We (and by "we" I refer to the collective we, or the mass majority) all knew that BitConnect was a fucking scam.
When everyone is telling you something is a scam, its a scam. If it looks like a fish, smells like a fish, swims like a fish, and talks like a fish, its a damn scam.
But why were some people duped by BitConnect?
Because there were shillers pumping up the scam on social media, youtube, there were even youtube ads and Facebook ads, there were shills on every corner.
Let's be clear; the very fact that you had so many people shilling Bitconnect is a red flag that it was a pyramid/Ponzi scam.
But a lot of people who put money into Bitconnect did the same thing. They shilled.
See, this is the problem. While everyone is pointing fingers at those who were shilling, like the youtubers that have started mass deleting videos where they pumped up the scam, or the people here on steemit that hilariously cannot delete their posts (bahaha) and hide the evidence - how many of those shilling BitConnect also got hosed in the end? I would call that poetic justice, if it wasn't for the fact that they were basically selling people into losing money.
Some of those people who got duped by the shillers are now suicidal, broke, having put their life savings into what the rest of us thought was an obvious scam. Clearly it wasn't obvious enough, and the shilling that was going on was part of that. When a youtuber (i.e. cryptonick) is pumping BitConnect, or someone on Steemit (i.e. hiroyamagishi) is spreading the promise of wealth and arguing it's not a scam, the delusion becomes contagious.
Do I believe the Shillers need to be punished? Hard for me to say. If they were genuinely duped themselves into shilling BitConnect and actually believed it wasn't a scam, they would be putting out a public apology for potentially ruining the lives of other, at least they would if they have a conscience. I believe that anyone who was deliberately shilling BitConnect, knowing they were screwing over their audience, should be held responsible in some manner. It's a crime to be an accessory to a ponzi/pyramid scheme in market, regulated or not. Just wait until there's some kid in the news who hung themselves over Bitconnect, and it happens to be a politicians kid or something. Watch the heads roll then.
I guess no matter what happens, it really won't matter in the end if someone knowingly shilled for BitConnect or not, because (as predicted by a lot of us) lives have been ruined and the evidence trail is everywhere. Whether justice is served remains to be seen. Bernie Madoff was punished because he stole from the wealthy. I think the same punishment should be doled out to anyone who was in on the BitConnect scam as well; piss on them and toss their evil ass in jail where they belong.