Bitcoin and Ponzi Schemes - People are confused.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Misconceptions everywhere, misinformation is one the things that have discouraged many out there from investing in bitcoin, and I must commend OP for reaching out to them to correct their erroneous assumptions, it is actually very annoying when misinformation like this come from people the society look up to to pass accurate information to them, this goes a long way to prove that indeed, no man is an island of knowledge, no matter how educated that person is, there must be something somewhere he or she doesn't know, or have the wrong information about.

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[tread93]

I watch a popular breakfast show every morning and they always have a section where they talk about money matters. Yesterday, they talked about Crypto currencies and the guest mentioned several Ponzi schemes where Bitcoin was used as a payment option.

These Ponzi schemes collapsed and according to him ....many people lost money in Bitcoin. They have a WhatsApp group for the program and I immediately corrected that statement, because people did not lose money in Bitcoin.... they lost money in a Ponzi scheme that used Bitcoin as a payment option.

Now, this does not sound very important, but it actually are one of the most critical things that needs to be addressed. We should counter all of these misinformed people, with education on what Bitcoin is, because they lose money on Ponzi schemes and then they blame it on Bitcoin.

Agreed, BTC takes the blows to the uneducated. It was and is certainly used to carry out many schemes, but arguably so is USD and every other form of currency pretty much, and those deal types in cold hard cash aren't able to be tracked. Bitcoin leaves a bit trail! I mean there are ways to be more anonymous though mixers and the likes but there is always a way to trace back, correct me if I'm wrong here.

[Maxre]

I watch a popular breakfast show every morning and they always have a section where they talk about money matters. Yesterday, they talked about Crypto currencies and the guest mentioned several Ponzi schemes where Bitcoin was used as a payment option.

These Ponzi schemes collapsed and according to him ....many people lost money in Bitcoin. They have a WhatsApp group for the program and I immediately corrected that statement, because people did not lose money in Bitcoin.... they lost money in a Ponzi scheme that used Bitcoin as a payment option.

Now, this does not sound very important, but it actually are one of the most critical things that needs to be addressed. We should counter all of these misinformed people, with education on what Bitcoin is, because they lose money on Ponzi schemes and then they blame it on Bitcoin.

I can agree with you mate in every aspect because as we all know that Bitcoin is much more decentralized and there are no any kind restrictions to it and thus same way it is used by the Illegal people for money laundering, ponzi schemes and also other such big scams and thus it's not good for the normal people.
From 2009 to till now Bitcoin has seen many big frauds and also billions of dollars of scams in every aspect where people have lost too much money and that's why control your money by your own and that's the only to save your Money too and I am always careful too.

[ancafe]

<Snip> From 2009 to till now Bitcoin has seen many big frauds and also billions of dollars of scams in every aspect where people have lost too much money and that's why control your money by your own and that's the only to save your Money too and I am always careful too.

Describing bitcoin as fraud is wrong, in practice it is not bitcoin who do it but individuals or groups. That's why bitcoin is different from a ponzi scheme, you can trade yourself with the money you have and the profit will be according to the way you invest in bitcoin, although the technical investment varies and depends on how to see the potential market conditions for trading

While ponzi schemes carry a much higher level of risk, you will be relying on a second or third party to make the investment and ponzi schemes are generally run without transparency. I agree to avoid scams and losses you have to control your money and know how to invest before you start.

[Ebede]

Scammers also use fiat as a payment option. Kidnappers and terrorist demand wire transfers to offshore accounts and in some cases physical cash. This has been the modus operandi for many years, I’m yet to hear the media condemn fiat or someone in big media say “oh if it weren’t for the banks and fiat all these crimes wouldn’t be happening.“ That would be dumb, wouldn’t it?

I will say this your point is not legit because does come out and does kidnappers you mentioned cannot use with current as a point of payment but scammers who allocated can use bitcoin as a bunch of payment because they are customers before now when bitcoin was introduced newly many people who are scammers do use bitcoin to scam people so that is one of the things that scammers to and back causes people to be afraid of Bitcoin

[pixie85]

Apart from making a payment with bitcoin for the Ponzi scheme, some people have the mentality that bitcoin itself is a Ponzi scheme, they believed once you are dealing with it online it doesn't differ from it I laughed sometimes hearing something about this, and I do correct the notion about it to give more clarity to them

That's because they don't understand what a ponzi scheme is.

We're in a situation where people who don't know anything about bitcoin suddenly have an opinion but note that this is a normal thing. Most men act like they know how to fix a car and when they come to a mechanic they always talk like they know what's wrong and the mechanic gets annoyed.

When you're in a business for years you know that someone is boasting when they really have no clue. It's the same with us bitcoiners when someone talks shit in TV or writes a stupid article we get angry. Relax, it's normal. You just can't convince everybody.

[LSDadventure]

That's because they don't understand what a ponzi scheme is.

That's because they don't know Ponzi scheme appeared long before Bitcoin Genesis block in 2009.

They can not say a late comer (Bitcoin) is a reason of an early comer (Ponzi scheme). If they said so, it's a broken logic in their thinking flow.

[sulendra12]

Now, this does not sound very important, but it actually are one of the most critical things that needs to be addressed. We should counter all of these misinformed people, with education on what Bitcoin is, because they lose money on Ponzi schemes and then they blame it on Bitcoin.

It's actually important, most of the mainstream medias just look at Bitcoin because they think Bitcoin is being used just for crimes and bad things, but once the price rose up like several times in past few years, they start to search about Bitcoin and stated that it's a great idea to invest now. How ironic is the media nowadays?

Mainstream medias in TV/Magazines/Radio are one of the reasons the information is spreading really fast so need to make more educations about Bitcoin so people stop looking at one side only but they have to know about the good use of Bitcoin and they probably don't even realize that they have been using the technology behind Bitcoin for their entire life.

[Wildwest]

Ponzi schemes have indeed had a very bad impact on the valuation of Bitcoin for people who do not understand the current performance of Bitcoin, and Ponzi schemes are specifically designed to deceive people by blaming Bitcoin and other altcoins, so from the beginning Ponzi schemes have indeed become a big threat to crypto users and until now the Ponzi problem has not been overcome properly, So when someone says that, never ignore it and we can say that he must learn more about the crypto world so as not to judge negatively about Bitcoin.

[deathcode]

Mainstream medias in TV/Magazines/Radio are one of the reasons the information is spreading really fast so need to make more educations about Bitcoin so people stop looking at one side only but they have to know about the good use of Bitcoin and they probably don't even realize that they have been using the technology behind Bitcoin for their entire life.

I really think that dissemination through the media is one of the most effective ways to spread education and understanding about Bitcoin and reach the wider community.
But unfortunately, as long as the government in a country doesn't regulated Bitcoin or doesn't support Bitcoin, I think we won't be able to disseminate education about Bitcoin on TV, magazines or even radio. I don't think it can be used as a dissemination of Bitcoin education because all of their programs will be subject to the rules in force by the government of that country.
It's a different story if their government has regulated or even legalized Bitcoin, of course it will be easier to spread Bitcoin education through TV, magazines and radio media. Maybe they can even make a special tv show to provide understanding and education about Bitcoin to educate the citizens of their country.

[mendace]

I really think that dissemination through the media is one of the most effective ways to spread education and understanding about Bitcoin and reach the wider community.
But unfortunately, as long as the government in a country doesn't regulated Bitcoin or doesn't support Bitcoin, I think we won't be able to disseminate education about Bitcoin on TV, magazines or even radio. I don't think it can be used as a dissemination of Bitcoin education because all of their programs will be subject to the rules in force by the government of that country.
It's a different story if their government has regulated or even legalized Bitcoin, of course it will be easier to spread Bitcoin education through TV, magazines and radio media. Maybe they can even make a special tv show to provide understanding and education about Bitcoin to educate the citizens of their country.

Why would you use conventional means like print or TV to reach the masses?  Did you know that great revolutions start quietly from the bottom up?  We are lucky enough to live in this century where information runs fast, there are platforms like YouTube or even better in my opinion to use podcasts, the important thing is that influential people start talking, you don't need state approval.

[inthelongrun]

Misconceptions everywhere, misinformation is one the things that have discouraged many out there from investing in bitcoin, and I must commend OP for reaching out to them to correct their erroneous assumptions, it is actually very annoying when misinformation like this come from people the society look up to to pass accurate information to them, this goes a long way to prove that indeed, no man is an island of knowledge, no matter how educated that person is, there must be something somewhere he or she doesn't know, or have the wrong information about.

I just realized that those relatives of mine that told me a few years ago that I was lucky to have an online business might think bitcoin is like a Ponzi scheme that gives rewards to its investors regularly. They knew that I am into crypto trading, particularly on bitcoin. It was annoying because I tried to explain to them several times that I don't have a business and trading is like 50/50 and does not guarantee profit like the traditional business scheme. Yet after a few weeks when I met them again, they will tell me that I have an online business.