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Re:Bitcoin Is a Ponzi Scheme by sytelus on Tuesday November 02, 2021 @03:13AM (#29078010)
All currencies are Ponzi schemes.
Re:Bitcoin Is a Ponzi Scheme by qeternity on Tuesday November 02, 2021 @03:29AM (#29078125)
How in god’s green earth do you arrive at this conclusion.

I’m convinced having read the comments here that nobody actually knows what a Ponzi is.

Re:Bitcoin Is a Ponzi Scheme by samwilliams on Tuesday November 02, 2021 @03:39AM (#29078198)
Put aside for a moment the name for the 'scheme' and consider the mechanism design differences between USD and Bitcoin:

- USD is needed in order to pay taxes on the US, but can be printed arbitrarily by a centralized mint.

- Bitcoin has no fundamental demand driver, but does have a truly capped supply.

Why is it so obvious that USD is a preferable scheme?

Re:Bitcoin Is a Ponzi Scheme by qeternity on Tuesday November 02, 2021 @04:22AM (#29078453)
What sort of straw man response is this ? I never said USD is preferable. I said that fiat currencies are not ponzis.
Re:Bitcoin Is a Ponzi Scheme by jusssi on Tuesday November 02, 2021 @03:30AM (#29078130)
In practice, most currencies are inflationary because more money is continuously being made. Which means that early obtainers of money actually lose value holding it, instead of gaining more. So currencies would be the opposite of a Ponzi.

On the other hand, the current economy model which relies on continuous growth, might reasonably fit some definitions of a Ponzi.

Re:Bitcoin Is a Ponzi Scheme by mountainboy on Tuesday November 02, 2021 @03:27AM (#29078106)
to the extent that they involve dishonesty/fraud, yes.

Arguably, when monetary supply increases are publicized, then there is no dishonesty, so not a ponzi scheme.

They have another component though: legal tender laws that force people to accept them for debts, and capital gains laws on other assets that give them an unfair advantage.

So ponzi or not -- probably not what the free market would choose in the absence of such laws.

Re:Bitcoin Is a Ponzi Scheme by xylon on Tuesday November 02, 2021 @03:26AM (#29078104)
but almost no-one actually uses bitcoin as a currency