The Largest Ponzi Schemes in History 

As a finance teacher, I can tell you that not only the Fed but any central bank is "technically" a ponzi scheme. Not only that. But the banking system and the monetary system they are the biggest player of, are much larger ponzi scheme too. If everybody tried to withdraw money from their bank at the same time there would be only a fraction of it... But the governments would be there to reassure depositors with their own ponzi scheme (public debt that will never be paid back, but rolled over and over...). And the central bank is there to help with its unlimited money creation (sometimes called money printing). But, contrary to the other ponzi schemes these are legal, and they work... and the worst that can happen is that either a sovereign default (more typical of emerging countries) or high inflation due to excessive money creation (typical of developed countries, but also some emerging countries)

I know it was wrong, but buying out the company you got fired from, just to fire the guy that fired you, is a hilarious power move lol.

The fact he even got the cops to invest is hilarious

"The Largest Ponzi Schemes in History" 2022 FTX: Hold my FTT...

"He even bought the shipping company he worked for just to fire his boss" lmao

My ex was constantly falling into these schemes and wasting so much time into “making moves”, embarrassing himself in front of his friends and family members, it was absolutely horrible . I feel sad still just remembering how completely sucked in he was into these types of “jobs”

Give a man a gun he can rob a bank, give a man a bank he can rob the world

One thing that saves me from falling into any funny scheme is that I always ask myself, if the return is so good, why don't they just invest their own money? Why look for investors? Even if these people only have a few thousand or just a hundred thousand, to begin with, they can double their money every few weeks or months and their fund will grow bigger. Why are they so kind to offer strangers like me the opportunity to get such a big return.

I've known about this story a while ago. But I am tuning into this channel to watch it again because Coldfusion puts content together so well 💯

Bit-co-NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECT WHOOOOOOOO!!!! 😂😂😂

I can add that Ponzi schemes work even better in games than in real life: There was this mobile strategy game based on The Hobbit back in 2013; I was very into strategy games at the time, but also psychology, and so I decided to experiment a bit. I joined an "alliance" (with a capacity of up to 100 people), and autistically built my empire until I became the, on paper, strongest player military-wise on my server (the game measured and displayed the total value of all players´ in an expectedly arbitrary fashion). Due to my stature as the largest fish in the pond in combination with being well-spoken and as active in the game as only someone who has ADHD and autism can be, I quickly rose in the ranks of the alliance, and as we inevitably went to war with other alliances, I went into action; I sent out mass messages to the alliance, arguing that since my cities are "obviously" the safest place to store resources since they're so well defended and intimidating (I believe I hadn't been challenged at all thus far), the best option for the alliance in order to not lose too much resources due to plundering enemies is to simply send all their excess resources to me for... "safekeeping". Of course, whenever anyone needed resources to build something, they would send me a message requesting the amount needed and I would always oblige. Now, do you think received far more resources than I had to send? Of course I did, I also used every incident of someone being plundered for a significant amount to further reinforce the importance of sending me EVERYTHING... All of this naturally led to me further securing my place as the biggest fish for quite a few weeks (until the pay to win-players overthrew me lol), and as an added bonus I was also way more influential than the official leader and founder of the alliance, whom I naturally overthrew in a "democratic" coup; I obviously already knew I was the only relevant candidate, but I wanted to make it look like I was not a dictator, but the choice of the people unlike the "tyrant" who simply founded the alliance and proclaimed himself the leader. When the original leader resigned and gave up his top spot, I went ahead and left the alliance to create a new one just to see how many would actually follow me, and it was actually quite a few (30-40 something, most others were not that active players). What was most surprising to me was that no one ever questioned my suggestions, no one ever asked how much resources I actually sat on, everyone quietly went along and even praised me for my strategy and commitment. Overall 10/10 gaming experience, no regrets.

If you get caught time after time, to a point where a type of fraud is named after you, it's likely you're not a good criminal

As a lebanese myself, I can say with full and utter confidence what is a ponzi scheme. All of us are currently living in the aftermath of one.

24:58 it was "save the kids" coin, save the children is an actual charity.

As long as greed exists, Ponzi Schemes will evolve to new ways! Thanks for this video. It proves not to follow the crowd blindly. People can be mislead easily.

Question: Do these scumbags get to keep their offshore money after being released from prison? Getting merely 11 years doesn't feel like justice to me, especially if there's an early release for good behavior.

You missed to mention the lebanese government/banks ponzi where they promised depositors 15-20% returns in US dollars a currency they don’t control or can print. Eventually loans added up to more than 100 billion is US dollars and bank’s foreign currency was only 14 billion (alleged not confirmed) you should do a video about this topic!

Cold Fusion!!!!! Thank you so much. I've been working on a book about ponzi especially in Nigeria. I intend to be more vocal about it because a ponzi schemes will never ends.

The moment someone screamed the name of their company at the top of their lungs inches from a microphone I'd know it was fake.

That Bitconnect stage ‘Bitconeeeeeect’ made me laugh so hard 😂😂😂

Dagogo is a master story teller. I love the diversity of his subjects and the music is a bonus.

always look forward to these

The best ponzi schemes are those who have never been caught.

In 2022, SBF said hold my beer.

Dagogo has me hooked on all his videos, no matter the subject I end up watching to the end.

Thank you for this... Bernie Madoff's case was so famous it overshadowed all the other times this type of thing had been perpetrated recently. American Greed on CNBC does a great job examining things that center around this type of financial scam.

Thankyou ColdFusion for constantly bringing good journalism and helping us learn something new and build more perspective every time!! thankyou.

Thanks for that video. I’ve seen one in action and couldn’t believe how many fell for it and even got grumpy with me not wanting to buy into it. Your video should be mandatory for year 8 in school.

Me: Pfff, I'd never fall for THAT crap *Also me: all in on Shibu Inu*

If I had to picture from scratch with no previous knowledge of what someone who had the concept of a Ponzi scheme named after him, I would picture an exact replica of Charles Ponzi with that hat and smug look on his face

Love your channel dude. Been a fan for a while. Very broad & informative.

FTX: hold my beer

That Ponzi fella was a piece of work

24:49 Save the Children is a legitimate charity, Save the Kids is a scam. Even though in the video it can be obvious, it's a bad mistake to keep in the video all the same.

This video delivered! What a great formula this channel has

Prosecutor: “Bitconnect is one of the worst Ponzi schemes ever, and the largest cryptocurrency fraud ever charged!” Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX: “Allow us to introduce ourselves…”

the history of removing the dollar from gold is maddening

I feel like this entire episode was geared towards the reveal of the penultimate 'bonus' ponzi scheme ie the US Federal Reserve System. It was quite impressive actually. First: Educate the masses on what is an actual ponzi scheme. Two: Cite famous examples. Three: The grand reveal. Couldn't have done it better. 👏👏

The coupons were always the key- there couldn’t be enough of them for it to even be true. It’s always basic math anyone can do that takes down schemes. Even for guys like Bankman Fried from FTX.

what i learned from this, is that ponzi schemes are great if you manage to get in and out fast before they collapse. But the greed is what keeps the majority investors in, even if they smell something suspicious. Also, what if US dollar collapses due to the reason mentioned in the video. How does one walk with less damage from it? I live in EU. Would not having USD or stocks in American companies help?

Dagogo evolves more and more to a real financial expert. It's really cool that he is willing to share his knowledge and research with the community. Cheers Dagogo

The Ponzi story is one of the most interesting stories in 1920s ish history. Like the whole thing sounds like it came from a movie or a novel except it really happened.

So incredibly timely. “Wild speculation is all the rage” in the 2020’s.

Ponzi schemes is such a huge issue Nigeria. Nearly 20 have crashed this year alone, taking billions with them

Loved that you gave Coffeezilla a shout out, his videos are really well researched, just like yours, even though he is operating in a totally different area👍🏼

Great job. Thanks!!

You're channel is the best

Ponzi scams can be very profitable if you are in the first wave of investors but you should know when to get out of the house

24:50 Dagogo, no! No no no *_no_* ! Save the Children is a legitimate organization. The scam was Save the *_Kids_* . They are similar because the scammers were specifically trying to ride on Save the Children's reputation. Come on, you even put the actual title of the scam on the screen.

While watching your video about Ponzi schemes, I get an ad for investing in the Metaverse, an obvious scam of the 2020’s. An ad that was played to me twice during the video. Scary algorithm.

21:08 Allen Stanford "was sentenced to 11 years in prison". WHAT??? *Wrong. He is serving a 110 year prison sentence!*

One of the best RU-vid channels on this platform. You put so much work and effort into every video and we all appreciate it and learn so much from you. ❤️

I’m so glad you included the Federal Reserve System! It’s been a nightmare ever since it’s inception.

I wasnt prepare for the bonus one in the end... GOT TO ADMIT THIS MUST ONE OF THE BEST EVER RU-vid CHANNEL. PERIOD!!!

Just found u recently been learning a lot you deserve so many more subs

When they don’t want you to ask questions, that’s a red flag right there!

Amazing video. Really shows us to just work genuinely and help people.

9:12 lol. Guinness is good for you! 😂

I'd argue the FTX scam would fit right in here.

very good, there was a lot of research there, and it was definitely worth it. I love your style of video production, very unique and informative

Perfectly presented

It's not always people from a weak financial background that fall for Ponzi schemes. People that invested with Bernie Madoff were well versed in economics / investing and they got scammed for decades.

excellent report, well done.

"None of this matters though, as long as everybody didn't want their money out at once". When ponzy did it, it was fraud, but when a bank does it, it's "financing"

Great content creator you are, dagogo! Thanks for the videos!

The bitconnect clip made me laugh so harddddd 🤣🤣

Dagogo fractual reserve banking/central banking is a great hit. This is the main reason You need a government license to run a commercial bank. But considering the latest 2 biggest from our current past: Lehman bothers and Evergrande - they were harder to trace since these chemes are backed up by real estate investments. The Evergrande defaulted on $68 billion US dollars last september.

Well, that's how retirement system works :D at least in Poland. The only reason old people get their money each month is because working people are constantly paying obligatory money for "their own" retirement in the future. :D

I actually get excited when a new video is posted 😂

Biggest Ponzi Scheme in history... FTX: Hold my beer

This channel needs to be on TV

The placement of an eToro ad right in a key moment was flawless.

That was a great episode I really enjoyed it keep up the good work preciate your content you put out

Dagogo’s humour is outstanding. Number 6 cracked me up 🤣 23:00

You could run a Ponzi yourself. You are such a smooth talker. Great video

Rothstein actually fled because of a murder charge. I believe it was his second in command he had murdered.

"I promised 5 schemes, but here's one more - The U.S. Federal Reserve System..." Dagogo, you my friend are beautifully based haha

Quick correction for this video: Getting rich doesn't necessarily mean you need to work hard. It does mean you need to work smart though.

The wild range in years served was strange to me. 10 years, 50 years, 50 years, 11 years, 150 years... It didn't seem to follow a pattern or correlate with the magnitude of the crime (e.g. number of people defrauded or how much). Though I don't have the numbers in front of me, maybe it was a bit more related than my first impressions show. Courts can and should also take intent into account. But even then, a lot of malicious characters got off with a decade and a finger waggle, vs others serving half a century (and likely not surviving that long in prison). I wonder what accounts for the disparity.

“Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank, give a man a bank and he can rob the world”

“Don’t always follow the crowd and always do your own research when investing” *Sweats in Reddit*

Thank you for mentioning the Fed. It goes much deeper than that though.

A shoutout to Coffeezilla and calling the Fed what it really is? I love it.

Could you do a video on turning commodity from a physical thing into an abstract idea that contains value?

I’m confused, so can someone explain it to me? He bought the home for $7M or it is now worth $7M? Not to discredit your research, but I can’t find that info at all

Well Enjoyed and Inform inf. Thanks

Finally, somebody who got more than just light punishment in this corporate greed and crime establishment.

Hey Cold Fusion, I like your videos! Something to add to the discussion about the US Fed: the trade deficit, which you alluded to, is many decades old. It's not just goods and services that the US trades for foreign capital -- it's also investment in business and real estate. It's true that the US govt pays investors out of the pockets of other investors. But it also pays out of tax revenues. And as you noted it also pays from the bank accounts of savers by inflating away the value of the savings. Ponzi scheme? Sure! But it's also a shell game.

These vids always blow my damn mind, iv always wanted to know how exactly a Ponzi Scheme worked and man.....Charles was nearly an absolute genius for this!

There is something positive to learn from Charles Ponzi! Btw, you have lots of money that is why your banks offer 2% on deposits. In my country, banks offer even 10% p.a because there are few depositors.

The best channel ever. Thanks for your content.

Great video as always! I wouldn't mind a longer piece on each of the frauds you brought up (except for the Madoff story, of course).

Just awesome content true inspiration 👍

Been waiting for this a long long time in History

Excellent video!!

Best channel!! Love it

Well, all the other Ponzi schemers did not have the most powerful navy and army in the world!

SF French Fries 2022 is the new winner .

A lot of the U.S. Deficit just like most other nation's debt is not borrowed from outside investors, but borrowed from within the nation's existing assets, making the nation it's own lender and debt holder. It's basically an inverse bubble that grow the more you borrow from it, and shrink when the debt is decreased. That said, the world economy is held up by debt.

Medical insurance, car insurance and flood insurance. Ponzi inc.