Top all-time · #916
Preston Byrne
Personal blog · prestonbyrne.compoliticseconomics
Preston Byrne's personal blog at prestonbyrne.com covers politics and economics. Since 2014, 71 different Hacker News readers have linked it 105 times, most often “The Problem with Calling Bitcoin a “Ponzi Scheme” (2017)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-30, and you can follow it by feed.
Sometimes recommended · 6 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
Crypto-skeptic blog cited for essays calling Bitcoin a "Nakamoto scheme", critiquing stablecoins, and posts on UK and Ofcom free-speech and extraterritorial law.
- Recommended for · 6 comments
- Called a "much better primer" and a "good series" on stablecoins, a "good read" on SAFTs, a "handy" UK-US chart, and worth a "show your mom" share; GRANITE post
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- The Problem with Calling Bitcoin a “Ponzi Scheme” (2017)10 people · 26 mentions · first linked 2017-12-10
- MakerDAO’s “DAI” stablecoin is breaking, as predicted5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2018-01-13
- The Ofcom Files5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2025-10-17
- BitShares: Don't Walk Away, Run4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2014-08-25
- The Bear Case for Crypto, Part II: The Great Bank Run3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2017-11-27
- Against Tokens (and token Crowdsales)3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2016-08-14
- Basecoin, aka the Basis Protocol3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2017-12-28
- What's Next for American IPOs2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-11-19
- Ethereum is not a security?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-06-15
- /2014/08/24/what-goes-up/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2014-08-25
What Hacker News says?
The UK (same as the US) has lots of extra territorial laws. Enforcing them is another matter. It’s easy to make Apple budge because they have money ties to the Uk. This works less well for unsavory websites not complying with UK law. See https://prestonbyrne.com/2025/10/16/the-ofcom-files/
Comment linking /2025/10/16/the-ofcom-files/
on “Time to start de-Appling”Submitted Ofcom concedes defeat in 4chan case as a story · 424 points
HN discussion> Now if dai, usdc or usdt had failed, that would be a big deal. The “Dai” peg did break — both in early 2020 [1], and a few days after launching. DAI’s now 60% backed by Tether like instruments. It’s basically a strictly worse version of Facebook’s Libra, assuming Libra weren’t crippled by state regulators (Libra is now Diem). Every major algorithmic stablecoin has imploded at least once in times of market volatili…
Comment linking /2018/01/11/epicaricacy/
on “SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon”Submitted IP blocking the UK is not enough to comply with the Online Safety Act as a story · 313 points
HN discussionDistributed how? Produced how? by work? Bitcoin distributed the vast majority of its wealth to aprox less than ~1000 individuals. Best estimates are that there are about one million holders of Bitcoin; 47 individuals hold about 30 percent, another 900 hold a further 20 percent, the next 10,000 about 25% and another million about 20%, with 5% being lost. So 1/10th of one percent represent about half the holdings of B…
Comment linking /2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
on “Building for the Blockchain”Submitted Thoughts on the Durov Arrest as a story · 139 points
HN discussionFrom https://prestonbyrne.com/2025/10/16/the-ofcom-files/ > consistent with the UK legal doctrine known as parliamentary supremacy, which holds that the UK Parliament has theoretically unlimited power This is also true in Canada for the most part, while in theory with the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as part of the Constitution Act, 1982. This Act prescribes that “the Constitution of Canad…
Comment linking /2025/10/16/the-ofcom-files/
on “4Chan Lawyer publishes Ofcom correspondence”Submitted Basecoin, aka the Basis Protocol as a story · 115 points
HN discussionHere's a much better primer: https://prestonbyrne.com/2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/ The Problem with Calling Bitcoin a “Ponzi Scheme” Much shorter and by the time you finish you will have a firm knowledge of what to do with crypto"currencies".
Comment linking /2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
on “A beginner’s guide to getting started in the cryptocurrency world”Submitted MakerDAO’s “DAI” stablecoin is breaking, as predicted as a story · 109 points
HN discussionWe already have the UK intimating they can exercise parliamentary supremacy over American citizens, so we already have this today. (Reference: https://prestonbyrne.com/2025/10/16/the-ofcom-files/ ) Without limitations on authority and control, I worry more that the world will devolve into a multilateral legal hellscape, even moreso than exists today. Given how much is dependent on software, you are going to have the…
Comment linking /2025/10/16/the-ofcom-files/
on “What happened to running what you wanted on your own machine?”Submitted Did America just lose Afghanistan because of WhatsApp? as a story · 101 points
HN discussion> The Nakamoto Scheme is an automated hybrid of a Ponzi scheme and a pyramid scheme which has, from the perspective of operating a criminal enterprise, the strengths of both and (currently) the weaknesses of neither. https://prestonbyrne.com/2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
Comment linking /2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
on “Crypto crash deepens, stocks slip”Submitted The Ofcom Files, Part 4: Ofcom Rides Again as a story · 90 points
HN discussionit's a scam nothing more, come now. https://prestonbyrne.com/2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
Comment linking /2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
on “Grin – A private and lightweight mimblewimble blockchain”Submitted Who Aligns the Aligners? as a story · 68 points
HN discussionIt's a very interesting thing to call it "money". It's ... not. Not unless you want to call every scarce good money. This has bene rehearsed many a time over the years. It's too volatile but be usable as a unit of account, it's not backed by a nation state and it can't be used to create credit. These are all important functions of money and Bitcoin has none of it. And no, it's not a Ponzi scheme either, it's a new k…
Comment linking /2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
on “Grin – A private and lightweight mimblewimble blockchain”Submitted Negative Interest Rates Are Going to Ruin Everything as a story · 68 points
HN discussionIt can reasonably be called a headless ponzi, I think. https://prestonbyrne.com/2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
Comment linking /2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
on “Why you can’t cash out part 1: Bitcoin’s “price” is largely fictional”Submitted What do you legally “own” with Bitcoin? A short introduction to krypto-property as a story · 64 points
HN discussionSure, blockchain eventually might have some use. Currently, Bitcoin doesn't. And while we were kind of unsure whether it's a pyramid or a Ponzi, actually it _is_ something new: a Nakamoto scheme. https://prestonbyrne.com/2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
Comment linking /2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
on “Litecoin and Ethereum buys and sells are temporarily disabled”Submitted On the Looming Bitcoin Bubble as a story · 60 points
HN discussionThe Wikipedia article on civil liberties in the UK is a good starting point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_liberties_in_the_United_... Selections: Criminal Justice Act 2003, abrogated double jeopardy in cases with "new and compelling evidence". Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, created an offence of inciting religious hatred, an advanced notification scheme for protests up to 1 kilometre from Parlia…
Comment linking /2016/01/06/the-american-english-civil-liberties-comparison-table/
on “A Message to the Apple Community in Europe”Submitted The Bear Case for Crypto as a story · 51 points
HN discussionBitfinex controls Tether, a single source cryptocurrency supposedly backed by and pegged to the US dollar. The market cap of Tether has risen $188 million dollars to $678 million in one month: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether/ If Tether is what they say it is, this can only come from investments of US dollars. Ie nearly $400 million dollars of investment in one month. On November 21 Tether announced a hac…
Comment linking /2017/11/26/the-bear-case-for-crypto-part-ii-fractional-reserve-marmot/
on “Bitcoin hits $10,000”Submitted Whether Ethereum is a security as a story · 49 points
HN discussionI think couple of things need to be repeated from earlier threads. This discussion happened during a Yahoo conference. So, its more like a person's opinion. Unless we get a press release from SEC it is a difficult statement to make whether SEC is all good with ICOs. Secondly, the question of Ethereum being a security is a tricky one. It is a security by definition given in the same speech. So, it started out as a se…
Comment linking /2018/06/14/ether-is-not-a-security/
on “The SEC Will Leave Good ICOs Alone”Submitted The Bear Case for Crypto, Part II: The Great Bank Run as a story · 41 points
HN discussionCryptocurrencies are scam. End. This is very simple. Yes, they are a new kind of scam, a good name suggested is Nakamoto Scheme. https://prestonbyrne.com/2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/ Also notable: https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2018/04/05/debunking-bu... which doesn't outright call it a scam but certainly points out > Git gives you pretty much everything offered by the business case for blockchains. The one thing…
Comment linking /2017/12/08/bitcoin_ponzi/
on “Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed”Submitted Congressman: Yes, We Did in Fact Lose Afghanistan Because of Big Tech as a story · 22 points
HN discussion
