For a pyramid scheme that certainly holds up. Whoever joins last seems most incentivized to bring others in. Has anyone modeled pyramid scheme dynamics to Bitcoin perhaps at an academic level?
(Disclosure I own Bitcoin and Ethereum)
(Disclosure I own Bitcoin and Ethereum)
It's just a value store. Debating the efficacy of the value store is fine, labeling it a ponzi scheme seems reductive to absurdity.
The real problem (unsurprisingly) is with fiat currencies. These are heavily regulated, nearly made up values. That crash, often. We put handbrakes on the systems (see gamestop, mortgage debt crisis etc) because of how unsafe they can be.
If we trade goods for fiat currency, we put handbrakes and regulations there too.
The bitcoin/fiat exchange is merely proof why we need these regulations. Until it (the crypto/fiat intersection) is regulated, it's not gonna look and feel like what we're used to.
There are good criticisms to be made of bitcoin (like how centralized most mining operations are, the community's constant in-fighting and many more). It's drowned out by daft arguments like pollution (that's a whole other economic sectors fault) and ponzi schemes.
Maybe other coins could be construed that way (again, regulations required) but not bitcoin.
I am still surprised people continue to be still so enamoured by the financial aspects, which is the all important fuel to keep the engine going. Greed is a hell of a motivating factor though.
IMHO this is just the first generation, it will evolve in ways we cannot predict, but it is revolutionary and challenges banks and financial institutions to the core.
Here's an example of what I want more of - a blockchain analysis by Institute for the Future from 2017: https://www.iftf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/downloads/blockch...