Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called Bitcoin a “giant Ponzi scheme” in a Daily Mail opinion piece, then repeated the criticism on X. He framed the argument around Bitcoin’s value structure and pointed to the case of a retired resident from his village in Oxfordshire.
According to Johnson, the resident first handed over £500 to a man who promised to double the money through Bitcoin. The victim later paid additional fees while trying to withdraw the funds. Over three and a half years, the person reportedly lost about £20,000. Johnson described the episode as a scam tied to cryptocurrency promotion.
Johnson contrasts Bitcoin with physical and cultural assets
Johnson said cases like this strengthen concerns about Bitcoin’s economic foundations. He compared the cryptocurrency with assets he said carry some form of physical or cultural appeal, including gold and collectible cards. He specifically mentioned Pokémon cards as an example of a collectible that has maintained popularity over time. Bitcoin, by contrast, was described by Johnson as “a string of numbers stored in computers.”
He also questioned the identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. In Johnson’s view, a pseudonymous founder offers no institutional accountability.
Saylor says Bitcoin lacks the structure of a Ponzi
Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor answered Johnson’s claim directly. Saylor said Bitcoin does not fit the definition of a Ponzi scheme. In his account, a Ponzi requires a central operator who promises returns, with earlier participants paid from money brought in by later ones.
Saylor argued that Bitcoin has none of those elements. He said the network has no issuer, no promoter, and no built-in mechanism guaranteeing profits. Instead, he described Bitcoin as an open monetary network driven by software and market demand, with participation left to users by choice.
Community notes and crypto accounts add technical context
Users in X’s community notes program also added context to Johnson’s statement. The note said Ponzi schemes generally promise unusually high returns while presenting little risk, something Bitcoin itself does not guarantee.
Other commentators replied with technical points about the network, highlighting its fixed supply and decentralized architecture. BitMEX Research posted a short response as well, saying that “nobody is in charge” of the Bitcoin network. The exchange of views quickly extended across social media.