Is it unethical to participate in a Ponzi scheme knowing full well it will fail?

[Este Nuno]

If someone "invests" their money in a Ponzi such as Pirateat40's infamous Bitcoin Savings and Trust, knowing that it's a Ponzi scheme from the beginning but hoping to get their money out before it fails and make a profit, is what they are doing ethical or not?

Knowing that there are some people unaware of the nature of the Ponzi and that those people will very likely lose their money, does this make taking advantage of the scheme wrong? Or is everything fair game, buyer beware, every man for themselves ect. ?

[devthedev]

If someone "invests" their money in a Ponzi, knowing it's a Ponzi scheme from the beginning is definitely unethical in my opinion.

Knowing that there are some people unaware of the nature of the Ponzi and that those people will very likely lose their money, does this make taking advantage of the scheme wrong? Or is everything fair game, buyer beware, every man for themselves ect. ?

Yeah, it's definitely wrong.

[Este Nuno]

If someone "invests" their money in a Ponzi, knowing it's a Ponzi scheme from the beginning is definitely unethical in my opinion.

Knowing that there are some people unaware of the nature of the Ponzi and that those people will very likely lose their money, does this make taking advantage of the scheme wrong? Or is everything fair game, buyer beware, every man for themselves ect. ?

Yeah, it's definitely wrong.

How about altcoins? There are lots of people who purely play them in a "pump and dump" sense. Unethical too?

One major difference is there is always a chance that the altcoin in question does infact succeed like bitcoin. But 99% of the these coins are destined to fade away and leave people holding the bag.

Clearly a different situation, but some similarities. Ethical or not?

[devthedev]

If someone "invests" their money in a Ponzi, knowing it's a Ponzi scheme from the beginning is definitely unethical in my opinion.

Knowing that there are some people unaware of the nature of the Ponzi and that those people will very likely lose their money, does this make taking advantage of the scheme wrong? Or is everything fair game, buyer beware, every man for themselves ect. ?

Yeah, it's definitely wrong.

How about altcoins? There are lots of people who purely play them in a "pump and dump" sense. Unethical too?

Yep, that's unethical too. Profiting off of someone else's loss.

[practicaldreamer]

If someone "invests" their money in a Ponzi such as Pirateat40's infamous Bitcoin Savings and Trust, knowing that it's a Ponzi scheme from the beginning but hoping to get their money out before it fails and make a profit, is what they are doing ethical or not?

In what sense could it be regarded as ethical behaviour ?

You might argue that you are providing for your family etc. - hey, you can justify anything with words, and to my mind "ethics", "morality", "political philosophy" is a dark art at best [the guy that was instrumental in taking the US into Vietnam had a great interest in moral philosophy in his early years apparently - Robert McNamara - you can see the problem here can't you  ]

Do unto others ...

[fancy_pants]

Speed is the only difference between a debt based currency and a ponzi.  I suppose anyone who thinks about spending dollars in a moral context would classify it as at least slightly immoral.

[TECSHARE]

Ponzi / pump and dumps are not only unethical, they are severely harming the crypto economy by luring in more crooks (as if we didn't have enough) more leeches wanting free easy money with no work or desire to contribute to the community or its development, as well as siphoning money out of the crypto economy.

[Ron~Popeil]

If everyone in the scheme knows the risks it is caveat emptor. For me personally it is neither ethical or intelligent to take part but to each his own. It really is just another form of gambling.

[boraf]

If everyone in the scheme knows the risks it is caveat emptor. For me personally it is neither ethical or intelligent to take part but to each his own. It really is just another form of gambling.

And everyone know full well most alt coin will become worthless one day.

[DannyElfman]

It depends on your definition of "participate"

If you are saying that a person would participate simply by investing their own funds and nothing else then no that is not unethical. You are doing nothing more then gambling your money in the ponzi. With that being said it would still be a very bad idea as without inside information you will have no idea when the ponzi will fail/collapse so you would be taking a huge risk in participating.

If you are saying that a person would participate by investing their own funds and talking up/endorsing the ponzi then that is very unethical. In this case you are encouraging others to take risks that they are unaware of.

[Malin Keshar]

its not unethical. People need to learn about investments and how to use their money, it only can be done id they allow peiple to make their own mistakes, and by making the cost of mistakes high enough so people will have real incentive to dont make mistakes

Forbid ponzis will only create childish people, financially speaking, that will ever be victmin of the biggest scam in the world, the current finantial system.

[koshgel]

It is definitely wrong morally to profit knowing someone will suffer from the perpetuation of the scam.

There are other ways for people to learn about financial responsible instead of being scammed

[TECSHARE]

It is definitely wrong morally to profit knowing someone will suffer from the perpetuation of the scam.

There are other ways for people to learn about financial responsible instead of being scammed

Yes, like working to figure the systems out and how best to contribute to the hand that feeds you. People that excuse this type of behavior just want an excuse to be fucking lazy and ride off of the contributions of others. Cryptocurrency has freed many people from a life of wage slavery, don't use that gift as an excuse to just turn into a bunch of useless leeches. There is always a way to contribute regardless of your preferences or talents.

[InwardContour]

If you know that it is a ponzi because you have inside information then yes you are acting unethically. You are using information that is not available to others (you use it by getting out of the ponzi earlier then you otherwise would).

It you know that it is a ponzi only because you can use logic to conclude that it is a ponzi based on publicly available information then you are fine. I would say shame on others for not making the same conclusion.

[rhino34567]

Many people here are forgetting that ethics are mostly subjective. Different people may consider a single thing differently from an ethical view. What may be ethical for someobe may not be for the next person. For example, the use of many drugs is unethical from my perspective, but it may not be from others'.

Back to the point, I do believe this to be unethical.

[Ekaros]

If everyone in the scheme knows the risks it is caveat emptor. For me personally it is neither ethical or intelligent to take part but to each his own. It really is just another form of gambling.

I also take this viewpoint, if everyone participating fully well know the nature of it being ponzi it's just gambling.

How ever if someone have more info on it, or some don't fully understand the it being ponzi; it becomes un-ethical. Insider info or scamming isn't ethical.

[validium]

well i would just call it gambling as you already knew of it being a ponzi.

How ever if someone have more info on it, or some don't fully understand the it being ponzi; it becomes un-ethical. Insider info or scamming isn't ethical.

Just like how BFL has turned out to be, which is unethical

[InwardContour]

If everyone in the scheme knows the risks it is caveat emptor. For me personally it is neither ethical or intelligent to take part but to each his own. It really is just another form of gambling.

I also take this viewpoint, if everyone participating fully well know the nature of it being ponzi it's just gambling.

How ever if someone have more info on it, or some don't fully understand the it being ponzi; it becomes un-ethical. Insider info or scamming isn't ethical.

If everyone knows that it is a ponzi scheme wouldn't it be fair to say that it is no longer a ponzi but is a game of musical chairs.

[bitcoinprofit]

Be wary of opportunities that promise instant wealth. Aside from winning the lottery, it takes legitimate hard work and dedication to earn a profit.