Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called bitcoin a “giant Ponzi scheme,” prompting a quick rebuttal from Strategy President Michael Saylor and other netizens.
In a column published in the daily mail and posted on the social media platform He pointed to a story from his village in Oxfordshire about a retired man who handed over £500 ($661) to someone 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 commissions and trying to withdraw funds. In the end he lost about £20,000 ($26,450), referring to what he admitted was “some kind of scam”.
Johnson argued that assets like gold or even collectibles like Pokémon cards have a certain cultural or physical appeal. Bitcoin, he wrote, is “just a string of numbers stored on 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 do we talk to if they crack crypto?” -Johnson asked. “There is no one except Nakamoto, who may not be more real than Pikachu or Charmander.”
The community rejects
Reacting to the column, the cryptocurrency community rejected Johnson’s claims.
Saylor, CEO of the world’s largest bitcoin holding corporate strategy (MSTR), refuted the claims and said a Ponzi scheme requires a “central operator who promises returns and pays early investors with funds from later investors.”
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 who promises profitability and pays early investors with funds from later investors. Bitcoin has no issuer, no promoter, and no guaranteed return – just an open, decentralized monetary network driven by code and market demand.
-Michael Saylor (@saylor) March 13, 2026
In
“Bitcoin has no issuer and its value is purely determined by the free market. The code is completely public and optional. No one can force you to run any particular version,” the note reads.
Other responses ranged from technical explanations of Bitcoin’s design to broader criticism of the government’s monetary policy.
Other responses ranged from technical explanations of Bitcoin’s design to broader criticism of the government’s 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 in charge, BitMEX Research responded: “no one is in charge.”
