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Bitcoin is a Ponzi

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Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#131

Post by everfree »

amin wrote: post #107
bugzz wrote: post #93

> By that definition, gold too is a ponzi. No, gold clearly fails to satisfy that definition on two counts. > First, few if any gold investors have expectations of profits. They generally invest in gold as a hedge -- a "store of value" -- that they hope will retain its value in case other assets go sour. I believe Bitcoin has potential to become the "new" gold. It's better in many ways. Does that mean I can only buy…

There are many cryptocurrencies who are nearly identical to Bitcoin, except that most don't have the widespread fame and support. In 2019 alone, 90,000 new crypto-currencies were created. Yes, there will only be 21 million bitcoins, but there are already countless, nearly an infite amount of copycat coins. This is not the case with gold.

> This is not the case with gold.

Silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, copper...

Just as people have generally centered around gold, people have so far generally centered on Bitcoin. There's a great deal of other metals and a great deal of other cryptocurrencies, but if nobody really cares about them, then they are not relevant to the conversation.

Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#132

Post by sellyme »

readthenotes1 wrote: post #65
blackoil wrote: post #19

I was just now seeing the first video of https://a16z.com/crypto-startup-school/ . Whole video is about how blockchain is awesome because Computer, Internet and Mobile were awesome. Followed by some answers about how we don't know of any use case right now. Is there any non currency use case of blockchain?

Why specify non-currency? Doesn't Bitcoin provide a more convenient/less expensive way to send money between countries (or both). Those are pretty powerful uses. (I don't know money laundering and drug dealing are still more convenient in Bitcoin)

> Doesn't Bitcoin provide a more convenient/less expensive way to send money between countries

The current bitcoin transaction fee is more than 100x what my bank charges, so no, not really.

Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#133

Post by zenbai »

imsd wrote: post #62
seibelj wrote: post #16

Judging by the attitude on HN, cryptocurrency should be worth $0 and written off years ago. Instead it's bigger than ever and the most important people on earth are focusing on it. Somehow it's simultaneously an incredible, useless scam but is so powerful that we must ban it at all costs! HN doesn't know everything, do your own research, use your own logic.

I love HN but have watched for years as much in the community have completely missed the boat on crypto and blockchain. It's a strange disconnect...

A lot of people on HN seem to have 'strong opinions strongly held' about things.

Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#134

Post by bb88 »

seibelj wrote: post #121
amin wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many cryptocurrencies who are nearly identical to Bitcoin, except that most don't have the widespread fame and support. In 2019 alone, 90,000 new crypto-currencies were created. Yes, there will only be 21 million bitcoins, but there are already countless, nearly an infite amount of copycat coins. This is not the case with gold.

There is silver, and platinum, and tungsten, etc. etc. It’s the same thing just in a physical format.

There are an infinite supply of magical numbers. There are a limited supply of precious and rare metals easily minable on earth.

E.g. The price of copper has been going up over the past century (adjusted for inflation)

If you want to mine more magic numbers just add another digit to the search space and you'll easily have another 10 times more numbers.

Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#135

Post by varajelle »

Yes, Bitcoin is a banana.

1. A banana is yellow

2. A banana starts with B

Bitcoin is usually represented by a yellow coin with a b in it, and it starts with B, therefore bitcoin is a banana.

----

The article just redefine the word Ponzi so it loosely fit Bitcoin. But it is missing one key feature of the common interpretation of a Ponzi scheme: the fraudulent part.

Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#136

Post by baby »

topspin wrote: post #36
amin wrote: post #8

In a nutshell: A ponzi scheme has no external revenue, instead the payoffs come from new investors. This is the case when investing in Bitcoin.

The crucial difference that excludes Bitcoin (and any other such blockchain currency) is that a Ponzi scheme deceives investors by pretending it is profitable and the profits are derived from legitimate investments. Bitcoin et al. does not do this; there is no deception, no fraud and, therefore, no Ponzi.

Wait what? Are you saying you don’t get spammed by people who tell you it’s going to the moon?

Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#137

Post by amin »

seibelj wrote: post #121
amin wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many cryptocurrencies who are nearly identical to Bitcoin, except that most don't have the widespread fame and support. In 2019 alone, 90,000 new crypto-currencies were created. Yes, there will only be 21 million bitcoins, but there are already countless, nearly an infite amount of copycat coins. This is not the case with gold.

There is silver, and platinum, and tungsten, etc. etc. It’s the same thing just in a physical format.

There are good reasons why gold and silver became the main medium of exchange for thousands of years. Most other metals failed imported criteria to make them as useful for this purpose.

Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#138

Post by baby »

topspin wrote: post #15

Nope. No one is being deceived. A Ponzi scheme pretends to be based on legitimate equities and value and is therefore a fraud. Bitcoin makes no such claim.

“It’s going to the moon”

Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#139

Post by glenvdb »

richardatlarge wrote: post #6

I’ve discouraged friends from investing in CC as I could never see a material basis for value, present or future. I wonder what if anything exists that is similar that is not a Ponzi scheme. Ask yourself this: if you woke up in the morning to find BCs value had zeroed out, how surprised would you be

I would be absolutely shocked if Bitcoin's value ever dropped to zero.

I can't see any conceivable way that happens at this point. Even a coordinated effort by the world's governments to "ban" it (they can't really ban it) would not drive its price to zero... if anything it might even have the inverse effect.

Can you provide any conceivable way this would actually happen? Maybe an asteroid hitting Earth and wiping out all human life on the planet?

Re: Bitcoin is a Ponzi

#140

Post by Zamicol »

dvt wrote: post #61

People use BTC/ETH/etc. in exchange for goods . I mean, I'm not a fan of cryptocurrency, but calling it a Ponzi scheme is just wrong. There are plenty of shitcoins out there that are purely pump and dumps, but it seems like BTC is here to stay.

This year Ethereum has so far settled over $6 trillion in value on chain.

And the system has revenues. Ethereum did around $35 million daily in fees this last week. Uniswap did around $3 million. https://cryptofees.info/

No doubt there's something to it.

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