So on the surface the marketing seemed deceptive but the massive returns were always paid on time so there was no real fraud perpetrated, especially considering 'all' cryptos are non-deliberate ponzis. The bitconnect system generated the company profits which they could use to invest and generate more income and coin growth. Many legitimate stocks end up at almost zero value due to people selling and companies failing but that doesn't make them a ponzi. On the other hand, bitconnect generated lots of income from the lending rates and so to call them a ponzi (when nearly all cryptos are already non-deliberate ponzis) is a bit far-fetched. They found a system which allowed them to grow their coin value while still generating huge profits (almost no other coin generates profits like that). The competition didn't help, but bitconnect was the first and should have been able to carry on if it wasn't for the bad press and legal issues.