{"id":18265,"date":"2026-03-13T23:50:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/michael-saylor-fires-back-former-uk-prime-minister-says-bitcoin-is-a-ponzi-scheme\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T23:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:50:00","slug":"michael-saylor-fires-back-former-uk-prime-minister-says-bitcoin-is-a-ponzi-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/michael-saylor-fires-back-former-uk-prime-minister-says-bitcoin-is-a-ponzi-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Saylor fires back former UK Prime Minister says Bitcoin is a ponzi scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/crypto.news\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/crypto-news-Michael-Saylor-should-not-burn-his-Bitcoin-option02.webp\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Michael Saylor has responded sharply after former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticized Bitcoin (<a href=\"https:\/\/crypto.news\/price\/bitcoin\/\">BTC<\/a>) and suggested that it resembles a Ponzi scheme.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticizes Bitcoin<\/h2>\n<p>Johnson described a conversation with a church acquaintance who lost money after being lured into a supposed crypto investment opportunity. According to Johnson, the man initially handed over \u00a3500 to someone who promised to double his money through Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter three and a half years of muddle\u2026 he was down \u00a320,000,\u201d Johnson wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/debate\/article-15643681\/BORIS-JOHNSON-bitcoin-ponzi-scheme.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">report<\/a>. He also described how the individual paid repeated fees in an attempt to recover the funds. The former prime minister used the story to question the value and structure of cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n<p>He contrasted BTC with traditional assets and collectibles.\u201cI can see the intrinsic value of gold,\u201d Johnson wrote. \u201cI can even understand why Pokemon cards have kept their value.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He then questioned the foundations of digital assets, arguing that Bitcoin lacks an identifiable authority or issuer. \u201cBut Bitcoin? What is it? It\u2019s just a string of numbers stored in a series of computers,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson also referenced the mysterious origins of the BTC\u2019s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, adding that the system depends heavily on collective belief. \u201cThe whole thing depends completely on the collective belief\u2026 of the Bitcoin holders,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p>He warned that increasing cases of fraud linked to crypto investments could weaken confidence in the sector. \u201cI have always suspected from the outset that all cryptocurrencies were basically a Ponzi scheme,\u201d Johnson wrote. He argued that the ecosystem relies on a continuous flow of new investors.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Michael Saylor claps back at Johnson<\/h2>\n<p>Saylor rejected that characterization in a post on the social platform X. \u201cBitcoin is not a Ponzi scheme,\u201d Saylor wrote. \u201cA Ponzi requires a central operator promising returns and paying early investors with funds from later ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He argued that Bitcoin\u2019s structure makes it fundamentally different from such schemes. \u201cBitcoin has no issuer, no promoter, and no guaranteed return\u2014just an open, decentralized monetary network driven by code and market demand,\u201d Saylor said.<\/p>\n<p>The executive has long been one of the most prominent corporate advocates for Bitcoin. His company, MicroStrategy, holds billions of dollars worth of the crypto on its balance sheet. Johnson\u2019s comments also revisited broader debates about monetary systems.<\/p>\n<p>In his remarks, he referenced historical currency models backed by government authority, pointing to Roman coins bearing the image of emperors as an example of trust in state-backed money. Crypto supporters, however, often argue that Bitcoin\u2019s decentralized structure is precisely what protects it from political influence and inflation tied to government spending.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/crypto.news\/michael-saylor-former-uk-prime-minister-bitcoin-ponzi\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Saylor has responded sharply after former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticized Bitcoin (BTC) and suggested that it resembles a Ponzi scheme. Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticizes Bitcoin Johnson described a conversation with a church acquaintance who lost money after being lured into a supposed crypto investment opportunity. According to Johnson, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":18235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"kronos_expire_date":[],"class_list":["post-18265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crypto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18265"},{"taxonomy":"kronos_expire_date","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kronos_expire_date?post=18265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}