Well, I don't think it's a Ponzi scheme. I've been using Hive since it launched in 2020 and I've never had any payment problems.
I haven't had any problems, because now I do. I'm on a blacklist that's practically impossible to get off, so any post I make or vote I receive is downvoted by a bot and they take everything away.
That's why I'm totally active on Blurt, where there isn't that problem. I still browse Hive, but my participation is minimal. There's no point in posting anything here, creating content, etc. What's the point?