Boris Johnson calling Bitcoin a ‘Ponzi’ draws rebuttal from Michael Saylor and others

Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson published a column arguing that Bitcoin is a "giant Ponzi scheme," claiming it relies on a supply of new investors rather than real value, citing a personal anecdote about a scam victim. Johnson contrasted Bitcoin, which he described as "just a string of numbers," with assets like gold or collectibles, and questioned the trust placed in a system created by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto.

This assertion was met with immediate pushback from prominent figures in the crypto community. Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, refuted the claim by stating that a Ponzi scheme requires a central operator promising returns, whereas Bitcoin has "no issuer, no promoter, and no guaranteed return," functioning instead as an open, decentralized network driven by code and market demand.

Other community responses included adding notes to the post on X highlighting that Ponzi schemes promise artificially high returns with low risk, and offering technical explanations of Bitcoin's decentralized design and fixed supply as evidence against the Ponzi label. Some critics also used the opportunity to criticize central bank monetary policies.

(Source：CoinDesk)