Just like ALL forms of gambling both traditional, stock market, currency trading and Ponzi the profit you seek is gained from other losses - the bookmakers and casinos don't give you their money they give you the money that others have lost. The only time money is stolen in a Ponzi is when the owner decides to run with all money invested and that makes the owner a scammer not anyone who gambled that they would make money. If a Ponzi legitimately fails due to lack of new investors than the people who got in first and gambled that the site would last long enough to recoup their investment win the game. If a casino goes bust and you are holding their chips it doesn't make everyone who made money in the casino a scammer who has stolen from you. If the casino owner decides to run with the money they are the scammer. The problem is that some ponzis are purely designed to steal money from investors, while others are made to make some cash and they die out rather than be shut down mid round by the owner. If the owner decides to skim off enough money to cover their operation costs and pay them for their time this the House Edge that is their right and fair play to them - just like traditional gambling owners - http://casinogambling.about.com/od/oddsandends/a/houseedge.htm. So just to repeat because I know you find this bit hard to understand Users who make a profit from Ponzis aren't stealing from other users, they have just won the gamble, users who make a lost have just lost the gamble. This does not make it a scam or stealing. Users are not in a position to steal from each other only the site owner has that power.