• zaph@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    If this is the definition of a ponzi scheme literally every currency could be considered a ponzi scheme. Why is the US dollar worth anything? Because enough people agree it is so if they stop agreeing it becomes worthless pieces of paper, or a ponzi scheme.

    • Ptsf@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      The US dollar has backing. It’s the faith and credit of the American government. It’s printed right on the currency. You could argue that bitcoin has this as well in it’s decentralized investment channel, but that’s where I’d then point out the fact that the US dollar does not have a runaway unsustainable cost built in. Bitcoin will always eat itself in energy costs. This will always be the case while the coin remains proof of work, which will also always be the case for a litany of reasons. You are trying to compare them at a small scale, but you need to think about the larger picture if you want to extrapolate out over the likely decades it will take for bitcoin to faulter.