This is not correct. A pyramid scheme is any system where existing users earn profits by getting new users in, while a Ponzi scheme is a specific type of pyramid scheme (usually masked as some different form of investment) which explicitly forces you to leave your money in the hands of the owner for a while, promising to get it back with lots of interests. When a Ponzi scheme can't get enough new funds in to cover payments due to existing members, the owner can and will disappear with the money; with our system, you simply stop getting new payments. If you already covered your initial investment and made a profit, there is no way you can lose that, because it will already be in your wallet. There is no collapse: in the worst case you will not earn anything for a while, but you will resume earning as soon as you get new members in.


True. But it's perfectly understandable that people want first to test the system with as little money as possible. This is why we created the 0.001 BTC Pyramid, which is obviously useless if you want to actually move money around.


There are no fees. We own the root address of each Pyramid and all our earnings come from that.
Oh, and of course some addresses are ours, we used them for testing before going online.
We couldn't actually invest anything even if we wanted to: when we join a Pyramid, we are just sending money from an address we own... to another address we own. At least until more new members get in

Yes, there really are lots of pyramid schemes around. But what makes ours unique is the direct payment between members, with no central wallet.


This is due to how the fixed-payment system works. We could have had only a single Pyramid, say of 0.1 BTC value, but then what to do about people wanting to invest 0.01, or 0.5 BTC?


This is not a Ponzi scheme. Ponzi schemes ask you to give your money to the owner which will then (supposedly) give it back after some time with lots of interests; this works for a while... until the owner disappears with everything.

This is indeed a pyramid scheme, but it's not a scam.

1HrSRcMMUwZgVwa2q6vS3fKVGbkLwENQu6

It's always nice to see people trying to perform SQL injection or POSTing JavaScript to your site's forms.

However, it's completely useles. Not only because we took obvious precautions against that, but mainly because there's nothing at all to steal on our server  

Thus, whoever is having so much fun from 217.114.213.18 and 217.114.213.19 could please stop?  

Looks like a bug slipped it... should have done more testing 

For you people who tried to join without specifying a parent address and got an error message (yeah, I'm talking to you two, I saw you trying in the web site logs ): there was a problem in the algorithm for choosing the parent node (trying to take LOG(10) of zero isn't exactly a good idea). Should have tested with more people in who joined on the same day. Fixed.

Hello, we just developed a Pyramid scheme, but with a completely different rule set: there is no central wallet, payments are made directly by members to other members (thus nobody need to trust the site owners with money, we couldn't disappear with it even if we were crazy enough to want to); each new member pays a fixed sum to the 5 members directly above in the Pyramid, and then receive payments from the members who join below him/her. Of course, this requires a fixed payment, thus, in order to accommodate members wanting to invest different sums, we had to split the system into multiple Pyramids.

I'm not directly advertising the site link here because it just wouldn't seem fair; if you want to have a look at it, the site URL is in my profile and the discussion topic is in this same forum. Any feedback is of course welcome.

Care to exchange some idea about Pyramids, and maybe some ads? 

You're right, we manage the address database and could change it anytime we wanted to.

But everyone in the world can verify in the blockchain who actually paid what, when, and to whom; this wouldn't have been possible with a physical pyramid scheme (like those old chain letters), but with Bitcoin it is.

We save the transaction ID for each payment, and show it on the member details page (and in the payment history page, and in a couple other places). Everything is completely transparent.

And between browsing each Pyramid and looking at the actual transactions, you can verify that, indeed, each member paid his/her quota, and paid it exactly to the members above him.

This is a double post; please don't respond to it. We will never advertise our service again in this section.

We posted the official announcement in the "Gambling" section to avoid the topic been moved there by a moderator, because although our system is a safe and no-risk-at-all pyramid scheme, most people would probably think of it as just another scam.

If you're curious about why BitPyramid is something else entirely, then feel free to have a look at it, and join the conversation in the official thread.

Do you think pyramid schemes could be actually useful if they weren't always such scams?
Have you ever wondered how a pyramid scheme could have developed if its owner didn't disappear with all the money?
Are you willing to join a TRUE pyramid scheme, where your profit depends ONLY on how many new members you can get in, like it should be?

Welcome to BitPyramid, the first ever Bitcoin Pyramid where no one will steal your money!
And we are not asking you to trust us on this... due to how it works, we can't steal anything, even if we were crazy enough to try (which we aren't)!

• Completely anonymous. No registration required at all, we only ask for a Bitcoin address.
• Distributed. There is no central wallet, payments are made directly by members to other members. We will never steal your money, because we will never touch it in the first place.
• Single payment. There is only a single, fixed initial payment, identical for all members. And it goes directly to other members, not to us.

How does it work?

• Choose a Pyramid. There are many of them, each one with a fixed value.
• Join your Pyramid. You only need a valid Bitcoin address.
• Make your payment. You will have to pay the Pyramid's fixed value to the 5 members directly above you.
• Get new members in. Use your referral link to invite new members and have them join as your "children".
• Profit! Earn money from each new member you get in, and from each new member he/she can get in, and so on!

Really, this is all there is to it.
Just a simple Pyramid, no bullshit, no "investment", no "interests", no scams at all.
Once you get repaid for your initial investment, everything else you gain will be profit.
And it will flow directly into your wallet, we will never touch it at all.

Looks fun? Then get in!
http://bitpyramid.org

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Be sure to read the Rules, and have a look at the FAQ if you need further help.
The site is currently in beta, it should be fairly stable but there could be some small bug lurking around; if you find one, please report it at support@bitpyramid.org.
The layout and graphics are quite basic, we sure could use a good web designer. If you know your CSS, drop us a line and you'll get a free membership in all Pyramids!