Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson referred to Bitcoin as a financial pyramid scheme., 2026/03/14 10:05:01

The former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, referred to Bitcoin as a “massive financial pyramid,” asserting that the value of cryptocurrencies largely relies on investor trust rather than their intrinsic worth.

In his article for the Daily Mail, Johnson stated that the price of Bitcoin is contingent upon a continuous influx of new investors willing to invest in the cryptocurrency. He illustrated this with the story of an acquaintance who invested in Bitcoin based on a friend’s recommendation.

Initially, he invested £500 (approximately $661), hoping that this amount could double. However, after several years, he encountered difficulties in retrieving his funds and ultimately lost around £20,000 (about $26,446). Johnson did not clarify whether these were direct investments in Bitcoin or contributions to a fraudulent crypto platform.

The former Prime Minister suggested that such occurrences are not uncommon, particularly among older individuals. In his view, investors facing financial challenges often continue to invest in high-risk and volatile assets in hopes of recouping their losses.

Johnson asserted that Bitcoin lacks fundamental value—describing the cryptocurrency as merely a “sequence of numbers stored across a number of computers,” primarily utilized for fraud and speculative trading. He even posited that Pokémon trading cards hold greater value.

The politician compared cryptocurrencies to fiat currencies, emphasizing that the value of government-issued money is based on trust in the governments that issue them. He cited Roman coins bearing Caesar’s image, which people trusted due to the authority of the state and its military strength.

“Bitcoin has no central banker who can be dismissed, nor a government that can be voted out of power. Everything entirely depends on the collective faith of the holders. If trust in cryptocurrencies evaporates, the industry will find itself in a deadlock,” Johnson wrote.

Michael Saylor, Chairman of the Board at Strategy, responded to Johnson on social media platform X, stating that the politician is mistaken. According to Saylor, Bitcoin is not a financial pyramid, as such schemes involve a central operator promising returns and paying early investors with funds from new contributors.

“Bitcoin has no issuer, no promoter, and no guaranteed profits—there is only an open decentralized network governed by code and market demand,” the entrepreneur explained.

Strategy is recognized as the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. Currently, it holds 738,731 BTC—approximately 3.52% of the maximum supply of the cryptocurrency, capped at 21 million coins. Recently, Strategy acquired an additional 7,000 BTC for around $500 million, and over the past two weeks, the company has purchased more than 11,000 BTC.