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Well, the unsustainability of a negative sum game being masked by new investment is basically the most general form of a Ponzi scheme, and that's what this arti
by threevox 5y ago
Well, the unsustainability of a negative sum game being masked by new investment is basically the most general form of a Ponzi scheme, and that's what this article is arguing Tether is
- LudwigNagasena 5y agoThe essence of a Ponzi scheme is claims about above-average profit rate. Holding Tether by its essence can’t provide you more profit than holding cash.
- jhayward 5y agoNo. The essence of a Ponzi scheme is that outsized returns are fraudulently produced by using new investment funds to pay for withdrawals rather than being invested or retained. That's pretty much what Tether is alleged or suspected to be doing.
- LudwigNagasena 5y agoUgh, outsized returns, that’s what I said. What outsized returns do owners of Tether expect? How much money can I expect to earn if I buy Tether instead of stocks or bonds? I expect to earn less.
- graeme 5y agoCheck out Nexo and Defi. Those places claim to let you earn 12-20+% interest on USDT. There’s your Ponzi returns.
- thirtyseven 5y agoNo, but holding Bitcoin that is having its value artificially inflated by Tether can (for now).
- LudwigNagasena 5y agoSo it is a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme?
- threevox 5y agoIt doesn't matter what profit rate Tether or any other Ponzi scheme claims to provide. In the case of Tether, they're claiming you'll have a profit rate of 0%, which is still worse than you should be getting, given that it may in fact be not backed by anything in particular
- anm89 5y agoThat is not at all the definition of a ponzi scheme. That's at best a single attribute of a ponzi scheme.
- threevox 5y agoIt's certainly the closest thing to the central idea of the Ponzi scheme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme