Hey there, just came across this post and i'm curious - which Linden were you at LL?
By the way, it was Litesim, not OpenSim - a fork of OpenSim for the simulator code, and completely from scratch on the server side. That's how I did stuff like inter-grid teleport to and from any grid with full inventory etc. Good times.
About the "payment system" you mention - BitInstant wasn't a payment system as such, it was a means of buying and selling bitcoin quickly. We did try to get going with paypoint in the UK and that never worked out, but the cash deposits in 7/11, CVS and walmart etc worked beautifully.
Anyway, would love to keep in touch somehow for nostalgia reasons. Drop me an email at gareth@garethnelson.com.
RE: Bonpay - yet another attempt to make a cryptocurrency payment card