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by RaketenStadt 1828 days ago
No, much different, in a Ponzi scheme you're fraudulently claiming that the high returns you're delivering your old investors are real, and result from your investing acumen, when in fact they aren't real, they're just money from new investors that was never invested in the first place.

This is more like if you bought a lot of dollar bills that were 75% backed by gold and %25 backed by Dogecoin. They are comparable in that both keep working as long as no one tries to cash out, and money keeps coming in.

1 comments

"They are comparable in that both keep working as long as no one tries to cash out, and money keeps coming in."

So...a Ponzi scheme?

No, much different, in a Ponzi scheme you're fraudulently claiming that the high returns you're delivering your old investors are real, and result from your investing acumen, when in fact they aren't real, they're just money from new investors that was never invested in the first place.

They are comparable in one way however.

So it's an honest Ponzi scheme?
Bernie Madoff went to prison for fraud, what would "an honest Ponzi scheme" even mean?

I think a lot of people saw The Wizard of Lies and "Ponzi scheme" is the only financial scheme they're familiar with, so it gets thrown around a LOT.

So what you're describing is that this is a next-generation Ponzi scheme where nobody goes to jail but a bunch of people still lose money.

But yeah let's keep arguing over semantic definitions.

A Ponzi-scheme is a specific type of scam, it's not a generic word for any kind of unsustainable investment or scam.

This whole thread looks like someone saying "No, a boat is not a car" and the other going "but it does have an engine, right? It's a car. Let's not argue semantics"

No, this isn't a Ponzi scheme. That's the only thing I've said. I think you believe "Ponzi scheme" and "scheme" are interchangeable.

Usually the go-to lazy catchphrase is "we're just arguing semantics!" but "semantic definitions" is new.