Topic: Video: Bitcoin Ponzi scheme (Read 3518 times)

wow. . . just wow. . .

If only he would spend his time reading up about BTC instead of bashing it.

SBSS is not a mint, but a 'brand' if you will.  The rounds were produced by Mulligan Mint, Chris Duane was only involved via partnering with the mint to sell his (SBSS) designs.  There is a long page on his blog dedicated to the current troubles with Mulligan Mint.  $15 over spot and 20 round minimum is also not accurate.  They were $3 over spot on BU rounds and $15 over for proofs.  There was no minimum order required, I personally know folks who purchased between 1 and 5 rounds at a time.  Cool designs, but I still think eagles would be a better choice....

Now I agree with your other points, and much of your overall sentiment.  What Chris Duane doesn't understand or want to acknowledge is that his gold and silver are just like bitcoin.  Only valued because of rarity and because people agree that they are worth *something*    If he knew jack about technology he might have a different view on bitcoin, but who has time to learn about crazy hashtag algorithms when you're busy charging your most 'special' readers a hefty fee for a couple blog entries a month?

LOL Chris Duane. He loves to "expose" everyone else as running some kind of scam to take advantage of the masses. This is the same guy who made a bunch of videos telling people to sell all their assents and BUY SILVER. A couple years later, what do you know? HE is the guy behind Silver Bullet, Silver Shield-the mint that makes the "Freedom Girl" and "Slave Queen" silver rounds. In his videos he urged Americans to buy silver, saying that it would kill the "Bankers' Scheme". Yet, he puts his rounds up for like $15 over spot and makes the MINIMUM quantity of rounds you can buy as 20. A guy who really cares about "the masses"? I don't think so.

Oh, and the issue of "backing".
Who backs money from the Fed? The Government.
Who backs bitcoins? US. Do you think all of us (bitcoin holders) will wake up one morning and say "Oh, all of those things (bitcoins) that I have, I don't want them anymore."? TOO BIG TOO FAIL
And on the issue of intrinsic value-I believe Bitcoins have intrinsic value. It lies in their utility. The ability to spend globally, anonymously, etc.

LOL nice meme  ^^

This is a sad video, because I am familiar with Chris Duanes work and despite the content of this particular video he really IS a very intelligent person.  That being said he is one of those very opinionated people who probably wouldn't ever admit his error on this subject no matter what bitcoin does, and yes, he is also a huge silver bug so there is some bias.

Most importantly, if you are familiar with his work you are probably aware that he openly proclaims having very very little working knowledge of computers in general.  Never really touched a computer or used the internet until he taught himself just barely enough to write his blog and make youtube videos.  That ignorance of the technology and process combined with his bullion bias throws him way off base here.  It is obvious when he starts talking about mining as if you need a whole data center full of super computers or something, because that laptop won't work! The average person can't afford a highly specialized mining computer!  rofl

Apparently he has never seen pics of any of the crate rigs around here ...   

I type with two fingers

I do not think a serious thing ...... 

There are but you've got to remember, this guy is probably smarter than average and this is the conclusion he's come to.

It's not an unreasonable assumption if you misunderstand key parts and also if you're suspicious of this new-fangled 'investment' vehicle.

How typical is he of the average person when it comes to Bitcoin?

Soooooooo many problems with his perspective.

I think you'll find that most just don't understand how it works.

A lot who think of BitCoin as a ponzi scheme, even the ones that have not seen the propaganda video, do so because of how BitCoin is setup. They see the 'early' users being the king pins holding all the BitCoin. Since the amount of BitCoin generated decreases over time, they think of a pyramid type scheme in their mind.

Most are just jealous they didn't get in from the start.

I'm not sure. I think there's a good chance Bitcoin could see values in the mid thousands.

Makes him look stupid but it would be if he just used the wrong term it'd be disingenuous to say that he didn't have a case from that alone.


(Personally I think he's missed the point).

Kinda undermines whatever point he's trying to make right?!

I think his whole point is this: Those who got into bitcoin very early on are at a clear advantage. If I bought 10k bitcoins when they were less than 1 USD, I am now a millionaire if I cash in. That million dollars didn't just pop up out of thin air. It came from people who bought bitcoins much later.

Where I think he is wrong is in assumimg bitcoins are worthless. The more widely adopted they become the more valuable they will become. But even so, those buying later will never see the kind of appreciation in value that those who bought it for pennies achieved.

That video is pure, unadulterated counter-bitcoin propaganda.

lawl at hashtag algorithm

Cavemen always attack what they fear. The idiot argues that a BTCitcoin Over the Counter (OTC) Derivative - "Medium of Credit Swap" (fCDS) - is a "nothing" for a "something', which is demonstrably false and untrue.

It's just a "Funded Credit Swap", you fund the "loss" of it's last owner, then in the "future", it's next owner funds yours.

The "conspiracy nut" guy has a point, but he doesn't understand squat about the fundamental and crucial difference between "wealth" and "money", or the nature of the process of "price discovery" for a New Epoch Defining devastatingly simple, colossally utilitarian, and infinitely egalitarian "New Economic World" BTCitcoin Medium of Labour-Credit Swap "currency".

Consider these "Ponzi Schemes":

 In fact salt, necessary to preserve meat before refrigeration, was the first "money", and all new markets for a new commodity are trade and distribution "ponzi pyramids".

The first cave guy who stumbled upon shiny yellow stones he couldn't eat or kill anything with in a pile of rocks at the bottom of some stream was exactly like Sitoshi. He picked them all up and went "kool" to himself, went back to the campground. probably pounded them into ear rings and pawned some of them off on some pals. Immediately these guys noticed that their shorties were fascinated by and thrilled with them. Soon other guys also came across chicks with them and also noticed they could also make rings and bangles out of them that really drove the chicks crazy and they all went back to Sitoshi to get some more.

Soon Sitoshi was fat, buried in other valuables and out of places to find more gold just laying around, so still having a bunch of gold that cost him nearly nothing, he decided he had to get guys to pan or mine for him around where he'd got the first batches. Also some dudes named litecoin also got hired by mistake and also figured out exactly what was going on with these ugly dudes getting action with all the hot chicks with this junk. Once Sitoshi's mine was sold out he was fixed for life, still selling it now for many hundreds of times more than he first did and out off the top of his 1st sales pyramid with a fortune. (and probably all the hottest babes in the region)

Meanwhile everybody else was left to either holding on to them as long a they could, and flipping bits for more stuff to new horny dudes or selling their hoards for similar fortunes of value to other tribal warlords etc. using bits of it for barter, whacking one another or "getting their sins forgiven" for some.  

This of course prompted other gold mining and gold panning "pyramids" to be started as get rich schemes for their bankrollers. The story of oil is little different.

When the first entrepreneur discovered salt, oil or gold for instance, they likely had no idea of the intrinsic-value, utility-value or exchange-values of them. In most all of these cases, the lucky dudes named Sitoshi brought some of their new "intrinsic curiosity" back to the encampment, and noticed their pals also had a curiosity about it, so he promptly gave them some in exchange for a few extra cups of their grog and went back a day or two later to the place he found that for more, to continue his enterprise. He did this because he was made drunkenly aware that this new "common curiosity" of his seemed to have both an intrinsic(curiosity) and what remarkably seemed to be an exchange value!

Meanwhile his pals noticed that you could salt meat to keep it from spoiling and even use it to make other crud taste better or use oil to make wagon wheels move more smoothly or was easier to light for light or heat, others noticed the hottest chicks loved earrings and bangles made out of the yellow shiny stuff. This second echelon "second floor-down" of low price meddlers had developed or discovered that Sitoshi's kool new "commodity" resources had utility value, separate from their common intrinsic value that increased their (greatest and most desirable of all) "exchange value".

Owing to these new discoveries Sitoshi's small second floor-echelon of Sitoshi-Resource Pharoahs began to market their new wares as bagged salt, bottled torch fuel and bullion to make chick-magnet jewellery. Buzz and newly discovered utility values allowed third and fourth floor-down echelons to "Price Inflate" (discover) the same Sitoshi-Resources their wholesalers got for grog into hard assets they could sell for boats, tents and fancier rides for their shorties. Finally fifth and lower floor-down operators in the marketing pyramid's echelon really started to exploit even newer and better utility values leading the price discovery of their new commodity resources into becoming something closer to reaching for the most treasured and coveted crown of either being a utilitarian commodity resource of serious hard-asset exchange value, or just a too-rare "wealth itself". (eg: gold)

Of course all these things didn't happen at once because, in the pre-refrigerated ancient world, salt (in high demand) was the first well known and widely traded form of a widely accepted Medium of Labour Exchange Currency (aka "money"). Indeed the further it had to be conveyed to deliver it, the more it's intrinsic value was "Price Inflated".

Salt worked as a "money" only so long as it retained it's aura as a rarity of constantly assured value. Salt's price-demise (Price Deflation)  as a currency no doubt came about with the invention of the Sauna bath where people suddenly became aware it was as common as sea water.

Gold worked as a "money" (Medium of Labour Exchange) until rich wealthy Pharaohs hoarded it all and we all ran out of enough of it to make it useful and/or had to end-up settling for counterfeit receipts for some that was rented out, lost and all sold-out 40 years ago.

We'll never run out of BTCitcoins or room to iValue them upwards to a more appropriate value when the monetary supplies and demands of growth necessitates it....

Yep, almost 100% true. Many of haters on Youtube probably haven't figured out how to shutdown a PC.

Maybe I don't understand your post but to me it sounds like a eh, complete scam.