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I see a lot of people here wondering how anyone could be taken in by Ponzi schema. However, a lot of the same people are "investing" in BitCoin - where the mos

I see a lot of people here wondering how anyone could be taken in by Ponzi schema. However, a lot of the same people are "investing" in BitCoin - where the most recent rise in price may be due to a foreign company that mints new money out of thin air. To be clear: I am NOT BitCoin is a ponzi schema. Some other alt coins definately smell like it - especially if they are created without doing ANY kind of work.

xwolfi 6y ago
Dude I've seen people who absolutely understand that it's a ponzi, and jump in it to screw the greater fools by being themselves the greater fool of others. Most people join ponzis knowingly trying to make an impossible buck on the back of the next guy. I can understand poor communities exploited by MLM companies, maybe (but who thinks money comes from selling idiotic products to your friends, really?), but ponzi victims losing all their saving when it falls should consider: - why put so much in non mainstream vehicles (cash, real estate, your company's stock) - if non insured by the government, it's always a possibility to lose it all, it can't be such a surprise. Even a nice house can lose all its value due to a construction nearby
- LatteLazy 6y ago
  It's only a bad idea to be in the last traunch of joiners. See also GME.
lamontcg 6y ago
Bitcoin and all of crypto, in its entirety, is a Ponzi. It is backed by the same USD that Bitcoin fans claim is worthless, yet they price it in USD and extract USD from it to buy things. Eventually one day the USD supplies will get dangerously low and there will be a systemic bank run and it will collapse. It came dangerously close in 2018. The tide will eventually go out again. Two economic laws of gravity: wildcat banking systems always fail, and it is never different this time.
- earthtolazlo 6y ago
  If nothing else, the absurd mining costs constantly pulls fiat out of the cryptocurrency markets. Tether has been able to keep things afloat (4 billion USDT printed in April so far), but it’s only a matter of time before everything collapses under its own weight.
- rodiger 6y ago
  There are a lot of absolutes here, which is generally not a great basis for discussing emerging technology. I recommend you reconsider your view of crypto "in its entirety" which seems based on the rabid views of a few. Many seem to make the same mistake and focus too much on the "my coin will keep going up" crowd. There're a lot of real technical challenges being solved in the crypto space, and I feel it'll still be interesting to follow from an academic standpoint even after the next inevitable bubble burst.
- baobabKoodaa 6y ago
  Nope. The word "ponzi" has a specific meaning. Just because an asset is sold from one investor to another without producing anything, doesn't make it a ponzi scheme. Otherwise you could say gold is a ponzi, or oil is a ponzi, etc.
  - lamontcg 6y ago
    There's a finite amount of money going into it, there are finite drains coming out of it. Once it hits a point where the pot of money drains to zero it'll pop just like a Ponzi. The people who extracted money early will wind up net positive, the people who did not will wind up seeing it all lost. That's a Ponzi. Arguing about it is splitting hairs and missing the forest for the trees.
    - baobabKoodaa 6y ago
      So you're saying gold is a ponzi? Congratulations, you just redefined an established word in the weirdest possible way.
LatteLazy 6y ago
If someone won't tell you where the money comes from, it's a scam. If someone is happy to talk for hours about their low latency machine learning AI block chain black swan delta hedged arbitrage manifold engine people throw money at them.
Apofis 6y ago
Also, during the last Bitcoin crash Wall Street figured out how to short Bitcoin and other crypto.

xwolfi 6y ago

Dude I've seen people who absolutely understand that it's a ponzi, and jump in it to screw the greater fools by being themselves the greater fool of others. Most people join ponzis knowingly trying to make an impossible buck on the back of the next guy. I can understand poor communities exploited by MLM companies, maybe (but who thinks money comes from selling idiotic products to your friends, really?), but ponzi victims losing all their saving when it falls should consider: - why put so much in non mainstream vehicles (cash, real estate, your company's stock) - if non insured by the government, it's always a possibility to lose it all, it can't be such a surprise. Even a nice house can lose all its value due to a construction nearby

LatteLazy 6y ago
It's only a bad idea to be in the last traunch of joiners. See also GME.

lamontcg 6y ago

Bitcoin and all of crypto, in its entirety, is a Ponzi. It is backed by the same USD that Bitcoin fans claim is worthless, yet they price it in USD and extract USD from it to buy things. Eventually one day the USD supplies will get dangerously low and there will be a systemic bank run and it will collapse. It came dangerously close in 2018. The tide will eventually go out again. Two economic laws of gravity: wildcat banking systems always fail, and it is never different this time.

earthtolazlo 6y ago
If nothing else, the absurd mining costs constantly pulls fiat out of the cryptocurrency markets. Tether has been able to keep things afloat (4 billion USDT printed in April so far), but it’s only a matter of time before everything collapses under its own weight.
rodiger 6y ago
There are a lot of absolutes here, which is generally not a great basis for discussing emerging technology. I recommend you reconsider your view of crypto "in its entirety" which seems based on the rabid views of a few. Many seem to make the same mistake and focus too much on the "my coin will keep going up" crowd. There're a lot of real technical challenges being solved in the crypto space, and I feel it'll still be interesting to follow from an academic standpoint even after the next inevitable bubble burst.
baobabKoodaa 6y ago
Nope. The word "ponzi" has a specific meaning. Just because an asset is sold from one investor to another without producing anything, doesn't make it a ponzi scheme. Otherwise you could say gold is a ponzi, or oil is a ponzi, etc.
- lamontcg 6y ago
  There's a finite amount of money going into it, there are finite drains coming out of it. Once it hits a point where the pot of money drains to zero it'll pop just like a Ponzi. The people who extracted money early will wind up net positive, the people who did not will wind up seeing it all lost. That's a Ponzi. Arguing about it is splitting hairs and missing the forest for the trees.
  - baobabKoodaa 6y ago
    So you're saying gold is a ponzi? Congratulations, you just redefined an established word in the weirdest possible way.

LatteLazy 6y ago

If someone won't tell you where the money comes from, it's a scam. If someone is happy to talk for hours about their low latency machine learning AI block chain black swan delta hedged arbitrage manifold engine people throw money at them.

Apofis 6y ago

Also, during the last Bitcoin crash Wall Street figured out how to short Bitcoin and other crypto.