Former U.Ok. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has referred to as bitcoin a “large Ponzi scheme,” prompting a swift rebuttal from Technique chairman Michael Saylor and different netizens.
In a column revealed within the Each day Mail and posted on social media platform X, Johnson wrote that he had lengthy suspected cryptocurrencies relied on “a provide of latest and credulous buyers” relatively than actual worth. He pointed to a narrative from his village in Oxfordshire a couple of retired man who handed £500 ($661) to somebody in a pub who promised to double the cash via bitcoin.
In keeping with Johnson’s account, the person spent three and a half years paying charges and attempting to withdraw funds. He finally misplaced about £20,000 ($ 26,450), referring to what he admitted was “some type of rip-off.”
Johnson argued that property similar to gold and even collectibles like Pokémon playing cards maintain some cultural or bodily attraction. Bitcoin, he wrote, is “only a string of numbers saved in a sequence of computer systems.”
He additionally questioned why folks ought to belief a system created by a pseudonymous entity, Satoshi Nakamoto, with out institutional backing.
“Who will we discuss to in the event that they decrypt the crypto?” Johnson requested. “There’s nobody besides this Nakamoto, who could also be no extra actual than Pikachu or Charmander themselves.”
Neighborhood push again
Reacting to the column, the cryptocurrency group pushed again towards Johnson’s claims.
Saylor, Govt Chairman of the world’s largest company bitcoin holder Technique (MSTR), refuted the claims, saying a Ponzi scheme requires a “central operator promising returns and paying early buyers with funds from later ones.”
Bitcoin, Saylor added, has “no issuer, no promoter, and no assured return—simply an open, decentralized financial community pushed by code and market demand.”
Bitcoin just isn’t a Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi requires a central operator promising returns and paying early buyers with funds from later ones. Bitcoin has no issuer, no promoter, and no assured return—simply an open, decentralized financial community pushed by code and market demand.
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) March 13, 2026
On X, within the “group notes program,” a word was added mentioning that Ponzi schemes promise artificially excessive charges of returns with subsequent to no danger.
“Bitcoin has no issuer and its worth is solely decided by the free market. The code is completely public and opt-in. No person can power you to run any explicit model,” the word reads.
Different responses ranged from technical explanations of Bitcoin’s design to broader criticism of presidency financial coverage.
Different responses ranged from technical explanations of Bitcoin’s design to broader criticism of presidency financial coverage. Some customers pointed to Bitcoin’s fastened provide and decentralized community as proof that it differs from traditional Ponzi buildings
Others took a extra combative tone, posting memes and criticizing central banks for increasing the cash provide throughout the pandemic. As for who’s in cost, BitMEX Analysis replied, “no person is in cost.”
