Yes, Bitcoin Is a Ponzi - Learn How the Investment Fraud Works

SEC Investor Education:

New Year’s Financial Resolution: Avoid too-good-to-be-true “investments” with Ponzi scheme “red flag” claims like:

A collection of “unpopular opinion” and get-rich-quick party spoiler “stop the music” articles on “Is Bitcoin a Ponzi? Is Bitcoin a Speculative Bubble? Is Bitcoin a Digital 21st Century Tulip Mania? Is Bitcoin Comedy Gold?”

From the Wikipedia:

Bitcoin has been described as an economic bubble by at least eight Nobel Prize Economists at various times, including Robert Shiller on 1 March 2014, Joseph Stiglitz on 29 November 2017, and Richard Thaler on 21 December 2017. On 29 January 2018, a noted Keynesian economist Paul Krugman has described bitcoin as “a bubble wrapped in techno-mysticism inside a cocoon of libertarian ideology”, on 2 February 2018, professor Nouriel Roubini of New York University has called bitcoin the “mother of all bubbles”, and on 27 April 2018, a University of Chicago economist James Heckman has compared it to the 17th-century tulip mania.

On 4 December 2013, Alan Greenspan referred to it as a “bubble” as did George Soros on 25 January 2018. Warren Buffett called bitcoin a “mirage” on 13 March 2014.

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Some “unpopular” bitcoin facts:

Or how about:

Bitcoin’s money flow is exactly the same as that of a ponzi scheme, as depicted above. The arrow in that diagram represents the net one-way flow of money from investors to miners. The net total flow since 2009 is already 15 billion USD. If the the current bitcoin (BTC) price holds, that amount will grow by about 30 million USD/day, or at least another 10 billion USD in the next year. Besides the investors, there isn’t (and there will never be) any source of money that could return that money to them.

Even if bitcoin promoters refuse to accept the label “ponzi”, they cannot deny that diagram. How can anyone propose such a bottomless barrel as a “store of value”.

Jorge Stolfi, Yes, Bitcoin is a Ponzi: A Re-Rebuttal

So what!? Do your own research! Here we go:

SCAM ALERT! SCAM ALERT! SCAM ALERT!

Tyler Winklevoss, Bitcoin Billionaire

Washington Post News:

Bitcoin surges past $20 000 for first time.

This Bitcoin rally is the most sophisticated investors, the smartest people in the room, buying the bitcoin quietly. Number go up! To the moon!

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When Elon Musk puts the Tesla balance sheet into Bitcoin, we’ll have to change the Bitcoin rallying cry from “to the moon!” to “to Mars!”

Austrian Maximalist comments: Let’s use solar energy to mine bitcoin with satellites in space!

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The U.S. Dollar is no longer a reliable store of value. Cameron and I (Winklevoss Twins Capital) make the case for $500 000 Bitcoin. Number go up! To the moon!

Cameron Winklevoss, Bitcoin Billionaire

There are 3.5 billion smart phones on the planet. All of them can hold bitcoin. None of them can hold gold. Bitcoin is the future. Number go up! To the moon!

Michael Saylor, Business Intelligence Billionaire

Money is energy. Bitcoin is the first crypto monetary energy network, capable of collecting all the world’s liquid energy, storing it over time without power loss, and channeling it across space with negligible impedance. Number go up! To the moon!

Austrian Maximalist comments: And it’s all represented in this: 21,000,000.00000000

Austrian Physicist comments: The science on this is legit respecting the laws of thermodynamics.

Anthony Pompliano, Bitcoin Cheerleader, Off The Chain Investment Newsletter Writer (100 000+ Subscribers)

There are an increasing number of buyers, yet a decreasing amount of available Bitcoin.

Any economics 101 student can predict what happens next. To the moon! Number go up!

Bitcoiner (BTC), Greater Fool Investor

WOO NUMBER GO UP!!!

Who needs adoption when you can have institutional investors! Why bank the unbanked when you can bank the banks! Bring out the champaign because NUMBER GO UP!!!

Am I price posting right?

Dan McArdle, Bitcoin “There is No Alternative”, Bitcoin is the New (Gold) Standard

Bitcoin will save the environment. Bitcoin will create a global arbitrage in energy.

Bitcoin will drive innovation in energy and use of renewables.

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Bitcoin number go up because more people want bitcoin. Bitcoin becomes more and more valuable.

People will come to understand bitcon.


(Photo Courtesy of Bitcoin 2021 - A Bitcoin Conference for Bitcoiners by Bitcoiners in Miami, Florida, June 4-5, 2021)


Comedy Gold? Let’s get real:

2021

Yes, Bitcoin is a Ponzi: A Re-Rebuttal by Jorge Stolfi, Computer Scientist, State University of Campinas, Brazil

Bitcoin is not a means of payment. Bitcoin is not a currency. Bitcoin is not a unit of account. Bitcoin is not a scalable means of payment. Bitcoin is not a single numeraire. Now, people say Bitcoin is an asset. But think of it. What are assets? by Nouriel Roubini, Economist, Coin Desk Q&A, (transcribed by Amy Castor - thanks!)

Bitcoin is not a hedge against tail risk. Elon Musk may be buying it, but that doesn’t mean everyone else should follow suit. The fundamental value of bitcoin is negative given its massive environmental cost by Nouriel Roubini, Economist, Financial Times Op-Ed

Bitcoin Pizza does not accept Bitcoin. We don’t have a joke on that data point because we couldn’t think of anything stupider than that by Stephen Colbert, Late Show Comedy

“Time to buy” bitcoin adverts banned in United Kingdom for being irresponsible. Campaign failed to say investment was complex, volatile and could expose investors to losses, says Advertising Standards Authority by Mark Sweney, The Guardian

The next Bitcoin (BTC) crash could be something to behold. The parabolic price increase in Bitcoin [in 2021] is a bubble. Destroying our planet for glorified gambling is not something I’m happy about by Matt Ranger, Data Scientist

The Tether ponzi scheme - A bubble for the history books and fraud on the scale of Madoff by Matt Ranger, Data Scientist

‘How can $24B in tethers move a $650B Bitcoin market cap?’ and other mathematically illiterate question by Amy Castor, Blockchain Journalist

Proof of work - the reason behind Bitcoin’s horrendous energy consumption by Amy Castor, Blockchain Journalist

Why Bitcoin Is Bad for the Environment. Cryptocurrency mining uses huge amounts of power - and can be as destructive as the real thing by Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, Staff Writer, Pulitzer Prize Winner

Bitcoin - The Crypto-Chernobyl Environmental Disaster by Stephen Diehl, Programmer

What I see now: Run screaming from Bitcoin - It is completely unambiguously obvious to me that Bitcoin is functioning as a Ponzi scheme, siphoning money from the pockets of rubes and into those of exchange insiders and China-based miners by Tim Bray, Programmer

Proof of Work is Killing the Environment to Create a Regulatory Loophole for Scams and Frauds by Trolly McTrollface

If You Buy Bitcoin, You’ll Get Screwed by Trolly McTrollface

The Stupidity of Investing in Bitcoin by Trolly McTrollface

Tether: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose by Trolly McTrollface

The Tether Press and Bitcoin’s Speculative Mania by Trolly McTrollface

Tesla Spends $1.5B of Taxpayer-Funded Environmental Credits to Burn Coal in China by Trolly McTrollface

Bitcoin consumes ‘more electricity than Argentina’. The rising value of Bitcoin leads to ever-higher energy consumption by Cristina Criddle, Tech Reporter, British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC)

Why [the Bitcoin] cryptocurrency is a giant fraud. Speculators might make money on it, but the arguments for its usefulness fail completely. by Nathan Robinson, Editor of Current Affairs

Inside the Cryptocurrency Casino: Bitcoin and its imitators were supposed to democratize the world of money. Instead, speculators have gotten rich - and the planet is paying the price by Andrew Ancheta, Current Affairs

The Bit Short: Inside Crypto’s Doomsday Machine by Crypto Anonymous

“I don’t believe bitcoin is unique in any way”: Why investors should be careful with this cryptocurrency by Sean Williams, Investment Advisor, The Motley Fool

2020

Why Bitcoin is a Ponzi: A Type of Investment Fraud with Five Features by Jorge Stolfi, Computer Scientist, State University of Campinas, Brazil

Bitcoin is not a literal Ponzi scheme by Trolly McTrollface

2019

Tether: The Story So Far by Patrick McKenzie, Recovering Japanese Salaryman

Up in Flames: Bitcoin and other digital coins recapitulate 500 years of failure by Nicholas Weaver, Computer Scientist, University of California, Berkley, United States

There’s No Good Reason to Trust Blockchain Technology by Bruce Schneier, Cryptography Researcher

Chapter 1 - The Bitcoin Narratives (in Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events) by Robert Shiller, Yale University, Nobel Laureate Economist

2018

Bitcoin Maximalists’ Impossible Dream by Frances Coppola, Finance Journalist

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are useless, The Economist

Why bitcoin uses so much energy: Its consumption is roughly the same as Ireland’s, The Economist

Bitcoin is based on the blockchain pipe dream by Nouriel Roubini, Economist and Preston Byrne, Blockchain Attorney

The Big Blockchain Lie by Nouriel Roubini, Economist

Crypto is the Mother of All Scams and (Now Busted) Bubbles - While Blockchain Is The Most Over-Hyped Technology Ever, No Better than a Spreadsheet/Database by Nouriel Roubini, Economist

Crypto Facts - Decentralize Payments - Efficient, Low Cost, Fair, Clean - True or False? by Nouriel Roubini, Economist

Best of Bitcoin Maximalist - Scammers, Morons, Clowns, Shills & BagHODLers - Inside The New New Crypto Ponzi Economics by Trolly McTrollface

Bitcoin is basically a ponzi scheme by Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate Economist

Greater fool theory - The bitcoin bubble, The Economist

Bitcoin is the greatest scam in history by Bill Harris, Founding CEO, PayPal and Personal Capital

Why you can’t cash out: Bitcoin is not a Ponzi scheme! It just works like one by David Gerard, Blockchain Journalist

Bitcoin’s stupendous power waste is green, apparently - bad excuses for Proof-of-Work by David Gerard, Blockchain Journalist

2017

The Problem with Calling Bitcoin a “Ponzi Scheme” by Preston Byrne, Blockchain Attorney

Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain by David Gerard, Blockchain Journalist

2016

On the dangers of a blockchain monoculture by Tony Arcieri, Blockchain Programmer

2015

The Death of Bitcoin by Tony Arcieri, Blockchain Programmer

1776

HODLing Gold? Gengis Khan is HODLing Sheep and Oxen: Inside the True Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, Old School Economist


Found another Bitcoin ponzi article? Tell us!

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Why? This Bitcoin Is a Ponzi page is inspired by the Bitcoin Obituaries: Bitcoin Declared Dead 350+ Times page.

Austrian Maximalist comments: Can I ask, when will you admit you were wrong? $50 000 bitcoin? $100 000 bitcoin? $500 000 bitcoin?