Q: Is BitCoin a Ponzi or pyramid scheme?
A: No. Like any other currency, BitCoin is designed to be used as money, not as an investment.
Unlike either of these situations, BitCoin has no person "at the top"................
This is a pretty old post and I think due to the recent fork possibilities needs updating in order to be completely truthful. There WASN'T a person at the top as it was a rather collective open source project. But as Mike Hearn has pointed out - all Open Source Projects ultimately have a "Benevolent Dictator" (I think that is the word he used). In this case we have Mike and Gavin as our proclaimed benevolent dictators - and they are "at the top" and they have introduced an Upgrade "XT" that is very controversial and threatens to split the Bitcoin Chain. If that happens, then anyone on the other chain will indeed experience the crashing effect of the pyramid falling on their heads.
So be aware of what is going on and get your info from multiple sides / sources. And if it is all over your head..... well, be careful.
But with that said, I advise everyone to go to a major exchange and buy a couple of bitcoins at minimum, and wait things out. Because I have talked to many of the major exchanges and they pretty much
want XT. But they will NOT make the move and convert until it is clear it will succeed. So I think your bitcoin is safest there, and I definitely think that having a couple of bitcoins is worth the gamble. Because IF this is resolved satisfactorily, Bitcoin is going to soar. Even if it doesn't I think the flight will simply be delayed. My guess is that the next year is going to see a huge paradigm shift in the Global Finance system. By 2017 Fiat Currency will be gone.
The only real worst case is if the Fork goes so badly that it results in Mutual Destruction and the Powers That Be start their own Fiat Coin. That would indeed suck and is my greatest concern - but I think it is highly unlikey. However, one way for that to happen would be to use a Massive Global Financial Crisis to scare the masses into a suddenly new solution. And it is possible, and it is why I wish this Fork crap would resolve quickly - in order to avoid that - because I do think the Powers that be actually want to just use Bitcoin as this transitional vehicle.
