[brut]

Here's one way to see it: if you need to use Bitcoin to pseudonymously transfer large amounts of money anywhere in the world relatively easily, then you should worry not about the price it's currently trading at. If you want to transfer 1 million $'s, then you buy the appropriate amount of BTC and cash out when the transaction is done. A lot of people who are "invested" in Bitcoin are there to make money selling it for a higher price than they bought it for.

[gnaritas]

That's not what a Ponzi scheme is. Specifically, Ponzi's require fraud, not just making money off new investors. All investments make money from new investors, it's the fraud that makes something a Ponzi where there's no actual underlying asset but just a money pumping scheme. Bitcoin is an actual underlying asset.

[kristofferR]

By that standard all investments made for purely financial gains are scams.

[Taek]

No because a lot of investments intend to create value along the way. Investing in a startup for example hopes that one day they will be profitable. You may intend to sell or exit before that point, but the people who buy from you are looking forward to real world profits from adding real value.

It's only ponzi-esque if each person just expects the next one to pay more than the last, with no value-added at any point in the process.