i think actually the covert mining started with the notorious Pirate Bay who implemented a script to mine monero without an opt-in ... in order to be able to "replace ads" ... which wasnt really welcomed by users, many sites seem to have adopted it and im sure about any malware currently is about that ...
cloud mining seems to be the actual ponzi scheme, ... few months ago i could get contracts starting at $39, now it starts at $4000 ... this is no longer something for "the people" , this is simply turning into an elitist zone for the already rich, and thats completely not what was intended, so despite what jp morgan and that nobel prize winner economist might say ... its clearly being adopted by wallstreet-in-suits ... if i gotta spend half a years wage on a mining contract that "might" get me my money back in two years ?

lottery costs less ... i cant even find a place to sell me ETC under anything less than minimum €100 last time i checked

crypto-capitalism, sad but true