I'm 100% convince this is a BTC bubble
Someone on the wall observer thread was talking about some MMM ponzi. I couldn't follow it and I have no idea what effect that might have. Does anyone think that has any merit?
Given the critical role BTC has in trading XMR it seems we ought to understand if there is some large (?) unsustainable factor driving current BTC prices, and how close that might be to reversing.
Bobby Lee, CEO of Chinese exchange BTCC, told CoinDesk his platform has seen a significant volume increase, though he dismissed much of his competitors' volume as "artificial".
Those behind the volume, he said, are not traders but consumers sucked into a Russian ponzi scheme, MMM.
"We have posted warnings on our site and on our social media to warn users to be careful, but they have been coming to our exchange and buying out like crazy."
A scheme that uses BTC as a deposit method could function very much like a Willy-bot. New participants form a steady stream of new buyers. Provided that the interest payments and deposits are denominated in fiat, then the higher BTC goes, the longer the operators will be able to make payouts.
This MMM leader is big-time. His earlier scams caused 100+ million dollars in losses. That kind of buying pressure, combined with speculators piling on, mixed with some artificial volume from Huobi/OKCoin, could set off a buying frenzy.