Why didn't Satoshi Nakamoto just give 10 BTC to everyone in the world for free?

[niothor]

Enlighten me on this.
Nope , lots of people out there don't have the ability to mine one single BTC.

Everyone has the ability to go and buy hardware to mine. Whether they can afford to do it or have the funds to do it, is another story.

My point was just as I said. If you were given BTCs then the value would be less than if it had been accumulated by work.
BTC would then equal Copper not Gold.
[/quote]


Another story??
That's the point.

Don't go say anyone / everyone , when its is "some people".

[gerXhonza]

You can still get free BTC from free faucets, not as much as in early days, but the dollar value is about the same 

[niothor]

You can still get free BTC from free faucets, not as much as in early days, but the dollar value is about the same 

You're better off with a minimum wage job

[Chevalier71]

This seems like a truly egalitarian idea but will soon met with the harsh free market. You flood the market, things become worthless. Among other issues, one of the main principles of bitcoins is their rarity or limited availability. It would take too long for them to become worth something.

[pokerFace2]

Distributing money equally at start to all seems like utopian socialist idea

[lindatess]

Yes, the guy could have actually decided to distribute it via unique ip addresses which was already built into the client.

Sadly this was not on the agenda at the time.

[CryptoCoinSolutions]

The "network effect" of having people mine bitcoin was required so that a transactions confirmation network was in place and grew along with the supply of the bitcoin currency, and grew at the same rate that was needed for the amount of transactions that would occur.

Without the need to mine the bitcoin, there would be no people providing for the network transaction confirmation model.

Work needs to be done in order to create value for bitcoin. When a miner invests money in computer hardware, or uses existing computer resources, and electricity, to mine bitcoin they are doing real "work" that gives bitcoin value.

Many did receive free bitcoin in the early phases, and they installed the wallet of course, in order to maintain and receive that coin, and so they in turn could send others coin, and so they could use their coin to purchase things, or trade the coin for things.

A tree starts from a seed. The leaves spread, the leaves die and fall, and give nourishment to new trees that start as seeds and the forest grows, and a tall, strong tree stands in the forest and produces many seeds, and the solar system, and the galaxy, and the many galaxies and the universe and the many universes exist, and they all started from a seed.

[maxxoccupancy]

With any digital currency, those who do the work initially--and there's a ton of work to be done--need to have an incentive to do so.  Any of us could have bought bitcoins when they were cheap, but we had yet to be convinced that it was worth doing.  Others who realized the true value of the Block Chain have been preaching the benefits for years, often proselytizing to deaf audiences.

Those setting up altcoins would do well to learn from the Bitcoin model.  I certainly don't agree with spending $150,000 a day on electricity--then demoralizing new investors with the ASIC miners that are delayed to the point that they cannot possibly make money.  Still, Bitcoiners have poured time, money, and effort into proof of work and marketing.  They've donating thousands of bitcoins, bought T-Shirts, set up demo tables, and busted their butts for what they have.

There really is no free lunch.