Ponzinomics

A portmanteau of Ponzi scheme and economics. A term commonly used to describe crypto asset investment schemes which are is-negative-sum investments which exist to enrich a pool of insiders, much like a Ponzi scheme, and yet rely on techno-obscurantism or crackpot economics to obfuscate or distract from the internal payout structure of the scheme.

See also DeFi, pyramid scheme, Ponzi scheme, predatory inclusion, and multilevel marketing scheme.

References

  1. Krugman, Paul. 2018. ‘Bitcoin Is Basically a Ponzi Scheme’. The Seattle Times 30. https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/bitcoin-is-basically-a-ponzi-scheme/.
  2. Stolfi, Jorge. n.d. ‘Bitcoin Is a Ponzi’. Accessed 19 March 2022. https://ic.unicamp.br/~stolfi/bitcoin/2020-12-31-bitcoin-ponzi.html.
  3. Sohale Andrus Mortazvi. n.d. ‘Cryptocurrency Is a Giant Ponzi Scheme’. Jacobin. Accessed 20 March 2022. https://jacobinmag.com/2022/01/cryptocurrency-scam-blockchain-bitcoin-economy-decentralization.
  4. ‘Why Bitcoin Is Worse than a Madoff-Style Ponzi Scheme | Financial Times’. n.d. Accessed 20 March 2022. https://www.ft.com/content/83a14261-598d-4601-87fc-5dde528b33d0.
  5. ‘Bitcoin Pyramid Schemes Wreak Havoc on Brazil’s “New Egypt”’. 2022. AP NEWS. 22 January 2022. https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrency-technology-business-brazil-bitcoin-2dc801e5e3aa477ce7983d84dc8a64bb.
  6. Shri T Rabi Sankar. n.d. ‘Cryptocurrencies – An Assessment’. Reserve Bank of India. Accessed 2 March 2022. https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?Id=1196.
  7. Bartoletti, Massimo, Salvatore Carta, Tiziana Cimoli, and Roberto Saia. 2020. ‘Dissecting Ponzi Schemes on Ethereum: Identification, Analysis, and Impact’. Future Generation Computer Systems 102: 259–77.
  8. Corradi, Fiammetta, and Philipp Höfner. 2018. ‘The Disenchantment of Bitcoin: Unveiling the Myth of a Digital Currency’. International Review of Sociology 28 (1): 193–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/03906701.2018.1430067.
  9. Moore, Tyler, Jie Han, and Richard Clayton. 2012. ‘The Postmodern Ponzi Scheme: Empirical Analysis of High-Yield Investment Programs’. In Financial Cryptography and Data Security, edited by Angelos D. Keromytis, 7397:41–56. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32946-3_4.
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