Ask HN: Is a Ponzi scheme ethical if everyone knows it’s a Ponzi?

3 points

15 years ago

Bitcoin has been a real education for me. I’m convinced that the virtual currency itself is legitimate, but some of the biggest bitcoin ‘businesses’ are gambling and Ponzi/pyramid schemes.

Here’s an example of a self-described pyramid, where early participants double their ‘investment’ from the deposits of later participants. At some point the pyramid will collapse, and those on the bottom will lose their money.

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=20087.40

This is a pretty honest and transparent Ponzi, since all deposits and payouts are logged on a public Google Spreadsheet:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiID-eW4QPZ_dF8ya3VvQVYzSHpIbzJKVWlMeUxYcnc&hl=en_US&authkey=CPOghYEL#gid=0

Since the game continues until there have been no deposits in seven days, it could go on a long time.

Q1: Is it moral to start a game like this as long as everyone knows how it works?

Q2: If you’re an early ‘investor’, is it ethical to play this game even though you know you’ll profit at the expense of others?

Q3: Does it make any difference if you’re playing for dollars, euros or bitcoin?

Bonus Q: If any business relies on unsustainable growth to survive, is it legitimate?

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