While some investors promote Bitcoin as a revolutionary asset or hedge against systemic failure, I see something far more troubling — a slow-motion Ponzi scheme, enriching early adopters at the expense of future generations.
While I respect the curiosity and critical thinking that Bitcoin inspires in many, I remain deeply sceptical.
To me, Bitcoin is beginning to look less like a revolution and more like a slow-motion Ponzi scheme — one that disproportionately enriches early adopters at the expense of hopeful newcomers. It is not a productive asset: it doesn’t generate income, build infrastructure, or contribute meaningfully to the real economy. Its value relies purely on speculative demand — a precarious foundation for anything aspiring to be called “money.”
Far from decentralising power, it has created new concentrations of wealth, energy consumption, and social risk. The dark reality is that Bitcoin has become a honeypot for criminal activity — including money laundering, scams, and even kidnappings. We’ve seen stories of families being held to ransom for wallet passwords — a grotesque and terrifying consequence of a system designed with immutability but no accountability.
For all the talk of freedom and disruption, I struggle to see any net social benefit arising from Bitcoin’s existence. It doesn’t solve the systemic inequality or financial exclusion it claims to challenge. If anything, it distracts from truly transformative work: building sustainable economies, empowering communities, and restoring trust through transparency and shared values.
It may be a technological marvel — but so was the combustion engine. Progress isn’t just about what we can build, but what we choose to value.
Here’s why I can’t support it:
🔻 It’s not a productive asset.
Bitcoin produces nothing. It doesn’t generate income, build infrastructure, or support human capital. It merely fluctuates in price based on speculative demand — a zero-sum game.
⚠️ It’s a honeypot for criminal activity.
From ransomware to darknet markets to tax evasion, Bitcoin has become the preferred currency for the underground economy. It attracts the wrong kind of attention — and the wrong kind of actors.
đź‘Ą It puts real people at risk.
Bitcoiners and their families have been kidnapped and ransomed. The risk of “wrench attacks” is real. No investment should make your loved ones less safe.
đź’¸ It concentrates wealth, not redistributes it.
Bitcoin’s early adopters — often technocratic insiders — have accumulated massive wealth, while promoting the myth that it offers liberation for the rest. It’s financial Darwinism cloaked in digital idealism.
🌍 It offers no clear social benefit.
Unlike productive investments in education, clean energy, or cooperative finance, Bitcoin serves no public good. It fuels speculation, drains energy, and distracts from the structural changes we really need.
Some say Bitcoin is “the future.” I disagree. I believe we deserve a better future — one built on productivity, purpose, and public good.
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🗨️ A Bitcoiner recently responded to this article, offering to explain why Bitcoin is not a Ponzi scheme, why it’s a productive asset, and why its on-chain criminal activity represents less than 0.2% of transactions — far lower than in the fiat system.
I appreciate the clarity and passion behind that view. But for me, the issue isn’t just about transaction data or technical productivity — it’s about what kind of system we are building, who benefits, and who bears the cost.
Bitcoin may be innovative, but innovation alone isn’t inherently good. We must ask: Does it serve people? Does it empower communities? Does it contribute to a fairer, safer, more sustainable world?
That’s the lens through which I view all financial tools — and where, despite the arguments in its favour, Bitcoin continues to raise more questions than answers.