&gt; In both cases, people think they will make money because they are smart, when they actually will lose money because they are dumb.<p>I don&#x27;t agree with this sentence. Ponzi scheme people probably don&#x27;t feel smart, rather they&#x27;ve been mislead into thinking they have an opportunity to invest in something where they can&#x27;t lose. And participants in DFS don&#x27;t lose based on their intelligence, generally speaking.<p>To answer your question, though, Ponzi scheme participants are being intentionally misled by fraudsters, where DFS participants are willingly gambling of their own accord. That&#x27;s the difference in palatability.