Ponzi

Ponzi functions as an adjective describing fraudulent investment schemes where returns paid to early investors come not from legitimate profits but from money contributed by later investors.

Named after Charles Ponzi, who ran such a scheme in the 1920s, the term appears most often in Ponzi scheme, though it sometimes modifies other nouns: Ponzi finance, Ponzi economics.

The structure inevitably collapses when new investment slows, leaving later participants with losses.