Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by wyck 1308 days ago
The reason was actually marketing and he was the first to admit it. During the invite only Chicago money trade show he explicitly said he spending all his money on brand awareness and marketing, basketball teams, stadiums, TV ads, the sponsorships were relentless and shaped public opinion that he was trustworthy. He' main spokesperson (and investor) was pretty much the most trusted athlete in the last decade. He knows how to build trust through marketing and politics.
1 comments
dmix 1308 days ago
The best video I've seen is SBF basically admitting it was a ponzi scheme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=131&v=C6nAxiym9o...

Selling something with no value other than the attention it gets on Twitter and the reputation it gets via reputable investors.

What gets 'reputable investors' to invest in the scheme is the most interesting part of this story, if you at all care about stopping it. Something that has existed long before crypto.

link
thaumasiotes 1308 days ago
> The best video I've seen is SBF basically admitting it was a ponzi scheme: [link omitted]

> Selling something with no value other than the attention it gets on Twitter and the reputation it gets via reputable investors.

But that is clearly not a Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme involves an obligation to pay people returns on their fake investment. Here, the pitch was "I don't know why people want these things, but they do. Want one?", and that pitch was honest and accurate. There was no pretense that you'd be getting any special returns.

By your standard, all trading in any commodity or stock is a Ponzi scheme, unless you're planning to consume the stuff yourself. Did you buy 300,000 pork bellies? Ponzi scheme. Do you have a bar of gold? Ponzi scheme. Do you have a share of Tesla? Ponzi scheme.

Compare Charles Ponzi, whose investment thesis was "guaranteed returns of 50% in 45 days", who specified the exact trade he was making (buying American stamps in Italy, where they were cheap, and selling them in America, where they weren't), and who never actually performed that trade. A Ponzi scheme is defined by paying off people who have invested in you with funds from other people who have invested in you.

link