Is virtual currency a Ponzi scheme

1.

virtual currency is not MLM

virtual currency refers to non real currency. Well known virtual currencies, such as online currency of Internet company, QQ currency of Tencent company, q-point, voucher of Shanda company, micro currency launched by Sina, chivalrous Yuanbao, silver pattern. Digital currencies include bitcoin, Wright coin, infinite coin, quark coin, zeta coin, barbecue coin, penny coin, invisible gold bar, red coin and prime currency. At present, hundreds of digital currencies are issued all over the world

< H2 > development materials:

network virtual currency can be roughly divided into

the first category is the familiar game currency. In the era of stand-alone games, the protagonist accumulates money by knocking down the enemy, entering the gambling house to win money, and using these to buy Herbs and equipment, but it can only be used in his own game console. At that time, there was no "market" between players. Since the establishment of Internet portal and community, the realization of game networking, virtual currency has a "financial market", players can trade game currency

the second type is the special currency issued by the portal website or instant messaging service provider, which is used to purchase the services in the website. The most widely used is Tencent's q-coin, which can be used to purchase membership, QQ show and other value-added services

the third kind of virtual currency on the Internet, such as bitcoin and Wright currency. Bitcoin is an electronic currency proced by open-source P2P software. Some people also translate bitcoin as "bitcoin", which is a kind of network virtual currency. It is mainly used for Internet financial investment, and can also be directly used in daily life as a new currency

< H2 > reference: virtual currency network

2. 1、 Classification
1. Digital cryptocurrency: a digital currency created, distributed and maintained by cryptography and verification technology. The characteristic of cryptocurrency is that it uses peer-to-peer technology and everyone can issue it. For example, bitcoin, lightcoin
2. Shanzhai coin: imitates the theory of digital cryptocurrency, applies digital encryption technology such as blockchain, and issues digital currency in different instries
3. Air currency: fabricated application background. It uses blockchain and other technologies as packaging, constructs value system at will, takes illegal possession as the purpose, and swindles investors by Ponzi scheme< Second, profit model
1. The profit model of digital cryptocurrency mainly includes proction and investment speculation. Proction is also known as mining, different procts have different proction modes. Its principle is to calculate the number by computer, and finally get the encrypted string in accordance with the formula. Investment speculation is the same as investing in ordinary financial derivatives. With the change of market supply and demand, the value of money will change periodically
2. Shanzhai coin: the profit in the early stage is similar to Ponzi scheme, and the customer level is built by direct selling. The principal of later investors is the source of profits. The difference between air currency and air currency lies in: first, it has a certain theoretical application basis, such as Internet traffic, agricultural application, etc. Second, through the operation in the later stage, it can proce a certain monetary value. Third, it has certain circulation
3. High return, rapid accumulation of funds< Third, legal definition
1. It is not allowed to issue and trade digital cryptocurrency in the people's Republic of China, and its legitimacy is questioned. The main reason is that the supervision of digital currency is difficult, which may restrict the circulation of currency. In addition, because digital encryption currency has no solid value support, the huge economic bubble will easily cause financial system risk.
2. Therefore, this kind of business is the main body of the market. Most of the issuers are located in Malaysia, Singapore and other areas with relatively lax supervision and relatively open financial markets
3. Strike hard. One case was found, investigated and dealt with, and identified as financial fraud. The main issuers are generally in Myanmar, Cambodia and other areas where military protection forces are more prevalent. After raising funds from Chinese mainland, the local military will pay protection fees. Later, he directed domestic crimes abroad.

3. This is about whether bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme
Ponzi scheme is a kind of fraulent investment operation. It uses investors' own money to pay investors in return, or new investors' money to pay old investors, rather than the company's own money. When there are not enough new investors to join, the Ponzi scheme will collapse, and the final investors will suffer
bitcoin is a free software project without a central management organization, so no one can make a false statement about the return on investment. Just like other major currencies, such as gold, US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, etc., bitcoin can not guarantee purchasing power and the exchange rate is free floating. The resulting volatility makes it impossible for bitcoin holders to predict profits or losses. The fact is that bitcoin is being used by thousands of users and businesses because of its useful and competitive features.

4. The business model of virtual currency is the same as that of MLM, and bitcoin is the most famous virtual currency
however, the attitude of regulators is clear. Whether it is genuine bitcoin, or a variety of derivative Shanzhai coins, there is no way to obtain legal living space at present. This is something we need to be clear about. If the platform goes out of business or the staff runs away, it is very likely that they will lose all their money and the losses they have suffered will not be protected by law
the promises they give you often make the participants pay money quickly. Behind them is the Ponzi scheme of "robbing the east to pay the west" + "cheating the white wolf with empty hands". They use the money of new investors to pay interest and short-term return to old investors, so as to create the illusion of making money and cheat more investment. When no new investors enter, the return of old investors collapses one after another, and it is often difficult to withdraw cash, or the website cannot be opened
in short, although the external form of virtual currency is ever-changing, it is not divorced from its essence of pyramid selling. The more investors put in, the greater the final loss, and the more serious the loss may be.

5. Blockchain is the underlying technology of bitcoin, like a database ledger, recording all transaction records. Because of its safety and convenience, this technology has graally attracted the attention of the banking and financial instry
blockchain is an important concept of bitcoin. Blockchain is a series of data blocks generated by cryptography. Each data block contains the information of all bitcoin network transactions in the past ten minutes, which is used to verify the validity of the information (anti-counterfeiting) and generate the next block. The concept was put forward in the white paper of Nakamoto, which holds the first block, namely & quot; Chuangshi Block & quot
the latest technology application of blockchain: bitcoin technology emerged in 2008, which provides a decentralized credit establishment paradigm without trust accumulation. The essence of blockchain technology is a decentralized and distributed data storage, transmission and proof method. It replaces the dependence of the Internet on the central server with data block, so that all data changes or transactions are recorded on a cloud system. In theory, it realizes the self proof of data in data transmission, This goes beyond the traditional and conventional information verification paradigm which needs to rely on the center, and reces the global & quot; Credit & quot; This kind of peer-to-peer verification will proce a kind of & quot; Basic protocol;, It is a new form of distributed artificial intelligence, which will establish a new interface and sharing interface between human brain intelligence and machine intelligence
the function of bitcoin wallet depends on the confirmation with the blockchain, and an effective inspection is called a confirmation. Usually, a transaction needs to obtain several confirmations. The lightweight (SPV) bitcoin wallet, whose client only needs to store the data related to the user's disposable transactions locally, does not store the complete blockchain
blockchain technology is the core of many encrypted digital currencies, including bitcoin, Ethereum, lightcoin, dogcoin, etc. The ways to maintain blockchain include proof of work (proof of work), proof of stake (POS), authorized proof of stake (dpos), pool verification pool, ripple consensus mechanism, etc. At present, people are exploring a more decentralized rotating witness mechanism.

6. Bitcoin is not a pyramid scheme, but many people cheat under the guise of bitcoin
Ponzi scheme is a kind of fraulent investment operation. It uses investors' own money to pay investors in return, or new investors' money to pay old investors, rather than the company's own money. When there are not enough new investors to join, the Ponzi scheme will collapse, and the final investors will suffer
bitcoin is a free software project without a central management organization, so no one can make a false statement about the return on investment. Just like other major currencies, such as gold, US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, etc., bitcoin can not guarantee purchasing power and the exchange rate is free floating. The resulting volatility makes it impossible for bitcoin holders to predict profits or losses. The fact is that bitcoin is being used by thousands of users and businesses because of its useful and competitive features.

7.

No, but it seems that it is difficult to explain in a few simple sentences. Let's study this ark article together

to expose the common myth of bitcoin

bitcoin has been established for more than 11 years and is striving to be widely recognized by institutions. Although constructive criticism is healthy, ark believes that some influential financial research institutions are refuting bitcoin based on outdated information, inconsistent arguments and flawed analysis

in view of Goldman Sachs' recent position on bitcoin, ark is reconsidering the most common misunderstanding, which has affected its acceptance. We look forward to participating in the health and ecational debate on bitcoin, as well as the important role we believe bitcoin should play in a diversified portfolio

According to ark, some influential financial research institutions are refuting bitcoin based on outdated information, inconsistent arguments and flawed analysis

statement: bitcoin is too volatile to serve as a store of value. Counterclaim
: the volatility of bitcoin highlights the credibility of its monetary policy

critics often point out that the volatility of bitcoin is the "value store transaction breaker". Why would anyone want to store the price of an asset in such drastic fluctuations in daily prices

we believe that these critics do not understand why bitcoin fluctuates and why its volatility may decrease

although the fluctuation of bitcoin distracts opponents from evaluating its role as a value storage tool, it actually highlights the credibility of its monetary policy. The impossible trinity is the dilemma of macroeconomic policy. As shown in the figure below, the dilemma assumes that when setting monetary targets, the decision-maker can satisfy two of the three goals instead of three, because the third goal is opposite to one of the first two goals

source: Fangzhou Investment Management Co., Ltd. in 2020, each side of the three difficulties triangle is mutually exclusive. For example, monetary authorities that choose a fixed exchange rate and allow free capital flow cannot control the growth of money supply. Similarly, the monetary authorities that choose fixed exchange rate and control currency can not accommodate the free flow of capital, and the monetary authorities that choose to accommodate the free flow of capital and control money supply can not determine the exchange rate

based on the three dilemmas, we can understand why volatility is the natural result of bitcoin monetary policy. Contrary to the modern central bank, it does not give priority to exchange rate stability. On the contrary, based on the quantitative rules of money, bitcoin limits the growth of money supply, allows the free flow of capital, and abandons the stable exchange rate. As a result, the price of bitcoin is a function of demand relative to its supply. Its volatility is not surprising

that is to say, over time, the volatility of bitcoin is decreasing, as shown below. With the increase of adoption rate, the marginal demand of bitcoin should account for a small proportion of its total network value, so as to rece the price fluctuation. If all other conditions are equal, for example, a new demand of $1 billion with a market value of $10 billion or a network value, the impact of the price of the bitcoin should be greater than a new demand of $1 billion with a network value of $100 billion. Importantly, we believe that volatility should not rule out the main reason why bitcoin is used as a store of value, mainly because it usually occurs at the same time as a sharp rise in price

source: Fangzhou Investment Management Co., Ltd., 2020. Source: coinmetrics

for a long time, the purchasing power of bitcoin has been greatly improved. For example, since 2011, the price of bitcoin has grown at a compound rate of about 200% per year. Although significant changes have taken place in the year, since 2014, the price of bitcoin has appreciated year by year at its lowest price. It's been a good year

source: Fangzhou Investment Management Co., Ltd., 2020. Source: Coinmetrics

claims: bitcoin bubble. Counterclaim
: bitcoin is a competitor for the role of global currency

, some economists like Nouriel Roubini (Nouriel Roubini) believe that bitcoin will suddenly disappear when it is in the bubble. The line of reasoning is that bitcoin has no intrinsic value, and its appreciation depends on speculation, such as a hot potato or tulip game, and the willingness of the "bigger fool" to pay a higher price. They believe that bitcoin is not an investable asset

we believe that this statement eliminates the reason why bitcoin has accumulated value over time. Yes, bitcoin doesn't behave like a traditional investable asset[ 1] The value of equity is determined by discounting the expected cash flow. Given the high future cash flow based on growth and / or investment capital gains, the stock appreciates independently of the shareholder base

However, monetary assets such as bitcoin are unproctive, and their appreciation depends on how they effectively maintain or increase their value over time. In a sense, the value proposition is cyclical: monetary assets will appreciate with the demand of more people, and if it is an effective monetary asset, more people will evaluate it. In other words, "money is a common illusion" and "money is valuable because others think it is valuable"

The claim that the value of money depends entirely on the common illusion, however, indicates that the form of money is arbitrary. In fact, according to monetary history, the most common and sustainable currencies have the quality of maintaining their demand. For example, for thousands of years, because of its scarcity, substitutability and rability, economists have regarded gold as the most successful form of money

we think that bitcoin is usually called digital gold, which not only has many characteristics of gold, but also can improve them. Although bitcoin is rare and rable, it also has the characteristics of divisibility, verifiability, portability and transferability. A series of monetary features of bitcoin endow it with outstanding utility, which is likely to promote demand, and believes that bitcoin is suitable for the role of global digital currency even if it is not superior

we believe that as a suitable competitor for the first batch of global digital currencies, bitcoin should at least attract demand similar to gold. However, contrary to the claim that it is in a huge bubble, the net value (or market value) of bitcoin is less than 2% of gold. p>

prediction is limited in nature, so it cannot be relied on

source: Fangzhou Investment Management Co., Ltd., 2020. Source: coinmetrics

statement: bitcoin will lose the value of fork and digital . Counterclaim
: the value of bitcoin cannot be copied only by software

in the digital field, goods are invisible and can be easily copied without destroying the original goods. Indivials can send word documents extensively by e-mail, for example, while retaining the original . Similarly, thousands of people can listen to a song simultaneously and repeatedly, which actually improves the value of the original work, especially when other songwriters imitate its unique voice

Bitcoin software is no exception. It's free and open source. Indivials can software, "create network branches" and create their own versions. However, skeptics still question how scarce bitcoin will be if it is based on open source software that can be copied indefinitely

first, the bifurcated bitcoin network will not create new bitcoin units, just as the expansion of Venezuela's Bolivar will not add dollars to the US monetary base. Instead, bifurcated bitcoin creates a new network with new units or coins. Although existing bitcoin holders have the right to use new coins, the forked network operates under a set of independent rules supported by a single stakeholder. Open source software does not dilute the money supply of the original network. It not only encourages cheap experiments and new networks, but also encourages new tokens and competitive markets

the scarcity of bitcoin is crucial to its network. Today, the number of bitcoins has reached 18 million, which is measured mathematically to 21 million, as shown below. Each bitcoin is linked to a wallet at a time and cannot be copied. Importantly, the only way to control user bitcoin is to have access to its associated private key

source: Fangzhou Investment Management Co., Ltd., 2020. Source: coinmetrics

so, when it forks, what makes 21 million units in bitcoin network more valuable than 21 million units in bitcoin cash (BCH) or BTC? To equate the value of bitcoin cash with the value of bitcoin is equivalent to assuming that Facebook's source code can "fork" and automatically the value of its 2.6 billion users and 50000 employees. Their value comes from the network effects of bitcoin and Facebook, not just their existence

as far as bitcoin is concerned, we believe that network effects include not only the efforts to protect the hash rate of the blockchain, but also the liquidity of bitcoin and the infrastructure supporting its adoption and use. If it is dilutive, then bifurcations will have to share bitcoin's computing power, users and liquidity. As shown below, bitcoin cash and other bifurcations do not seem to derail bitcoin's network effects

source: Fangzhou Investment Management Co., Ltd., 2020. Source: coinmetrics

claims that bitcoin is for criminals
counterclaim: bitcoin is anti censorship

critics still accuse bitcoin of allowing criminal activities because of its early evil activities. In its early years, bitcoin financed the Silk Road, an online black market platform known for selling illegal drugs

In our opinion, criticizing bitcoin for promoting criminal activities is one of its basic value propositions: censorship. As a neutral technology, bitcoin allows anyone to trade and cannot identify "criminals". It does not rely on centralized permissions to identify participants by name or IP address, but by encrypted digital key and address to distinguish participants, thus giving bitcoin powerful censorship ability. Anyone can trade anytime, anywhere as long as the participants pay the miners. Once secured, the transaction cannot be easily reversed

if criminal activities can be censored on the bitcoin network, then all activities can be censored. On the contrary, bitcoin allows anyone to exchange value globally and without permission. This is not to make it an inherent tool of crime. Phones, cars and the Internet are no less powerful than bitcoin in promoting crime

In other words, it seems that only a small part of bitcoin transactions are for illegal purposes. According to chainalysis, the number of bitcoin transactions related to illegal activities is still less than 1%, which may be a contribution to the transparency of bitcoin. Any user can view the complete history of transactions on the Internet, which shows that physical cash is a better means of illegal activities

8. no Let's talk about the Ponzi scheme first. In short, Ponzi scheme is a kind of investment fraud. Many illegal pyramid schemes use this method to collect money. As the saying goes, it is "robbing the east to pay the west" and "cheating the white wolf with empty hands". Using the money of new investors to pay interest and short-term return to old investors, in order to create the illusion of making money, and then cheat more investment. Because of the early investment returns are rich, so you can continue to attract new people to come in to take the offer. Some time ago, a lot of P2P companies were Ponzi schemes. When the makers made a lot of money, they ran away and the investors lost all their money. Why, however, is bitcoin not a Ponzi scheme? The definition of the basic attributes of money in Economics: 1. Medium of exchange 2. Means of storage 3. Measure of value. Digital currency itself is the same as RMB and US dollar, that is, they do not exist naturally, because many people believe in it, and then set up order. Their essence is endowed with value by consensus group, because many people believe it is valuable. As bitcoin becomes more and more important as a measure of exchange and value, bitcoin will become the same status as today's legal currency, just like wechat payment E-wallet. Ten years ago, can you believe it or use it? However, no matter what you invest in, you should know that all financial instruments have risks, just as RMB and US dollar also have foreign exchange risks and depreciation risks. At the same time, we should choose a regular exchange. At present, there are many small exchanges for trading virtual currency, which are easy to be attacked by hackers. If it happens, it will cause heavy losses. At present, the mainstream bitcoin trades all Qube, okex, fire coin and so on. It's better to use a large exchange to ensure the security. Just like the difference between the four major state-owned banks and small banks, there is no user run in the former, even if there is a risk reserve, and once a run occurs in a small bank, it will go bankrupt.