The most honest Ponzi scheme of all time | Hacker News Reader

The most honest Ponzi scheme of all time

ponzischeme.io

194 pointsbinarnosp40 comments

I know this is a joke, but there are numerous real life Ponzi and pyramid schemes based on Ethereum smart contracts. PonziCoin, PoWH3D, and EthPhoenix transparently advertise themselves as Ponzi/pyramid schemes. There's also a whole genre of "hot potato" collectible games that operate like pyramid schemes. CryptoCelebrities and CryptoKitties are a couple well known games in this genre.

Personally, I don't think there's anything unethical about transparent pyramid schemes. They're essentially gambling games where players bet on the greed of other players. The greediest players end up "holding the bag" while every one else makes money. These games can be pretty profitable if you play conservatively.

>The greediest players end up "holding the bag" while every one else makes money.

Bag holders aren't the greediest players they're the last players.

>These games can be pretty profitable if you play conservatively.

Huh? How exactly do you play ponzi schemes conservatively?

> Huh? How exactly do you play ponzi schemes conservatively?

Get in and out quickly taking the, presumably higher-than-normal, ROI with you. Typically with ponzi schemes, folks put in and keep their money in to compound because, on paper, they have insane ROIs. Their greed blinds them to the "too good to be true."

Still, Ponzi schemes do payout to some amount of people, those who pull out before it is too late. None of this is to say you won't be left holding the bag, but if you're an "in-and-out" player you have a better chance of not being the one left holding the bag compared to those who see fake numbers and let greed wash over them.

> How exactly do you play ponzi schemes conservatively?

You find a bunch of greater fools to play with. But then you are back into scamming territory.

> PonziCoin

When I first heard about ponzicoin I thought for sure it was a joke. But not only did someone swindle people out of money the first time around, but someone also managed to do it again under the same name.

"Want to join our marketing team? Tweet about us!"

Funny and profound

Of everything on the page, this was particularly clever.

i just joined their marketing team

What is so great about this is that in today's age anyone can create a great looking website, appear professional and really pull off things like this. Use fancy job titles, like Second Layer Expert (lol) and invent a bunch of other nonsense that sounds innovative and disruptive, as well of course publish the code to be open. It's a great prank, unfortunately backed by too many real world cases that do exactly that, and make people lose money.

> ...anyone can create a great looking website...

The last time I tried to design and code a landing page myself it took me way more time than expected and the website ended up looking like shit. It is not easy as people think. (Or I am a noob, that is also an option.)

There are great templates available for $15. Anyone with basic html skills can download one and change the values between html tags. I'm assuming you tried to make one yourself, which in fact is tough and would require multiple people to pull off.

I think this is referring to WordPress-themes and other "design your website without coding"-offers.

And yet my mom's favorite conspiracy blogs still look straight outa 2002

Adds to the authenticity.

This is obviously an April Fools' Day joke, but it shows what is wrong with crypto-backed projects (ICO's etc)

I don't understand. Can you break it down a little more?

April Fools' Day joke or not, a project exactly like this one existed way before today.

https://ponzicoin.co/home.html

And the one I made before the project you mention:

https://ponzico.win

The real fun is the whitepaper (some of my better work): https://ponzico.win/ponzico.pdf

But yeah, PonzICOs are turtles all the way down.

That whitepaper is damn good.

Thank you, truly! Satire is my passion, and whenever folks enjoy my work I feel a deep sense of pride.

Follow your dream -- the world needs satire now more than ever. (Though I would prefer [twocolumn].)

Now I see the value behind smart contracts. It is much easier to set up a Ponzi scheme. No need to keep track of all the investors and who owns what.

I think Ponzi.io lasted about 1day about 3 years ago (it was real, but I think the coins were refunded)

Meh, there was one in Russia 2y ago. Called MMM 2.0. MMM 1.0 was also Ponzi, but not honest.

So the guy behind them got prosecuted for MMM 1.0, finished his sentence and then did 2.0 honestly.

Was it exactly two years ago, 1 April? :-)

No, it was not :(

This reminds me of the time I was approached to join a multi-level marketing scam affiliated with Transamerica. Their contact phone number was 1-800-PYRAMID. I was like "Well, at least they're up front about it and put it right there in the phone number."

I wouldn’t mind investing in an honest ponzi scheme as long as honesty tapered off over time as the number of people joining grow, and there’s no restriction on when you can pull out. I would have loved the super charged returns in Bernie Madoff’s early days.

I suppose any greedy person wouldn't mind "investing" in a Ponzi scheme at the point you can still make bank on it. And of course all ponzi scheme have such a phase, that's how they work.

This is great. So many little touches.

Have a look at the licensee agreement. https://ponzischeme.io/images/rules.gif Elon?

Turns out, Ponzi schemes are illegal even if they are honest about it.

I love the roadmap!

90% return... amateurs!

view source also

For your convenience, this is what it says on top:

    <!--
    
        MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNmdysoo++////++oosydmNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
        MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNhs+//////////////////////+shNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
        MMMMMMMMMMMMmy+//////////////////////////////+ymMMMMMMMMMMMM
        MMMMMMMMMMho////////////////////////////////////ohMMMMMMMMMM
        MMMMMMMMh+////////////////////////////////////////+hMMMMMMMM
        MMMMMMd+////////////////////-..-////////////////////+dMMMMMM
        MMMMNs//////////////////////`  .//. `.////////////////sNMMMM
        MMMN+///////////////-`..-::-   ://   -/////////////////oNMMM
        MMN+////////////////`          .-.  `///////////////////+NMM
        MN+///////////////////:.             `.://///////////////+NM
        My/////////////////////-     `:-.`       .////////////////yM
        m//////////////////////`     ://///:`     `////////////////m
        y/////////////////////-     `///////:      :///////////////y
        +/////////////////////`     .::////:`     `////////////////+
        /////////////////////-                   .//////////////////
        /////////////////////`     -:-.``      `:///////////////////
        +///////////////////-     `//////:-      `/////////////////+
        y///////////////::/:`     :////////:      .////////////////y
        m//////////////.         `/////////.      -////////////////m
        My/////////////.``          ``...`       `////////////////yM
        MM+/////////////////:   `               .////////////////+MM
        MMN+////////////////-   :/:   ....``..-/////////////////+NMM
        MMMNo///////////////`  .//.  `/////////////////////////+NMMM
        MMMMMs//////////////::-///`  -////////////////////////sNMMMM
        MMMMMMd+////////////////////:///////////////////////+dMMMMMM
        MMMMMMMMh+////////////////////////////////////////+hMMMMMMMM
        MMMMMMMMMMho////////////////////////////////////ohMMMMMMMMMM
        MMMMMMMMMMMMmy+//////////////////////////////oymMMMMMMMMMMMM
        MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNhs+//////////////////////+shNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
        MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNmdysoo++////++oosydmNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
    
        .:-----------------[ BUY & HODL BITCOIN ]-----------------:.
        |                                                          |
        |  * 03 JANUARY 2019:                                      |
        |  Bitcoin will be 10 years old. Even the most skeptical   |
        |  media will announce that "Bitcoin is here to stay".     |
        |  Read about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect   |
        |  and its influence on technology adoption.               |
        |                                                          |
        |  * 31 MAY 2020 (estimation):                             |
        |  The reward for mining a block will be cut in half.      |
        |  Bitcoin's inflation rate will be lower than Gold's.     |
        |                                                          |
        |  * 24 JULY 2020 - 09 AUGUST 2020:                        |
        |  Japan, one of the most cryptocurrency-friendly markets, |
        |  will be hosting the Summer Olympic Games. Thousands     |
        |  of tourists will visit the country where, as a result   |
        |  of technological progress, Bitcoin payments could be    |
        |  something normal.                                       |
        |                                                          |
        |  LAST BUT NOT LEAST:                                     |
        |  Technology advancements on every important field:       |
        |  security, privacy, speed, fees, UX.                     |
        |                                                          |	
        ':--------------------------------------------------------:'
    
    -->

Thanks! Wouldn't have seen it without this comment, and it's a clever addition.

Aside from being an April Fool's joke, the site is very hard to read, especially the "contract".

> If you're working for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission you can contact me by dedicated email address: no-reply@ponzischeme.io

10/10 would invest

Well, invest!

Seriously, there's more hidden gems in the webpage when you try to invest.

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