Let's not move the goalposts.

Your author can argue that there are "many variants of the definition" until he's blue in the face, it doesn't make him correct. The fact of the matter is, there are legal definitions of fraud. Every country with a legal system has one. They all hinge around an intentional action taken to cause financial harm to another. You'd have an easier time arguing that Pepsi Points are a Ponzi scheme than that Bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme. But since people enjoy being mad at cryptobros, furries and social justice warriors, you can call'n'response "Ponzi" "Rabble rabble" on Wordpress all day long.

Crypto is just so absurd and damaging.

MONEY is absurd and damaging. It isn't limited to crypto. Why is "X" worth "Y?" Because someone makes it so. This is why the Chinese were able to invent paper currency in 1100BC while the Europeans were at "whoa, fractional reserve banking" during the Medicis: if the Emperor is literally god on earth, he can say pigeon feathers are worth two peasants and poof it's true. Meanwhile it took until the Renaissance for the Europeans to realize that you don't need 1:1 reserves of precious metals in order to get the economy moving. Know why I linked this?

I did it for this graph:

Compare and contrast. The EU has a ONE PERCENT required reserve ratio while BinanceCoin is at NINETY FIVE PERCENT.

I fully agree - Paul Calder LeRoux is Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin hasn't evolved since 2012 'cuz he's been in jail. Satoshi's bitcoin hasn't moved 'cuz he's under proffer, which means legally, any money he's got belongs to the US Government. But LeRoux didn't invent Bitcoin to defraud people, he invented it to move money without taxation. It's a virtual bearer instrument. It functions very well for that purpose, presuming technology stands still in 2012. This is the reason it was adopted so heavily in China: the underworld economy in China is substantial and very wink,wink nudge,nudge and BTC allowed the Nomentklatura to tuck their profits away in a better instrument than offshore holdings, precious metals or jewelry. It's also the reason China jumped into surveillance currency so hard: as soon as things get dicey you attack whoever threatens you the most, which in this case is the Nomenklatura.

I don't like Bitcoin. I think it was a good starting point twelve years ago. But I don't think it's a scam, either. You absolutely do and part of it is that you steadfastly refuse to understand something you don't like.