https://www.google.com/finance/quote/BTC-USD?window=1M
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/
Former US President Donald Trump: Crypto Is A Disaster Waiting To Happen
I have a libtard coworker who has sank a lot money in to this ponzi scheme, I tried to warn him over a year ago. I told him Trump doesn't like crypto, take my advice and get out now, he didn't listen to me. I have a couple other libtard coworkers who voted for Biden, they won't even look me in the eye these days.
You are correct in describing it as a ponzi scheme.
The people investing HATE that description, but it's clear when watching the markets.
When people invest the price jumps, when they sell the price drops. Any investment that changes value on the movement of investors is by definition a ponzi scheme.
Have ponzi schemes existed in crypto? Yes. Are there dozens of legit projects that offer real world value? Yes.
Have ponzi schemes existed outside of crypto? Yes. Does this mean all projects are ponzi schemes? No.
Worse, the crypto markets are built as a ponzi scheme.
There is no separation between a surge of investment and the price movement. Honestly, the best saving grace those markets have is NOT being considered securities because if they were they would be tossing 20 year sentences out like candy on Halloween.
It's similar to the stock market where the prices are mostly determined by speculation of future results. In this case, crypto prices are based on speculation of future adoption.
Not really, the closest analog is an IPO where the more investments the higher the price surges. Outside of that, a massive investment might increase a price, but less so because the company has an inherent value (machines, buildings, whatever).
The bottom line is that cryptos maintain a price because more people are dabbling, however, if there was ever a run on cryptos, the price would hit zero with plenty of people still holding the bag.