It's a smart Ponzi because it convinced people to invest, telling them that it was not a Ponzi. Telling from the company, it has been successful. Not everyone can tell that it's a Ponzi, or else it wouldn't have been nearly as successful.
It seems like it was moderately successful (though it remains to be seen how much they looted, I dont believe it came anywhere near Obsi's or Pirateat40's loot), that doesnt make it "clever". Just about
every scam ever posted on this forum was successful. I mean even things like "
Dank's Bank"