A Ponzi scheme pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors.

The US economy has problems, but I don't see how that's supposed to be one of them.

I don't think it's even (in 2023) a good model for BTC, although the adverts I saw for it when I first heard about it around the $250 price absolutely were that, and there are plenty of clone-coins that still do today.

> A Ponzi scheme pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors.

You just described how Social Security in the USA is funded. Its billed as government-run social insurance, but funded as a ponzi.

1. "Profits" is a relevant keyword there.

2. If Social Security were to fail, the US government would be free to decide between canning it (or reducing it) or funding it from more taxes (or delaying retirement age, which is kinda both); in none of these cases is this itself going to threaten the USA economy or the USD currency.

This is like the gingerbread man in the gingerbread house meme.