I've come to understand the nature of 'ponzi' to be a function of focus, how close in (or far out) one zooms.

In light of this, it is far more practical to ask simple questions of Bitcoin utility, rather than (what are essentially) economic-philosophy questions.

So we go from: "Is Bitcoin a ponzi?"
to: "What is the definition of a ponzi?"
to: Screw it. What can I buy with a Bitcoin?