Bitcoin revealed: a Ponzi scheme for redistributing wealth - Washington Post

[tokeweed]

Not looking good from the mainstream media's POV.

Bitcoin revealed: a Ponzi scheme for redistributing wealth from one libertarian to another

If Bitcoin were a currency, it'd be the worst-performing one in the world, worse even than the Russian ruble.

But Bitcoin isn't a currency. It's a Ponzi scheme for redistributing wealth from one libertarian to another. At least that's all it is right now. One day it could be more. Venture capitalists, for their part, are quick to point out that it's really a protocol, like the early internet, and its underlying technology could still be revolutionary. Also, they've bet hundreds of millions of dollars on it.

But that's not much of a consolation to anyone who bought anywhere near Bitcoin's $1,100 top. Or near $1,000, or $900, or $800, or, well even yesterday's prices. That's because Bitcoin hasn't just fallen 76 percent the past year. It's fallen 36 percent the past two days, as you can see below, with a 24 percent decline the past 24 hours. It's too bad Bitcoin doesn't have a central bank to help stabilize its value.

more here...  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/14/bitcoin-is-revealed-a-ponzi-scheme-for-redistributing-wealth-from-one-libertarian-to-another/

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[jonald_fyookball]

A negatively spun article published about Bitcoin during a price crash...

Big surprise there.

[ik_do]

u can add it here: bitcoinobituaries.com

[onewiseguy]

Bitcoin will rise just like it has over the past 5 years. dont stress

[MelodyRowell]

Harsh article. But the media are just doing their job.

[mayax]

they are saying the truth.

Bitcoin is doomed !

in 10 hours, the price will be around of 140 USD or even lower

[MichaelBliss]

A negatively spun article published about Bitcoin during a price crash...

Big surprise there.

Exactly.  It should be obvious by now that the mainstream media really doesn't want bitcoin to succeed.  They've been trashing it for years while they pretend it's too complicated to explain to people.  Imagine instead of laughing at it initially, they told people to pick some up when they were first reporting on it, at $5/btc?

[romerun]

Bitcoin, in other words, is suffering a deleveraging shock like the one that our economy in 2008, but without a Federal Reserve to cushion the blow.

[mayax]

A negatively spun article published about Bitcoin during a price crash...

Big surprise there.

Exactly.  It should be obvious by now that the mainstream media really doesn't want bitcoin to succeed.  They've been trashing it for years while they pretend it's too complicated to explain to people.  Imagine instead of laughing at it initially, they told people to pick some up when they were first reporting on it, at $5/btc?

you are 1 MIL altogether since 6 years ago. You have a lot of visibility in media, a lot of buzz. someone paid a lot of money for this advertising

AGAIN, 1 Milion users worldwide(including China), Ok?
Less than a Zeek Rewards in 2 years .

[jonald_fyookball]

AGAIN, 1 Milion users worldwide

which means it can grow 1000-fold.

[mayax]

AGAIN, 1 Milion users worldwide

which means it can grow 1000-fold.

the number of fools is limited

[jonald_fyookball]

AGAIN, 1 Milion users worldwide

which means it can grow 1000-fold.

the number of fools is limited

Surely you have better things to do
with your time than make hundreds
of posts conversing with fools.

[grendel25]

AGAIN, 1 Milion users worldwide

which means it can grow 1000-fold.

the number of fools is limited

Don't you mean the number of fools is unlimited?  Just 1M users?  There has to be more than that!

[mayax]

AGAIN, 1 Milion users worldwide

which means it can grow 1000-fold.

the number of fools is limited

Don't you mean the number of fools is unlimited?  Just 1M users?  There has to be more than that!

go ahead and find them. The Bitcoin "community" need them NOW . The libertarians who are using the banks and all the others facility the "bad persons" created them, need more fools.

[Bitcoinpro]

fiat institution writes more fantastical BS

that should be the title

[SLVR4ME]

The Washington Post is a couple of notches up from the Star and the Enquirer.
Ruperts shills doing their shill work.
Nothing more, nothing less

[twister]

What Ponzi? Bitcoin never promised a High return on an investment, which is what exactly a Ponzi offers, people who got in for the concept don't care about the price.

Anyways, it's nice to at the time like this people show their true colors, easy to differentiate now from the ones who really like Bitcoin and ones who pretended to.

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

Mainstream media write what will make people read their articles/newspapers. I remember when the articles about ISIS and Ebola appeared that was the only thing I was reading on /r/worldnews, then it died down.

They don't care what happens in the world, so long as they can build up "interest".

[QuestionAuthority]

We cannot fail because Lemmiwinks is on our side.

[cbeast]

I read The Honey Badger Times. They give slightly less than a fuck. 

[mercistheman]

The Washington Post was purchased by Jeff Bezos... he didn't care that it was bleeding money... he wanted to use it to promote his own political agenda.

[MemoryShock]

Poorly written article and the first clue is associating all of BTC with one political ideology.

I would thrash him in a debate yet I am pretty sure that he makes more money than me...so who is the real winner here.

For the life of me, I have no idea how anyone could call BTC a ponzi if they have spent even two hours researching the topic.  At worst, he could have posted a question to /r/bitcoin and been ridiculed twenty times before someone corrected such a notion with a serious face...

[Kprawn]

Another journalist on crack  

They seem to crawl out, when the currency goes down... and base their articles on what they read in other media.

Most of these people have not even read the Bitcoin white paper and have no clue how disruptive this technology will be.  

Why would a company like Dell or Microsoft even look at it, if they thought it might be a ponzi scheme.

Someone must pay for these people to go into rehab, and then when their minds are clear, research the real value of the technology.

[freedomno1]

Lets see were at roughly 70% from ATH
That means that the range is starting to get close to the good crashes 
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2013/04/11/an-illustrated-history-of-bitcoin-crashes/

Hello April 2013 it's been a while

[OrientA]

they are saying the truth.

Bitcoin is doomed !

in 10 hours, the price will be around of 140 USD or even lower

It is over $200 now.

[mayax]

more articles like this will appear in the next period of time and corroborate with some ongoing investigations over US exchangers will conclude to the Bitcoin death.

mark my words, Bitpay will be closed very soon.

 

[cbeast]

more articles like this will appear in the next period of time and corroborate with some ongoing investigations over US exchangers will conclude to the Bitcoin death.

mark my words, Bitpay will be closed very soon.

Bitpay isn't an exchange, so no.

[infobel]

more articles like this will appear in the next period of time and corroborate with some ongoing investigations over US exchangers will conclude to the Bitcoin death.

mark my words, Bitpay will be closed very soon.

 

What a sad little person you must be in your pity life ))

[Elwar]

I think the article says more about the end of the Washington Post than it does about anything else.

[Flashman]

As in "We can't even get our head round the end of dead tree publishing, and now money is on electronic calculating engines? Excuse us while we chortle into our single malt at the carriage club."

[QuestionAuthority]

As in "We can't even get our head round the end of dead tree publishing, and now money is on electronic calculating engines? Excuse us while we chortle into our single malt at the carriage club."

The Washington Post just fails to respect the authoritah of Lemmiwinks.

Or they're used up old fools milking the last dollar out of their previous successes. Kind of like Cher.

[runningfree]

Bitcoin is a state of mine. If you want to negative that's you choice.

[Flashman]

Or they're used up old fools milking the last dollar out of their previous successes. Kind of like Cher.

Oooh, burn.... poor Cher, I still regard her as kind of "with it" since she pioneered use of  autotune. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Believe_%28Cher_song%29

However, I guess even that was a long time ago now.

[nextgencoin]

Not looking good from the mainstream media's POV.

Bitcoin revealed: a Ponzi scheme for redistributing wealth from one libertarian to another

If Bitcoin were a currency, it'd be the worst-performing one in the world, worse even than the Russian ruble.

But Bitcoin isn't a currency. It's a Ponzi scheme for redistributing wealth from one libertarian to another. At least that's all it is right now. One day it could be more. Venture capitalists, for their part, are quick to point out that it's really a protocol, like the early internet, and its underlying technology could still be revolutionary. Also, they've bet hundreds of millions of dollars on it.

But that's not much of a consolation to anyone who bought anywhere near Bitcoin's $1,100 top. Or near $1,000, or $900, or $800, or, well even yesterday's prices. That's because Bitcoin hasn't just fallen 76 percent the past year. It's fallen 36 percent the past two days, as you can see below, with a 24 percent decline the past 24 hours. It's too bad Bitcoin doesn't have a central bank to help stabilize its value.

more here...  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/14/bitcoin-is-revealed-a-ponzi-scheme-for-redistributing-wealth-from-one-libertarian-to-another/

Then they fight you, then you win..

[Q7]

Anything in order to get people's attention to read the news...

[newIndia]

Not looking good from the mainstream media's POV.

Bitcoin revealed: a Ponzi scheme for redistributing wealth from one libertarian to another

bla... bla... bla...

more here...  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/14/bitcoin-is-revealed-a-ponzi-scheme-for-redistributing-wealth-from-one-libertarian-to-another/

The bottom line is Amazon is afraid of Bitcoin.

[tokeweed]

the washington post will be accepting btc/crypto one way or another.

[QuestionAuthority]

Or they're used up old fools milking the last dollar out of their previous successes. Kind of like Cher.

Oooh, burn.... poor Cher, I still regard her as kind of "with it" since she pioneered use of  autotune. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Believe_%28Cher_song%29

However, I guess even that was a long time ago now.

I used to like Cher and The Washington Post. Now they're both just kind of embarrassing.

[tokeweed]

you liked cher  really?

[jonald_fyookball]

you liked cher  really?

You think that's crazy, some people actually like Barbra Streisand's music. 

[QuestionAuthority]

Yeah, I thought she'd be a really wild lay. lol

[tokeweed]

Yeah, I thought she'd be a really wild lay. lol

... i'd have to agree.

[QuestionAuthority]

Yeah, I thought she'd be a really wild lay. lol

... i'd have to agree.

HaHa

I loved those slutty outfits she would wear. That worked great for her in her 20s and 30s. In her 60s not so much.

That's what the Washington Post needs now. Since their journalistic integrity is gone they should just put porn on the cover.

[johnyj]

Bitcoin is here to prove that without FED saving the world, everything will still back to order

FED bought lots of assets with nothing when everyone was in panic, now same trick is going to play again to create another panic (first in petroleum and then everything else) and they will buy a whole lot more this time with money out of thin air

The USD inflation judged by base money supply is 6000% since 2008, but banks cover that by using M2 or M3 as measurement, and those are just numbers in bank's database, just like your bitcoins in an exchange, it can be any numbers banks want it to be, they could easily lend to each other multiple times to create lots of those numbers, and they could repay each other to remove those numbers

[Paul Revere]

Yeah, I thought she'd be a really wild lay. lol

... i'd have to agree.

Until you get a picture of Gene Simmons or Sonny Bono in your mind while you were trying to crank one home on her and end up puking all over her instead...

[QuestionAuthority]

Yeah, I thought she'd be a really wild lay. lol

... i'd have to agree.

Until you get a picture of Gene Simmons or Sonny Bono in your mind while you were trying to crank one home on her and end up puking all over her instead...

You should get a job as a birth control substitute.

[tokeweed]

Yeah, I thought she'd be a really wild lay. lol

... i'd have to agree.

Until you get a picture of Gene Simmons or Sonny Bono in your mind while you were trying to crank one home on her and end up puking all over her instead...

hmmmm...

[mayax]

Bitcoin is here to prove that without FED saving the world, everything will still back to order

FED bought lots of assets with nothing when everyone was in panic, now same trick is going to play again to create another panic (first in petroleum and then everything else) and they will buy a whole lot more this time with money out of thin air

The USD inflation judged by base money supply is 6000% since 2008, but banks cover that by using M2 or M3 as measurement, and those are just numbers in bank's database, just like your bitcoins in an exchange, it can be any numbers banks want it to be, they could easily lend to each other multiple times to create lots of those numbers, and they could repay each other to remove those numbers

a lot of bla bla and non senses. how did you buy Bitcoin(if you did it) ? did you work for it or how? with fiat currency, right?

So, keep your bullshits regarding to FED and USD. Sell everything you have and buy Bitcoin and live your live by using it.

Be an example for all of us!

[RodeoX]

Looks like another reporter just heard about bitcoin. He has done his due diligence and spent 20 mins. googling "What is bitcoin?" Now he's an expert! 

[mayax]

Looks like another reporter just heard about bitcoin. He has done his due diligence and spent 20 mins. googling "What is bitcoin?" Now he's an expert! 

do you have to be an expert to use Bitcoin? If YES, then say it straight.

IF NOT then it is not so hard to see that Bitcoin is bubble and only few people are earning from it. It is OK but admit that

Bitcoin will not dissapear as system, the so called "exchangers" will dissapear because they will be closed very soon. The first ones will be from USA. Either BitPay, either Coinbase.

[freequant]

Journalists are equally clueless on every other subjects they cover be it politics, science, economy, culture and so on but you usually don't notice because you are less proficient in other subjects.

[Flashman]

do you have to be an expert to use Bitcoin? If YES, then say it straight.

You have to have a moderate degree of intelligence at the moment, which goes a long way to explain why the trolls here are so down on it.

[LiteCoinGuy]

25% up in the last 24hours - it is still alive   

[turvarya]

Looks like another reporter just heard about bitcoin. He has done his due diligence and spent 20 mins. googling "What is bitcoin?" Now he's an expert! 

do you have to be an expert to use Bitcoin? If YES, then say it straight.

IF NOT then it is not so hard to see that Bitcoin is bubble and only few people are earning from it. It is OK but admit that

Bitcoin will not dissapear as system, the so called "exchangers" will dissapear because they will be closed very soon. The first ones will be from USA. Either BitPay, either Coinbase.

There is a difference between using something and understanding something.
Most people can use a smartphone, but just a few can tell, if your smartphone can be easily hacked.

It doesn't make any sense, that because you can use a technology, you can predict its future. Even if you undertand the technology completly, doesn't mean, you know it's future.

[alani123]

I really can't believe how someone can sit down and write an article of this lingh for a website like washington post without having a clue of what bitcoin is. It's 2015 and we still see people from the media calling bitcoin a ponzi...

[Lauda]

Why don't we fight back?
How about Bitcoin news sites start making 'Fuck you' Washington Post articles?

The author and the whole redaction should be ashamed of themselves. They have no right to claim something like this.

[Paul Revere]

do you have to be an expert to use Bitcoin? If YES, then say it straight.

You have to have a moderate degree of intelligence at the moment, which goes a long way to explain why the trolls here are so down on it.

[ChuckBuck]

If I were the mainstream media I wouldn't blame them, FUD sells.

If it were a boring, Bitcoin prices stabilizes, technology maturing, and adoption keep increasing article, then they wouldn't get page hits.

It's the way of the world, kick the underdog while he's down.  Then of course when Bitcoin rises like a phoenix, they'll start rising melodramatic sensationalistic articles like "The Bitcoin revolution is here!" or "The internet of money has arrived!" or "Digital gold rush!" or "E-money, how to get involved".

Right now there's not enough people in the mainstream that give a hoot, so only negative spun ones will get attention.

[Flashman]

It's the way of the world, kick the underdog while he's down.  Then of course when Bitcoin rises like a phoenix, they'll start rising melodramatic sensationalistic articles like "The Bitcoin revolution is here!" or "The internet of money has arrived!" or "Digital gold rush!" or "E-money, how to get involved".

Someone freelance that shit, sell to popular science, work blockchain angle for them

[Bit_Happy]

A negatively spun article published about Bitcoin during a price crash...

Big surprise there.

Also poorly written and not entirely accurate. It is far to easy to kick BTC when it is down.

[RodeoX]

Looks like another reporter just heard about bitcoin. He has done his due diligence and spent 20 mins. googling "What is bitcoin?" Now he's an expert! 

do you have to be an expert to use Bitcoin? If YES, then say it straight.

IF NOT then it is not so hard to see that Bitcoin is bubble and only few people are earning from it. It is OK but admit that

Bitcoin will not dissapear as system, the so called "exchangers" will dissapear because they will be closed very soon. The first ones will be from USA. Either BitPay, either Coinbase.

I do know more than most. I've been doing this since 2010 and I've seen a lot. But a true expert would also have a degree in cryptography and economics. No one knows the future however, least of all an internet reporter who does not even understand what a ponzi is.

I do have to disagree about the exchanges. BitPay and Coinbase are crushing it. There is just too much money on the table for no one to jump in. In the US there are some legal stumbling blocks, but bitcoin is a global phenomena and many places it's easy to set up.  

[Elwar]

I wonder if this article will legitimize Bitcoin for those libertarians that were on the fence.

[Flashman]

Could do, also, could help a Streisand effect reaction, people doing a Philosiraptor "Hmmm the opposite of libertarian is authoritarian, had enough of that shit...."

[Mcqueen44]

They just don't understand the main things. We also can say that dollar is a Ponzi scheme, lol. What the difference though 

[Flashman]

We ought to make that a slogan. "Bitcoin, significantly LESS of a ponzi scheme than the US Dollar."

[thriftshopping]

I really can't believe how someone can sit down and write an article of this lingh for a website like washington post without having a clue of what bitcoin is. It's 2015 and we still see people from the media calling bitcoin a ponzi...

I think it is referring mainly to the recent price activity that bitcoin is having. The fact that the price has had large price swings has caused many people to have large shifts  in their wealth

[Lauda]

We ought to make that a slogan. "Bitcoin, significantly LESS of a ponzi scheme than the US Dollar."

Well I do think that would work. The US $ is so bad, I do not even dare to touch their bills no more.
Yet almost everyone is so ignorant that they aren't seeing this in the first place.

[sethminer14]

Bitcoin is a ponzi scheme just as much as buying stock in apple was back in the 90's. Sure those that got in early made the money from those that got in later, but nobody is crying about that... The big difference between stocks and bitcoin is that bitcoin actually has a use for the richest as well as the poorest, which is quick transactions. If i own one stock of apple, I can only buy and sell, I don't have any say in what the company does. If I want to send that stock to my grandmother, that would take weeks.

Bitcoin may go lower, but saying that it is going to die in the near future is just idiotic. There are too many people willing to buy and until another coin can do bitcoins job better than bitcoin, it will stay alive.

[madmadmax]

Ruble and Bitcoin, aka currencies that are less or more capitalistic are being bashed by the socialist state

[pr472]

Instead of trashing the Washington Post, does anyone have any intelligent critique of the author's points/ideas?

[mayax]

Instead of trashing the Washington Post, does anyone have any intelligent critique of the author's points/ideas?

they don't. they will only say "Bitcoin is GOD" and that you are a fool who do not understand the "alien technology"  

pr472, what can you ask from people who are using exchangers like BTC-e or Lake BTC or any other ghost company without phone number, address and then they are screaming "they took my money ! "

[MichaelBliss]

Instead of trashing the Washington Post, does anyone have any intelligent critique of the author's points/ideas?

For one thing, obvious trash doesn't deserve a "critique" really.  Second, I'm sure a lot of people are completely bored refuting hackneyed lies like "Bitcoin is a ponzi" after so many years of it.  There's a thread on here about scientific proof for God, and most of us aren't posting our intelligent critiques there either.   You can look up what a Ponzi scheme is, then see why the article isn't worth reading even.

[gargantuar]

Instead of trashing the Washington Post, does anyone have any intelligent critique of the author's points/ideas?

For one thing, obvious trash doesn't deserve a "critique" really.  Second, I'm sure a lot of people are completely bored refuting hackneyed lies like "Bitcoin is a ponzi" after so many years of it.  There's a thread on here about scientific proof for God, and most of us aren't posting our intelligent critiques there either.   You can look up what a Ponzi scheme is, then see why the article isn't worth reading even.

+1

Your hair is cool.  The word "Ponzi" is trumpeted frequently but has never applied.  Only idiots and morons that fail to understand the details and distinctions (and the definition of the word they use) keep shouting it. Or government/banker shills.

[johnyj]

Instead of trashing the Washington Post, does anyone have any intelligent critique of the author's points/ideas?

The author unconsciously used dollar as a unit of counting, that is the critique. If he use bitcoin as the unit of counting, it is just dollar become extremely expensive because of the liquidity problem caused by ending of QE3. The shortage of dollar is everywhere right now

[johnyj]

They just don't understand the main things. We also can say that dollar is a Ponzi scheme, lol. What the difference though 

The difference is that you can not create bitcoin out of thin air, you must work and pay true resources to create it

[gjgjg]

Washington Post is a rag, wouldn't use it to pick up my dog's 'deposits'

and after actually burning my eyes reading it, its basically a joke - if someone reads it and makes any decisions or forms opinions based on it, they were never going to be a BTC supporter anyway.

Trash for trashcan people.

(edit no offense to all trash can people, some are best folk in the world lol)

[cbeast]

Washington Post is a rag, wouldn't use it to pick up my dog's 'deposits'

and after actually burning my eyes reading it, its basically a joke - if someone reads it and makes any decisions or forms opinions based on it, they were never going to be a BTC supporter anyway.

Trash for trashcan people.

Don't forget lining bird cages and litter boxes.

[SLVR4ME]

Washington post uses:
Fireplace kindling
Moving box stuffing
Emergency toilet paper
Reading

[Possum577]

Harsh article. But the media are just doing their job.

And what's that, the spread of misinformation and unwarranted hype?

[alani123]

I really can't believe how someone can sit down and write an article of this lingh for a website like washington post without having a clue of what bitcoin is. It's 2015 and we still see people from the media calling bitcoin a ponzi...

I think it is referring mainly to the recent price activity that bitcoin is having. The fact that the price has had large price swings has caused many people to have large shifts  in their wealth

Still, calling bitcoin a ponzi? The author is either a pretentious person that only cares about linkbaiting people or just someone who knows little to nothing about bitcoin nor bothered to spend time learning what it actually is. I see what he's refering at, but I find his allegations it outrageously stupid. .

[OrientA]

We ought to make that a slogan. "Bitcoin, significantly LESS of a ponzi scheme than the US Dollar."

Yes, unlimited supply of USD compared to limited BTC.

[nextgencoin]

Has there ever been a new technology that has got constant orchestrated battering from the bought and paid for MSM? Probably not which is why we should realise we are on to something that threatens a lot of people in power. Nice.