Dissecting Ponzi schemes on Ethereum: identification, analysis, and impact

Ponzi schemes are financial frauds where, under the promise of high profits, users put their money, recovering their investment and interests only if enough users after them continue to invest money. Originated in the offline world 150 years ago, Ponzi schemes have since then migrated to the digital world, approaching first on the Web, and more recently hanging over cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Smart contract platforms like Ethereum have provided a new opportunity for scammers, who have now the possibility of creating “trustworthy” frauds that still make users lose money, but at least are guaranteed to execute “correctly”. We present a comprehensive survey of Ponzi schemes on Ethereum, analysing their behaviour and their impact from various viewpoints. Perhaps surprisingly, we identify a remarkably high number of Ponzi schemes, despite the hosting platform has been operating for less than two years.