Not quite ponzi. Somewhere between a Ponzi and a bubble -- economically it's a bubble, practically it's a Ponzi.
Most bubbles start by accident -- this one was carefully engineered.
How do you engineer a bubble? First you invent an asset. But if it's an asset that only you own then nobody will want to believe it's valuable. So you make it possible for the first round of early adopters to get it for free, by "mining. The first adopters talk the second adopters into trying it too (they can still get significant amounts by mining) and... well, you know the story. You also wrap it in some political anti-fiat-currency anti-bank anti-Fed anti-government anti-whatever pro-cryptography political wrapping to make it appealing to a certain constituency. But the key thing is to give out the "asset" for free at first, and to a lesser extent as time goes on, to incentivise early adopters without requiring 'em to actually put their hands in their own pockets. It's quite brilliant, the best memetically-engineered scam since Scientology.
And now I'm really getting tired of discussing bitcoin. I think I'll write a big long blog post in the form of a FAQ, submit it, and never mention bitcoin ever again.
The amount of people who said Bitcoin is a bubble is so great and so constant that I commissioned a comic about Bitcoin Bubble just so I can gain traffic by linking to that comic when somebody made that sort of statement. http://bitcoinweekly.com/articles/comic-reaction-after-drama...
Your comic seems to be missing a last panel -- y'know, the one with the punchline. Did you commission it from the writer of Marmaduke?
Is it possible that the number of people saying that bitcoin is a bubble is so high because bitcoin is a bubble? I mean, I'm not sure how anyone could even deny that bitcoin is a bubble -- the best you can hope for is that like gold it's a bubble that never ends. There's only been one of those in human history, though (two if you count silver as well), and it has at least a seven thousand year head start on bitcoin.
is it possible that the number of people saying that bitcoin is a bubble is so high because bitcoin is a bubble? I mean, I'm not sure how anyone could even deny that bitcoin is a bubble -- the best you can hope for is that like gold it's a bubble that never ends. There's only been one of those in human history, though (two if you count silver as well), and it has at least a seven thousand year head start on bitcoin.
Is bitcoin a bubble? Not from what I seen concerning economic activities and what users report about themselves.
But can bitcoin fail? Yes. Is it 100% likely to fail? I think not. Is it a good idea to put in a few dollars as a hedge? Yes.
That being said, I am in bitcoin for the long haul, whether or not it ultimately fails, and possibly consequently lose all the value in bitcoin.
I think you may have missed the point of the comment to which you were replying. What's the humor of the comic, in your view? I can't discern it myself.
It does seem to need a punchline. Perhaps a zoom out to a larger group of people saying "Bitcoin Rally!" sitting on piles of Bitcoins that they're compulsively counting.
Most bubbles start by accident -- this one was carefully engineered.
How do you engineer a bubble? First you invent an asset. But if it's an asset that only you own then nobody will want to believe it's valuable. So you make it possible for the first round of early adopters to get it for free, by "mining. The first adopters talk the second adopters into trying it too (they can still get significant amounts by mining) and... well, you know the story. You also wrap it in some political anti-fiat-currency anti-bank anti-Fed anti-government anti-whatever pro-cryptography political wrapping to make it appealing to a certain constituency. But the key thing is to give out the "asset" for free at first, and to a lesser extent as time goes on, to incentivise early adopters without requiring 'em to actually put their hands in their own pockets. It's quite brilliant, the best memetically-engineered scam since Scientology.
And now I'm really getting tired of discussing bitcoin. I think I'll write a big long blog post in the form of a FAQ, submit it, and never mention bitcoin ever again.