There is no such thing as bad publicity —P.T. Barnum

The founder of Ethereum made that opinion based on nothing more than the returns. Ethereum went up over 7000% and no stock ever does that. Evidence of a Ponzi right? Same evidence Vitalik used. The truth is, Bitconnect is a blockchain just like Ethereum. Ethereum is a better technology, more decentralized, but also profitable for people who held, but for people buying at the top of the bubble, they might see the price crash in the future and call it a Ponzi.

So it's a matter of perspective. A person who became a millionaire from Bitconnect likely will not think their Ponzi is a Ponzi, just like a person who became a millionaire from holding Ethereum tokens might not see their Ponzi as a Ponzi. To people holding fiat these are all Ponzis which is why ICOs are banned in some places and crypto is banned in Russia.

Let me paint the picture. **In Ethereum, Steem, Bitcoin, the large holders are at the top of the 'pyramid'. In Bitconnect, the large holders in BCC are also at the top of the 'pyramid'. The difference is in who earned the tokens and how. In Steem the top of the pyramid earned it blogginng or mining or buying early on. In Bitconnect it is earned primarily by promoters, marketers, and people who gave out loans early on. In Ethereum it is earned primarily by programmers, or people who bought in early on.**

To anyone buying in now, it is an obvious pyramid because the people at the top of the pyramid need to sell to someone right? Who do you think that will be?

Bitconnect is becoming increasingly popular. But it is not at all a safe investment and the loan mechanism adds even more risk. That said if you decide to create a mining rig to mine Bitcoin you are taking far more risk than the loan in Bitconnect. In either case you could make money or lose money but in Bitcoin the time where you could 'get rich' from mining Bitcoins is pretty much over and done with.

well said sir.

I have read on an article written by a fellow steemian that now bitconnect are targeting young people like me in their advertising campaign making it seem that is "cool" or "smart" thing to do in investing in bitconnect. The author was an investor in bitconnect also but he is worried that young impressionable  people might get too excited get money from their parents or worse take out a loan from loan shark and invest without really understanding the risk involved. 

The reason Satoshi Nakamoto had to keep his identity secret? People like these:


https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitconnect/comments/6wgkaj/reporting_bitconnect_to_the_fbi_tomorrow_tired_of/
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https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@debugger/i-just-reported-bitconnect-to-the-uk-company-investigation-service-lets-se-what-happens
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People are making money and other people who aren't willing to take the risks are afraid that other people willing to take the risk are making too much money from Bitconnect? Otherwise what is the agenda for reporting this? If you don't think it's worth the risk then you don't put your money into it but if the government seizes it then everyone loses.

The moral issue is, no one is losing money. Show me one person who lost their money to Bitconnect to make the moral argument otherwise you are arguing from a position of no evidence at all besides your emotions or fear of risk. You could argue the same about any crypto, any ICO, or any gambling or sports betting site, and a lot of people say these are immoral and should be shut down because people could lose.

But here you are on Steem where the value of Steem could drop and people who bought Steem could lose. So is it a Ponzi? I think people throw the word around without understanding how it is defined. The same with scam, a scam requires someone to have lose money and a Ponzi is just an unsustainable business model. All of crypto, and banks in general, could be described as Ponzis.

What does a bank do? They ask you to give or lend them your money just like with Bitconnect. They promise to give it back to you, sometimes with interest. Other times the bank even charges you a fee to store your money in a bank. You are okay with this, but you find crypto doing it and it's a clear Ponzi?

Simple solution, if it is about moral why not stay out of crypto, keep all your money in a bank where it is safe and the government can protect you? If not, then you're taking a risk being in Bitcoin, in Steem, in anything not fiat and backed by the government which you trust.

Same here.

https://youtu.be/CBGSo6A-DH0

Whether or not it is a Ponzi Scheme doesn't tell us whether or not to invest. You can say Bitcoin or Bitcoin mining were Ponzi Schemes too but that doesn't change that buying Bitcoin in 2010 would have been a really wise decision looking back. Will Bitconnect last? I think it will last for some years after looking closer at it, but will it last for decades? Probably not. But most coin wont last for decades.

So to say "do not invest" because it's a Ponzi Scheme doesn't tell me how I might lose more money investing in Bitconnect than in Bitcoin at the current price. What if Bitcoin crashes back to $2000 or even back to $200? So the same can happen to the other high risk investment options but Bitcoin doesn't even pay interest.

I had a discussion with the author and he just don't seem to get it at all. I've also written about BitConnect few weeks ago. As I analysed in my post, the supporters seem to be living in some unicorn land or some communist pipe dream. https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@vimukthi/trevon-james-vs-vitalik-buterin-in-depth-analysis-commentary-on-bitconnect

Eg comment: This is just human kindness people helping people, that's what the world needs and financial abundance is our basic inheritance not greed and fear like the controlling power wants us to live in and believe. They treat us as we are puppets and we are not. Love on....