Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called bitcoin a “gigantic Ponzi scheme,” prompting a swift rebuke from strategy chairman Michael Saylor and other netizens.
In a column published in Daily Mail and posted on the social media platform X, Johnson wrote that he had long suspected that cryptocurrencies depended on “a supply of new and gullible investors” rather than real value. He pointed to a story from his village in Oxfordshire about a retired man who gave £500 ($661) to a person in a pub who promised to double the money through bitcoin.
According to Johnson’s account, the man spent three and a half years paying fees and trying to withdraw money. He ultimately lost about £20,000 ($26,450), citing what he admitted was “some kind of scam.”
Johnson argued that assets such as gold or even collectibles such as Pokémon cards have some cultural or physical appeal. Bitcoin, he wrote, is “just a series of numbers stored in a series of computers.”
He also questioned why people should trust a system created by a pseudonymous entity, Satoshi Nakamoto, with no institutional backing.
“Who are we talking to if they decrypt the crypto?” Johnson asked. “There is none except this Nakamoto, who may be no more real than Pikachu or Charmander himself.”
The community push back
In response to the column, the cryptocurrency community pushed back against Johnson’s claims.
Saylor, executive chairman of the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder Strategy (MSTR), rejected the claims, saying a Ponzi scheme requires a “central operator who promises returns and pays early investors with funds from later.”
Bitcoin, Saylor added, has “no issuer, no promoter, and no guaranteed return — just an open, decentralized monetary network driven by code and market demand.”
Bitcoin is not a Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi requires a central operator to promise returns and pay early investors with funds from later. Bitcoin has no issuer, no promoter and no guaranteed returns – just an open, decentralized monetary network powered by code and market demand.
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) March 13, 2026
On X, in the “community notes program”, a note was added pointing out that Ponzi schemes promise artificially high returns with almost no risk.
“Bitcoin has no issuer and its value is determined solely by the free market. The code is completely public and opt-in. No one can force you to run a particular version,” the note reads.
Other responses ranged from technical explanations of Bitcoin’s design to broader criticism of government monetary policy.
Other responses ranged from technical explanations of Bitcoin’s design to broader criticism of government monetary policy. Some users pointed to Bitcoin’s fixed supply and decentralized network as evidence that it differs from classic Ponzi structures
Others took a more combative tone, posting memes and criticizing central banks for expanding the money supply during the pandemic. As for who is responsible, BitMEX Research responded, “no one is responsible.”
