This may sound weird, but yeah, I start believing in it.
But since bitcoin was new and my father had some doubts, he did not believe in me and considered bitcoin a scam or Ponzi scheme provided by any company. That's the reason why people living in 2021 felling regret just because they didn't believe back in 2009-2010.
Anyways time has gone, and we can not bring back anything but learn from our mistakes. Undoubtedly, bitcoin is decentralized, and we can still invest in it for our bright future.
Your father was kind of correct, or at least half right, it is an indirect ponzi scheme, a decentralized ponzi scheme. Why would you think its NOT a ponzi scheme?? Because its gone up?? Ponzi schemes inflate until they blow up.
It can exist as long as not to many withdraw their funds. If there is a run for the exit where to many would like to withdraw their funds, then it goes to zero, or close to it. That's what a ponzi scheme looks like and functions.
As long as you hodl it stays afloat, if you dont hodl it goes to zero, that's why everybody wants you to hodl. It's a very simple consept when you think about it really.