Bitcoin Forum

I've read some posts that suggest GPU mining is required for this coin to gain popularity and I'm not sure this is so. Here's why:

1. What is the root purpose of a crypto coin?
When we look at the underlying philosophical reason behind all cryptocurrencies we see it is a way to democratize money. In other words, to remove control from the issuing authority and decentralize power. Primecoin fulfills this function wonderfully in that anyone with a CPU can accumulate coins. The competitive mining environment for this coin is on a more even playing field than any other coin that I know of today and introducing avenues to additional hardware like a GPU imbalances this playing field. I would even argue a script that limits coin mining to one CPU would be an even better coin for this root purpose. The more you introduce avenues to advantages which can be purchased with capital the further away you get from what a cryptocoin is all about.

2. What makes a coin network strong?
The first thing to come to mind to me is the distribution, if the computing load is distributed over 100 million computers in different locations, the routing hops will be shorter and the ability to compromise it is greatly minimized. When you introduce new hardware, you encourage centralization of the network which counteracts a great advantage.

3. What encourages adoption?
The traditional arguments for adoption are all faulty in that they don't address the real problem. People will eventually need to agree on a medium of exchange and the more people with a fair share of this medium, the more likely will be the adoption. Coins that reward early adopters or imbalance the accumulation and support of the coin network will ultimately be less favorable to a potential participant than one where things are more evenly distributed.

These are my thoughts and I would like some feedback from the more pensive among you on what I believe is a truly weighty discussion.