Will Bitcoin become centralized sometime in the future?

[Abiky]

I think that ASIC’s are evil, and if Satoshi wouldn't be anonymous hi would make a hard fork that obsceletes bitcoin ASICs, because mining should be available to everyone on their home computer, this is one of the main principles of decentralization.

Exactly. I think that Satoshi never intended for Bitcoin to become centralized with specialized mining equipment such as ASICs. In the whitepaper, it states: "One CPU, one vote", which means that anyone in the world could mine Bitcoin with just their CPU (like it was in the early days). Now, Bitcoin mining is partly controlled by a Chinese hardware mining manufacturer called Bitmain which has the most hashrate on the network. At any moment, it could perform a 51% attack whenever the company pleases to do so (due to political interests, etc), and destroy Bitcoin before we know it. They're releasing new miners for other cryptocurrency algorithms which were known to be ASIC resistant by design.

A new Ethereum miner is on the way, as well as a CryptoNight miner for Monero. Luckily, the Monero team did the right thing to put an end to ASIC mining via a hard fork, as ASICs would centralize the mining process by leaving small miners (which are those who use CPU and GPUs) out of the equation.

Bitcoin could do the same by hard forking into an ASIC resistant algorithm, but given that it's practically impossible to reach consensus (like the scaling event), I doubt that Bitcoin would make the shift anytime soon. As such, Bitcoin mining would become more centralized as Bitmain takes the lead over ASIC miners. It would become unstoppable and manipulated by Chinese government's interests in order to destroy Bitcoin in the long run.

Other than that, Bitcoin would be completely decentralized where no single entity (regardless of mining hashrate, political influence, etc) could gain control over it. That was Satoshi's vision in the first place, where one CPU would be one vote. Hopefully, we could see a more decentralized version of Bitcoin in the long term. AFAIK, Bitcore is a fork of Bitcoin which has implemented an ASIC resistant algorithm called TimeTravel which is hard for ASICs to come by. Finally, Ravencoin has also an ASIC resistant algorithm called X16R which serves such purpose.

Therefore, there are a few cryptocurrencies out there which are far more decentralized than Bitcoin in terms of mining. Only time will tell if Bitcoin would do the right thing to put an end to mining centralization provided by Bitmain. Just my opinion

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[bicyclebiff6]

That would be better isn't it because anyway then some sort of legalisation would be impacted on it

[commlinx]

Bitcoin doesn't have the capacity to be centralized, but rather decentralized,  we can see alot of people trying to control the market,  this is not because bitcoin is becoming centralized but because bitcoin is a decentralized,  it works in a free market where anyone anywhere can do what ever he or she pleases. This manipulations done by people in the crypto space is always for a while before another comes in.

[xandebnu]

Bitcoin already now can be said become centralized due to that fact that a handful of people concentrated a large number of bitcoins, as initially there was an unfair distribution of these coins.

[Abiky]

Bitcoin doesn't have the capacity to be centralized, but rather decentralized,  we can see alot of people trying to control the market,  this is not because bitcoin is becoming centralized but because bitcoin is a decentralized,  it works in a free market where anyone anywhere can do what ever he or she pleases. This manipulations done by people in the crypto space is always for a while before another comes in.

That is certainly true, mate. However, while anyone can do anything they like with Bitcoin, not everyone would be able to participate in the mining process. That is simply because mining hashrate is mostly controlled by Chinese mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain, leaving small miners (like most people) out of this system. This situation makes it somewhat centralized as Bitmain would be able to decide whenever to make a 51% attack on Bitcoin or not. ASIC mining equipment is not very accessible to anyone, unlike CPUs, GPUs and even HDDs (with PoC coins like Burst).

Other than that, Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency which allows anyone to transact without limitations or restrictions. With it, anyone can be their own bank, and can buy or sell their coins whenever they want to. Also, there is zero risk of getting your funds frozen (unlike Bank accounts) and manipulation in the market. Also, Bitcoin is a deflationary currency which means that it would become more valuable and scarcer over time unlike traditional fiat currencies we know and love today.

For Bitcoin to be completely decentralized, it would need to implement an ASIC-resistant algorithm, and become traded in decentralized exchanges (instead of centralized ones). If Bitcoin makes the shift towards this (which is highly unlikely), then it would be much more decentralized than what it is right now.

Nevertheless, time will tell us if Bitcoin will remain as a decentralized cryptocurrency for years to come, or it will become a centralized coin manipulated by big corporations, governments, and even central banks in the future. Just my opinion

[tvtoan1994]

It shows from the past months that BTC can easily be manipulated by the whales and financial institutions,so its morelikely being centralized currency now bigplayers always wins.

[fuer44]

currently bitcoin is not centered on anyone, and ownership of bitcoin in private and doesn't involve any party. it is possible that in the future it can happen, given the rules that will be made by the government and will also be counted from the country with the most bitcoin users.

[david roman]

Well the future of technology is becoming less and less predictable and whatever you say can change within hours, so in my opinion there is a chance for btc somehow to be centralized,

[kissme09]

As Bitcoin mining is partially controlled by Chinese miners, I have a feeling that sometime in the near future, Bitcoin can become centralized if no solution against this is proposed.

If BTC could manage to bring a solution towards mining centralization by preventing mining pools with the most hashrate to effectively gain control of the network, then it would aim to become more decentralized over the years.
 
As mining difficulty increases and new ASIC hardware gets developed, it would make it less possible for any average user to mine Bitcoin, thus making it more centralized each day.

Nevertheless, I would like to know your opinion about this, as if BTC becomes centralized, it might cause it to decrease in value, and most of all, violate the principles that it was created for. 

You probably do not think big guys keep many Bitcoins, but big investors can own more Bitcoins. The number of investors holding Bitcoin in bulk is tiny but few of them possess it from mining. Do not worry because Bitcoin loses its dispersion because it's an economic investment, but the Giants are the ones who change the rules.

[jame suny]

It shows from the past months that BTC can easily be manipulated by the whales and financial institutions,so its morelikely being centralized currency now bigplayers always wins.

[TheGodFather]

As Bitcoin mining is partially controlled by Chinese miners, I have a feeling that sometime in the near future, Bitcoin can become centralized if no solution against this is proposed.

If BTC could manage to bring a solution towards mining centralization by preventing mining pools with the most hashrate to effectively gain control of the network, then it would aim to become more decentralized over the years.
 
As mining difficulty increases and new ASIC hardware gets developed, it would make it less possible for any average user to mine Bitcoin, thus making it more centralized each day.

Nevertheless, I would like to know your opinion about this, as if BTC becomes centralized, it might cause it to decrease in value, and most of all, violate the principles that it was created for. 

For me the right term should be regulated as to ke one of the most essential factors and tenets that made bitcoin and the whole of the cryptocurrency market known is its decentralization which to me speaks that the public and the masses want a financial and economic system that is not being controlled by a government or that they want a clear and transparent stock market.

[zhea]

I don't think bitcoin will become centralized in the future. For me people who are engage with it specially to the big investors doesn't allow it to become centralized specially if it is being controlled and manipulated by the government. They rather want it to be decentralized and transact freely without limitations from the authority anytime and anywhere.

[conceivedspoon2]

Maybe not. The centre and the basis for bitcoin market is the fact it’s a decentralized. Not now not ever will bitcoin be decentralized. It will loose its purpose if it become decentralized.

[yj300316]

As Bitcoin mining is partially controlled by Chinese miners, I have a feeling that sometime in the near future, Bitcoin can become centralized if no solution against this is proposed.

If BTC could manage to bring a solution towards mining centralization by preventing mining pools with the most hashrate to effectively gain control of the network, then it would aim to become more decentralized over the years.
 
As mining difficulty increases and new ASIC hardware gets developed, it would make it less possible for any average user to mine Bitcoin, thus making it more centralized each day.

Nevertheless, I would like to know your opinion about this, as if BTC becomes centralized, it might cause it to decrease in value, and most of all, violate the principles that it was created for.  

No, i dont think bitcoin will become centralized because monopolize in mining.
The one who monopolize bitcoin is the one who have much money to buy bitcoin.

[7788bitcoin]

I don’t think this will happen because all the popularity bitcoin has gained from last 8 year is because of this decentralized technology and if it becomes centralized it will affect the popularity of bitcoin.

Bitcoin came out as a decentralized technology but with ASIC mining has become a centralized thing for the past several years and bitmain is having a monopoly in the mining hardware department and only big mining farms can take advantage of them, home based mining died long back and i do not think we could see any change in that aspect too.

[david roman]

I know it's decentralized, nobody controls it, etc... But sometimes I think this is just an illusion, the true is that the whales control Bitcoin, those who controls big amounts change the course of the currency and the little fishes just can choose the right side to make the profit with the whales.

So I think Bitcoin is "indirectly centralized".

[Dudeperfect]

There is the only way to regulate Bitcoin by gaining 51% or more mining power but in such case, the controlling authority would have a right to double spend and hence it won't make any sense of trust and the core ideology, in that case, resulting in a massive price fall. It would be similar to the suicide attempt making the whole network worthless so I don't see any such possibility. No one would go with such costly suicide attempt along with his wealth and resources.

[Tonicantik]

when all blocks where mined after that I do not think chaina will have the capibilty they have now. or if people think about transaction costs will be the highest level in the world, the total transaction costs more and more and the whole world opens transaction fees for bitcoin.

[Kersh768]

As Bitcoin mining is partially controlled by Chinese miners, I have a feeling that sometime in the near future, Bitcoin can become centralized if no solution against this is proposed.

If BTC could manage to bring a solution towards mining centralization by preventing mining pools with the most hashrate to effectively gain control of the network, then it would aim to become more decentralized over the years.
 
As mining difficulty increases and new ASIC hardware gets developed, it would make it less possible for any average user to mine Bitcoin, thus making it more centralized each day.

Nevertheless, I would like to know your opinion about this, as if BTC becomes centralized, it might cause it to decrease in value, and most of all, violate the principles that it was created for. 

I ma not sure but I don't really think that thisbthing could happen even in the future. BITCOIN is a decentralized currenvy right from the start and I bet everyone is awared of that information. Being centralized also refers to being controlled by the government such as beibg taxed or regulated and since Bitcoin is an open source system I highly doubt that it is possible to happen.

[kenelmark]

If BTC becomes centralized it will lose its cryptocurrency status, but it will come with its benefits, the legislation battles will be a thing of the past and probably the value will be slightly higher but highly regulated, BTC will lose its freedomn

There is no sense in making Bitcoin a centralized currency. It attracted the first investors as it offered the coolest scheme of transactions, low fees for these operations and the highest speed

Exactly.. bitcoin under regulation will be stable in price like gold. it won't be attractive anymore as asset of investment. Centralized means it will come into many formal steps to involve in bitcoin business, also administrations and fees.
I don't think this will happen. Bitcoin / Blockchain doesn't belong to any government. no one has the right to regulate it.