late July, 2007, JT Financial became the largest financial institution operating inside Second Life, reporting deposits in excess of L$85,000,000 (about $287,000 USD).
Arbitrage Wise has made history in that he has spent sizable sums of US Dollars on a platform that many still consider to be a game, banking that the three-dimensional Second Life system will soon 'take off' and integrate itself with the traditional Internet. He is important in that his decisions affect the virtual world, and real-world, finances of thousands of account holders, shareholders, and Second Life business owners.
In real life, Thanh Ho graduated the University of Dallas with a BA in Economics in 2001, and MBA in General Business in 2002. He operated a small import and export business before selling out in 2005 and discovering Second Life in late 2006.
[edit] Business activity in Second Life
In the first half of 2007, Wise made several notable purchases within the 3-D entertainment platform, including that of SL Reports - a virtual world news website - for a sum of L$2,600,000 (about $10,000 USD) and that of the AllenVest International Exchange (AVIX) - a fictional securities exchange - for L$8,000,000 (about $29,000 USD). In revealing some of his recent business moves, Wise attempts to emphasize the synergy that exists between them. One of his given examples is Helpture, an online outsourcing website connecting virtual world builders to individuals seeking their services. He explains that he will use the site to develop products for SL Market Live. Wise believes that the site grow exponentially as more small and home-based businesses look to expand their product line into virtual worlds.
On January 8, 2008, Linden Lab – the maker of Second Life – announced that all virtual banks operating inside Second Life would be banned effective January 22, 2008. In response to the policy, Arbitrage Wise halted all customer withdrawals from JT Financial accounts and began the process of liquidating bank investments to refund depositors. Though repayment continues, Wise plans to retool the JT Financial business model into an entity known as "SL Wallet," which will serve as a third-party payment gateway which allows retail websites to accept Linden Dollar payments from Second Life users.
Some of Wise's future business plans purportedly include real world integration into Second Life. Arbitrage Wise claims to have created the first advertising network that spans the entire Second Life user grid. Wise utilizes advertisements displayed on his virtual terminals and hopes to attract real world corporations looking to market their products or services inside Second Life. According to Wise, SL Market Live is intended as an online retail site that will eventually offer both tangible and virtual versions of the same items, giving shoppers the ability to purchase either or both versions for use in the virtual world or the real world.
