I've been having some doubts about Bitcoin, and chances are I may not be unique or special in any way, so I guess others may be worrying about the same things.

I know if you start from the IT persons perspective this all makes sense.
We want a decentralised currency, we want it to be secure & robust, and the Bitcoin paper/protocol/software delivers this ... makes sense .. and appears all noble aspirations ... until we come to mining.

In the next 12 months miners will be rewarded by the issuing of Bitcoin that could amount to anything from $130 million - $1.3 Billion or even ($0 - $100 billion).
At the same time mining hardware with any kind of payback is well outside the reach of many people, so Bitcoin is now starting to concentrate wealth into the hands of a small group of people.

Is this necessary and why ?

I've been having some doubts about Bitcoin, and chances are I may not be unique or special in any way, so I guess others may be worrying about the same things.

I know if you start from the IT persons perspective this all makes sense.
We want a decentralised currency, we want it to be secure & robust, and the Bitcoin paper/protocol/software delivers this ... makes sense .. and appears all noble aspirations ... until we come to mining.

In the next 12 months miners will be rewarded by the issuing of Bitcoin that could amount to anything from $130 million - $1.3 Billion or even ($0 - $100 billion).
At the same time mining hardware with any kind of payback is well outside the reach of many people, so Bitcoin is now starting to concentrate wealth into the hands of a small group of people.

Why is this necessary ?