Look up OneCoin. That is just one of dozens of scams riding on Bitcoin coattails, attracting (greedy/foolish) people, and taking most for a bad ride.
Most of these scams have been done in the height of the penny stocks days, and the SEC has (or had in the past) put a lot of effort into protecting less saavy investors.
Lastly, I work for a client in this space. My client is doing a legit business, but we constantly deal with customers who have made and lost money in dozens of these ponzis over the last couple of years.
Bitcoin is just like any other investment I don't see how people can have "sour grapes" about it. So you knew about bitcoin or even had bitcoins when they were fractions of a cent? So what...most people would have sold when they reached $5 or $10 or $50 thinking they were at the peak.
Couldn't we say the same thing about gold? I'm sure if you look far enough, you'll find someone willing to "sell" you gold and hold the gold for you when they don't have the said gold.
Or replace gold with US dollars or tulips or Amazon.com stock or whatever.
This absolutely has been done with gold mining ventures, just as it was done with oil drilling ventures. That's why some regulation on solicitation of investments in crypto currency ventures would be beneficial. It is developing though.
Most of these scams have been done in the height of the penny stocks days, and the SEC has (or had in the past) put a lot of effort into protecting less saavy investors.
Lastly, I work for a client in this space. My client is doing a legit business, but we constantly deal with customers who have made and lost money in dozens of these ponzis over the last couple of years.