legit and ponzi don't go together, ever.
Why not? We have already seen honest programs like N9N, Delta Investments etc. don't say bullshit please.
Delta wasn't a ponzi. Gladimor paid everyone when it closed. Ponzis don't repay everyone when they close. That's what makes them a ponzi. Durrr.
HYIP = high-yield investment program != Ponzi scheme
I don't see any connection between HYIP term and Ponzi scheme, that's just a misunderstand created by ignorant people, so yes Delta Investments was a HYIP (although many DT / high ranked members claimed it was a Ponzi scheme).
It is possible to create an investment program which gives a (comparatively) high yield, like Gladimor did. He was essentially speculating (gambling) on alt coin price movements and promising to make good any losses from his own reserve. It didn't come to that. His trading was successful and it was my understanding he broke the T&C's of his service provider and had to shut it down. There was no dishonesty that I could see, he published his trades and took an agreed percentage as his payment.
I said this in my trust feedback for him. What other people say is up to them.
The term HYIP was hijacked by the scam industry for pretend credibility and is synonymous with Ponzi Scheme because the yield to investors is not created by legit business activity and funded by profits, but paid out from new investor deposits. When they slow down, the scheme collapses.
Look at the HYIP's on the monitor sites, they are claiming to be "forex trading" or "arbitraging" or other such lies.
The fact that the term "ponzi game" has been created to describe something which pays out early investors at the cost of later ones, but doesn't claim to do anything else, is a relatively new invention. It is still the basis for a scam, despite the operators claiming like this guy Cryptopot, to be honest blahblah.
The main problem for me with these games ever being legit or fair is the fact that other players can never be sure that the early (winning) deposits are not those of the admin.Despite this Cryptopot's flashy website, I don't see them solving that problem, so they must be considered a scam by default.
If people like you think they can outwit the inherent fact that, by definition, there will be more losers than winners, even if the admin doesn't run off with all the money first, that's entirely up to them.
But when they start promoting scam sites by publically claiming large returns in order to tempt in new investors and increase their own payout at their expense, then they are no better than the scammers themselves and end up with the same red trust.