Again, these phrases are not “buzz-phrases”, but are phrases with real meanings. You can look up the definition of “Ponzi” and “pyramid” and find their definitions. They apply to real ideas, and are not merely “buzz-words”.
At the same time, “Ponzi” and “pyramid” don’t apply to Bitcoin, so I’m not going to talk about them any more (unless you need to), but “scam” and “pump-n-dump” do apply to Bitcoin, so I will talk about them.
Bitcoin is not in and of itself a scam, I am absolutely not claiming it is.
It is, however, conducive to scams. Any scam that’s ever been used on money trading, commodities trading, penny stock trading and many scams that rely on an individuals greed to overcome their common sense (actually, that’s a common factor in all scams) works pretty well with Bitcoin.
One scam in particular is “pump-n-dump”. This activity is illegal when it involves stocks and securities but afaik is not regulated in regards to crypto-currencies. This scam involves artificially inflating interest in an investment, typically through false or misleading statements, so that the scammer can sell the investment at an inflated price, leaving others to take a loss.
This scam is why I have a real problem when you and others make misleading statements about Bitcoin, claiming that past performance indicates all you need to do is hold on and eventually you will realize your profit, when you denigrate sellers as “nervous nellies” while claiming the brave souls who held on are “laughing all the way to the bank, HAHAHAHAHA!!!”.
Those are all “pump” elements of “pump-n-dump”.
Which not to say I think you are trying to scam anyone, but it could indicate you’ve been exposed and influenced by this rhetoric by someone who is trying to scam people, or who may have scammed people months or even years ago.
These are emotive terms designed to encourage you and others to make decisions based on your emotions rather than reason. That’s why they’re dangerous, and that’s why I object when this kind of reasoning is used to promote Bitcoin.
