RE: Incentive trees and what we can learn from Bitconnect
You will actually find some great arguments against Bitconnect on the 3 links I post below:
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@vimukthi/trevon-james-vs-vitalik-buterin-in-depth-analysis-commentary-on-bitconnect
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@arthuradamson/bitconnect-investigation-if-this-is-a-scam-and-it-falls-the-government-will-not-turn-a-blind-eye
https://steemit.com/bitconnect/@arthuradamson/bitconnect-investigation-update-01-tumbling-down-the-rabbit-hole
I'd put down some quotes from real people about BitConnect. All of the following quotes are simply unedited copy pastes from YouTube.
This is just human kindness people helping people, that's what the world needs and financial abundance is our basic inheritance not greed and fear like the controlling power wants us to live in and believe. They treat us as we are puppets and we are not. Love on....
HI TREVON! YOU MADE MY DAY, YOU REALLY CONVINCED ME THAT BITCONNECT IS SUSTAINABLE. I HAVE BEEN HAVING DOUBTS ABOUT ALL THIS AFTER WHAT HAPPEN TO BITPETITE. MY QUESTION IS, IF OTHER COINS ARE CREATED SIMILAR TO BITCONNCET LIKE WESTERN COIN, DOES IT HAVE THE SAME POTENTIAL AS BITCONNECT. BASICALLY IF EVERYBODY LENDS AND STAKES IT IS WORTH INVESTING IN IT???
The companies up 42000 percent was featured in Forbes magazine! This year your seed come back you have to but there coin at market value the coin don’t disappear they just keep recreating wealth ! There day trading your money with all the inside info plus its under priced with will be 300 by the end of the year ! They may limit the number of traders once the achieve max has power think about it they creates 6 billion last night out of thin air ! There sharing the wealth they going to make 10,000 millionaires !
Very well said Craig, what if this actually works? There are so many negative people that are living paycheck to paycheck and misery loves company and they still choose to stay broke. I choose to better myself financially so I’m all in! See you at the top!
Hi Craig. People do seem to be having a hard time accepting Bitconnect as a real business. But as you said in one of your videos, you don't have to refer (or in MLM terms, recruit) new people. You can just make the loans and still make really good money as you've shown. The amount you make loaning funds is determined by the volatility of Bitcoin and I see nothing wrong with that. As long as the bot can do a good job when Bitcoin is going either up or down, then it should work.
Now my question is:Does anybody want to join a project like this.
They do not guarantee 1% interest in their fine print. People assume because people are getting on average 1% interest per day that it is somehow promised or guaranteed. The document stated it is not, this doc: https://bitconnect.co/bitconnect-learning/6/earn-bitcoins-by-referring-new-members
and
https://bitconnect.co/bitconnect-learning/1/what-is-bitconnect
So the fact based on their own rules is that the fluctuating daily interest is not promised and may not last forever. It is merely a profit opportunity, and the commissions also are not guaranteed.
The vital quote:
The reason Bitconnect works is that it is deflationary. The lending program locks coins up and staking locks coins up. Lending is a lot like Steem Power. The only problem is we have to trust they will actually keep lock tokens locked up, but they have the same economic incentive to see coin prices rise as the lenders.
The only reason the price of BCC keeps going up is the circulating supply goes down when people lend. A brilliant system and if it were decentralized by smart contracts so we could see the locked coins it would be provably secure.
So what service does BitConnect provide to the world? All it does is create an artificial scarcity. It adds nothing to the world. We already have BTC and much better digital P2P cash. We have excellent lending platforms like https://www.saltlending.com/ While BitConnect is kept afloat by the new money coming into the system. Bitconnect is simply the most sophisticated ponzi ever put into action.
Network effect. Read their mission statement. They are providing the same service to the world that Facebook provides. Their mission is to make the world open and more connected (the old mission of Facebook).
All the people who say it is a scam never actually read the fine print on the website itself. I'm not even saying they will not shut down. Bitconnect exists to connect and educate the world on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. It also exists to financially empower it's users which is something none other platforms can say.
And if you are afraid of Ponzi why are you in Bitcoin? Bitcoin is no different. Why do you use Facebook? It only connects you with other people just like Bitconnect. Maybe crypto is too risky for you and you should stick to the bank account where your government can keep you safe.
People are getting rich with Bitconnect. I suppose that is the reason why so many are upset about it being a Ponzi. If it were banks, Facebook, even early adopters to Bitcoin or Steem, no one dare calls it a Ponzi. I say it is tribalism and bias, which clouds the vision of people on the inside of it.
Anyone who is at the top of Bitcoin will claim it is not a Ponzi. Anyone at the top of Bitconnect claims the same. The truth is that all fiat are Ponzi and Bitcoin is fiat. I am okay with it being a Ponzi if it provides more opportunity for people than the traditional Ponzi banking system does.
Financial freedom is adding something to the world. Education on cryptocurrency is adding something to the world. Bitconnect is doing both at the same time, promoting financial freedom while educating the world on crypto. So as long as it keeps doing that, it is doing what they said it would do, and cannot be called a scam.
Consider that some people in the world take the perspective that the government is never going to give them any financial freedom. That no one is going to save them from poverty. That everyone, including the Steemit whales, are working to keep them poor and dissolute. Bitconnect is so popular because there aren't a lot of investment opportunities which actually are paying people. Those ICOs aren't paying people, Bitcoin does go up but it doesn't pay dividends or provide income while it does, Steem doesn't provide dividends or interest anymore, so Bitconnect is the place to be for those seeking freedom.
I say until Bitconnect stops paying people, it is helping people achieve financial freedom even if it is doing it without the moral or psychological permission from the crypto government (Vitalik, you, and others).