It's not a scam if you do it in the open and don't break any laws. Look at SPCX. A lot of retail investors are just dumb. There are people here who will go off about how great a company it is-- fine, no argument. That's not what makes a good investment.
Americans want to invest how they want. They want to strike it big and the way the world works is most of them won't. I think we need to be at peace with that and maybe adjust the tax code some.