Was Bitcoin an elaborate scheme from the very beginning—a calculated ploy to create wealth for the few while robbing the many of their freedom and democracy?
What do you think? Have we all been deceived?
The moment you failed to know the difference between Bitcoin and altcoin, then I think you are been deceived just as you said.
All these you have mentioned above about ICO, Scams, NFTs, and so on are all related to altcoin and not Bitcoin, and Bitcoin is the pioneer of cryptocurrency which was created to give us financial freedom, while all altcoins are created to give Bitcoin some competition which will always fail because these altcoins are centralized and will always be controlled by its owners.
Governments after making several attempts to stop Bitcoin and failed, they decided to start distracting people like you with their altcoins they are using to gain attention in the sense that people will think that they are controlling the crypto market; but always remember that all these coin will pump it Bitcoin pump and once the price of Bitcoin is down, they will also dump; therefore, make sure you have good knowledge about Bitcoin before making conclusions.