I wouldn't be so quick to say its "impossible" for STEEM to be a Ponzi scheme as some people are doing in the comments. Obviously I am a STEEM user. If I was convinced STEEM is a Ponzi, I wouldn't be here.

But... I am skeptical.

A Ponzi scheme is where later "investors" are paid out with the funds from the people who entered early. If the SD that STEEM posters receive was obviously coming from the VESTS/SP of other users, it might be a clear Ponzi. But there is so much complexity involved in the creation of the 3 tokens (yes, I've read the whitepaper) that its really hard to tell. People who put their STEEM in get it locked up as SP could be left holding the bag.

I don't think this particular guy was actually interested in exploring this and had already made up his mind, and that can be frustrating, so I understand people quick to defend the system and deny the allegation.

...But, I don't think its entirely baseless.