The easiest way to know right now that the current setup of Bitcoin is completely suspect is the fact that these kinds of questions even get brought up.  I mean, just try and imagine this office conversation:

Me: Hey guys, I think I've found a way to make our code a lot more efficient.

Office mate #1: Your changes smell like a Ponzi scheme to me.

Office mate #2: I don't know about that, but if you think about the details, it's just self-evident that it is not a multi-level marketing scheme.

A reasonable system would never have these kinds of questions brought up.