For some reason calling out "it's not achshually a Ponzi scheme!" is the new "correlation is not causation!!"

Yes, I agree with you, it doesn't have the features of the Wikipedia definition of a Ponzi scheme. But language changes over time. I think the salient point that people now think about when calling things a Ponzi scheme is "Early investors are aware that, at its root, the investment sucks. So their goal is to entice new investors to buy into the original investment, which has the effect of transferring wealth from new to old investors, with the hope that the old investors can get out before the gig is up, thus leaving the newer investors as bag holders." That description applies both to the original definition of a Ponzi scheme, and to newer uses that don't include other features of the original Ponzi scheme.