Unfortunate Association:

 An item in the social media is letting it be known that Elon Musk has joined Justin Trudeau in a financial project that will be of great benefit to Canadians. 

It's no surprise that someone tries to link Musk with a political campaign. He's the driving force behind Tesla electric cars, space vehicles and a basketful of scientific initiatives. It's easy to see him as a hero, especially so to the voting segment that as yet hasn't the time to tell science apart from science fiction.

The new initiative the article attributes to Musk's genius is a quick and easy way to become a millionaire. It has to do with the bitcoin and crypto currency craze. It promises untold riches for a paltry investment of $250.

These get-rich-quick schemes surface once about every 15 years. That's about how long it takes for a fresh generation of gamblers to emerge upon the financial scene.

While Musk can safely be classified as a genius in the engineering and technology field, what is being attributed to him in the article sounds very much like an ordinary pyramid (Ponzi)scheme. That's what put careless investment brokers in the cooler a few years ago.

It appears to work as follows: Early investors ($250) get rich on the investment of following investors as the scheme grows. The more investors, the more millions for earlier ivestors. It works until they run out of investors.

There is nothing to back the currency except the currency contributed by an ever-widening circle of investors. It is not a medium of exchange, which is what currency is for. It is simply a transfer of money from one account to another.

Several such schemes have grown and crashed within my recollection. There was the one directed at business women (exclusively) about 30 years ago. Another one started as an investment firm which developed into a pyramid scheme in the hands of a reckless investment broker named Bernie Madoff. There were others, too numerous to mention.

Musk should be warned to exercise care in who he allows his name to be associated with. Or, maybe he thinks people who voted for legalized dope would be good customers for his investment business. Maybe he sees potential in it. Who knows?

Money is a medium of exchange. When neither goods nor services are being exchanged, the law ought to have a look.