This is quite possibly the worst post to ever hit #1 on Hacker News. Why are you people voting it up? Just because it admits that it's a scam (and "get your money plus 20% back for nothing ALWAYS ENDS UP A SCAM") doesn't mean that it should get posted here.
Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
41–50 of 306 posts
Re: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
#42I'm trying to work out if this is some grand statement on the similarities of Bitcoin to a Ponzi scheme in the way it's deflationary, or just a quick way for someone to make a few BTC. Maybe it's designed as a way to teach people about Ponzi schemes?
Got to say, I pity the person who eventually deposits too much money at once, causing the payments to pause while they build up enough to cover his large deposit, in turn causing everyone else to think that the money has stopped paying out and causing no further money to be deposited. That seems like the likely end of this eventually...
Re: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
#43I will add, since this hit the frontpage: nobody post any big money there . It's a Ponzi scheme. It says so in the title.
Ponzi scheme is ok if you are in at the beginning of the scheme. That's what makes this interesting - it's basically a bet that other people will also believe this will go on.
Unless someone runs off with the money (and in any case, unless you are the first, you never know if you are at the "beginning")
Re: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
#44A ponzi scheme on top of a ponzi scheme. Brilliant.
Re: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
#45This would be cooler with one of those other cryptocurrencies that feature a Turing-complete scripting language: the code of the scheme could be public and run in the blockchain so that everyone would know the system is fair.
Re: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
You do realize that the site is a joke, don't you?
What do you mean a joke? Looking at the blockchain, it seems to be a full fledged, serious, Ponzi scheme. They're taking in BTC and paying it out again to the early investors. EDIT: +1 to ryanjshaw for showing the blockchain: https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1...
wow did not expect that, my bad...
I just glanced over and saw all the automated responses and figured it's a joke. I'm actually still not convinced it's not an elaborate joke
Re: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
#47I'm trying to work out if this is some grand statement on the similarities of Bitcoin to a Ponzi scheme in the way it's deflationary, or just a quick way for someone to make a few BTC. Maybe it's designed as a way to teach people about Ponzi schemes? Got to say, I pity the person who eventually deposits too much money at once, causing the payments to pause while they build up enough to cover his large deposit, in tur…
Even if it's not one person depositing a large amount, the backlog must grow larger and larger as time continues, this site actually has to grow exponentially to keep payout times constant.
Re: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
#48What I realized now: if you look at their BTC balance https://blockchain.info/address/1ponziUjuCVdB167ZmTWH48AURW1... plus https://blockchain.info/address/14ji9KmegNHhTchf4ftkt3J1ywmi... their "debt" - meaning, what other people have to bring into the system - is their balance + 20%. Right now, their debt is about 42 bitcoin.
Isn't their acrued "debt" actually 20% of what has been paid in? That's about 48 bitcoins as of now.
(Or perhaps that's what you meant?)
Re: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
#49This is quite possibly the worst post to ever hit #1 on Hacker News. Why are you people voting it up? Just because it admits that it's a scam (and "get your money plus 20% back for nothing ALWAYS ENDS UP A SCAM") doesn't mean that it should get posted here.
Because it's interesting?
Re: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
#50This is quite possibly the worst post to ever hit #1 on Hacker News. Why are you people voting it up? Just because it admits that it's a scam (and "get your money plus 20% back for nothing ALWAYS ENDS UP A SCAM") doesn't mean that it should get posted here.
Just because it is [a naked/unabashed Ponzi scheme] is precisely WHY readers are interested. You obviously know this and are feigning I-don't-know-what...