I'd go back further and say that the first wave - when Dogecoin and about 100 other cryptos popped up all running essentially Bitcoin networks - that was right when it went to shit. At that time you had to still know how to compile something to start your own blockchain, but if you did you'd be a billionaire now.
Ripple and other riders on the original blockchain would be the second wave of scams. That's when large scale investors started to get involved.
Ethereum is really the third wave scam where it got so easy that people who couldn't code were able to scale it out to people who couldn't even think. It was upscale retail selling to schmucks.
That would make NFTs and smart contracts the 4th wave of ponzi. The part where knockoffs of knockoffs become cheaper than a Louis Vuitton bag on Canal Street, and everyone's mother is buying crypto, and they're running ads for it on the home shopping network.
Ripple and other riders on the original blockchain would be the second wave of scams. That's when large scale investors started to get involved.
Ethereum is really the third wave scam where it got so easy that people who couldn't code were able to scale it out to people who couldn't even think. It was upscale retail selling to schmucks.
That would make NFTs and smart contracts the 4th wave of ponzi. The part where knockoffs of knockoffs become cheaper than a Louis Vuitton bag on Canal Street, and everyone's mother is buying crypto, and they're running ads for it on the home shopping network.