If Bitcoin became the sole reserve currency...

[bitbeg]

...and over half the Bitcoins that will ever exist are already in the hands of such a small amount of people (let's say 1 million?), what would be the repercussions?

As it stands today, a huge chunk of people are left out.

Those who:

- don't have any money to 'invest'
- are without a computer or internet connection
- don't know about Bitcoin
- can, but are unwilling to buy into Bitcoin for any given reason
- are incarcerated, sick, comatose, etc.

The rich can still buy, so they'll never be out of the loop. Besides, they hold value elsewhere which they can always sell for whatever the currency will be.

Forgetting the madness of speculative greed, and just concentrating on those who believe that Bitcoin can one day be the reserve world currency/money-- do you believe that such a disproportion in future wealth is something that's going to be good for humanity?

I always thought that one of the ideas behind Bitcoin would be to somehow 'stick it' to the rich/banks/governments. However, if the best case scenario (or one of them) becomes a reality, the thought of the future disparity makes my stomach turn. As it stands, 1/7000th of the world population already owns 50-60% of the total sum of the future 'money', and most of them are hording.

The possibility of this outcome alone makes Bitcoin the ultimate divider of people and predestines it for failure. The failure can, and most likely will, see it become what it once was-- a niche for a specific type of transaction or completely disappearing, or it will be a failure of humanity on an epic scale.

[superduh]

i'm glad you have brought up a question that hasn't been discussed to death. please explain how the current system is anything but making you sick to your stomach then we'll discuss bitcoins

[seriouscoin]

...and over half the Bitcoins that will ever exist are already in the hands of such a small amount of people (let's say 1 million?), what would be the repercussions?

As it stands today, a huge chunk of people are left out.

snip...

As soon as i read this, i know its another rambling about...."wealth distribution"

I dont know about you guys but i'm sick of newbies who spent literally 5 mins thinking and then post up.... a "flaw" they just find.


EDIT:
I think we should vote for having Newbie section to up their logged in time requirement to 100hrs.

[freebird]

If cryptocurrency succeeds as a major financial innovation, bitcoin won't be the only one. In fact, some altcoins with superior features could take over most of the cryptocurrency market in as soon as a year or two. Things move fast, and we're still in the early phases of the rise of cryptocurrency. Ordinary people probably still have plenty of time to get into these investments and grow their wealth.

[bitbeg]

i'm glad you have brought up a question that hasn't been discussed to death. please explain how the current system is anything but making you sick to your stomach then we'll discuss bitcoins

I haven't discussed it to death with anyone. If you already have, why are you joining another discussion about it?

[PenAndPaper]

Bitcoin will never be the sole currency just like the internet is not the sole source for news, phones are not the sole way to communicate etc...

[bitbeg]

...and over half the Bitcoins that will ever exist are already in the hands of such a small amount of people (let's say 1 million?), what would be the repercussions?

As it stands today, a huge chunk of people are left out.

snip...

As soon as i read this, i know its another rambling about...."wealth distribution"

I dont know about you guys but i'm sick of newbies who spent literally 5 mins thinking and then post up.... a "flaw" they just find.


EDIT:
I think we should vote for having Newbie section to up their logged in time requirement to 100hrs.

This isn't a flaw I just found. I think it's a potentially fundamental flaw. Stop acting like you own the place.

[bitbeg]

If cryptocurrency succeeds as a major financial innovation, bitcoin won't be the only one. In fact, some altcoins with superior features could take over most of the cryptocurrency market in as soon as a year or two. Things move fast, and we're still in the early phases of the rise of cryptocurrency. Ordinary people probably still have plenty of time to get into these investments and grow their wealth.

Ordinary people in the 3rd world? If cryptocurrencies are dependent on technological innovation, the people that are behind, are only going to be left further behind.

[superduh]

i'm glad you have brought up a question that hasn't been discussed to death. please explain how the current system is anything but making you sick to your stomach then we'll discuss bitcoins

I haven't discussed it to death with anyone. If you already have, why are you joining another discussion about it?

because this topic has been discussed to death and that's why there is a search feature.

regardless, at least make at attempt to answer my question to you. otherwise it looks like someone is paying you to talk nonsense

[bitbeg]

Bitcoin will never be the sole currency just like the internet is not the sole source for news, phones are not the sole way to communicate etc...

How about cryptocurrencies in general? Anything that requires some kind of prior knowledge, 'luck', pre-existing wealth, technological capability etc. will eventually run into the same problem.

[freebird]

If cryptocurrency succeeds as a major financial innovation, bitcoin won't be the only one. In fact, some altcoins with superior features could take over most of the cryptocurrency market in as soon as a year or two. Things move fast, and we're still in the early phases of the rise of cryptocurrency. Ordinary people probably still have plenty of time to get into these investments and grow their wealth.

Ordinary people in the 3rd world? If cryptocurrencies are dependent on technological innovation, the people that are behind, are only going to be left further behind.

Yes, sadly the people who are being left behind in the 21st century economy will likely fall further and further behind. It's not because of bitcoin, it's because of automation, robotics and AI replacing the need for most human labor.

If you care about someone, plead with them to buy these rapidly growing store-of-value assets such as cryptocurrencies. Many people are going to have to live off of their investments when most jobs will be eliminated in the next few decades. Cryptocurrencies may in fact be the last chance for middle class people to gain enough wealth so that they can survive when automation really starts destroying the job market by making most jobs unnecessary.

Of course, what I'm describing could also cause a collapse of the current economic system. But who knows what would replace it. Things could get tragic for people with no savings or assets to fall back on, during a global depression.

[PenAndPaper]

Bitcoin will never be the sole currency just like the internet is not the sole source for news, phones are not the sole way to communicate etc...

How about cryptocurrencies in general? Anything that requires some kind of prior knowledge, 'luck', pre-existing wealth, technological capability etc. will eventually run into the same problem.

What kind of problem? It's not a problem if it doesn't become the sole currency. I don't think anyone hoped for something like that anyway.

[antoineph]

Bitcoin will never stand on its own. There can and will be many other competing cryptocurrencies. In any one cryptocurrency there can be a small number of large owners. However across many cryptocurrencies the value is much more spread out.

[bitbeg]

i'm glad you have brought up a question that hasn't been discussed to death. please explain how the current system is anything but making you sick to your stomach then we'll discuss bitcoins

I haven't discussed it to death with anyone. If you already have, why are you joining another discussion about it?

because this topic has been discussed to death and that's why there is a search feature.

regardless, at least make at attempt to answer my question to you. otherwise it looks like someone is paying you to talk nonsense

The current system has been making me sick to my stomach for quite some time. You are making assumptions that have no basis in reality. The very point of this thread is that the problems that we are currently facing will only (possibly) get worse. My numbers might be off, but even if today 1% (or 70 million) of the world population owns 90% of the money, that is still a better scenario than 1 million owning 60% of it.

[bitbeg]

Bitcoin will never stand on its own. There can and will be many other competing cryptocurrencies. In any one cryptocurrency there can be a small number of large owners. However across many cryptocurrencies the value is much more spread out.

Not if the cryptocurrencies are dependent on technological progress/know-how. It still leads to the same scenario.

[bitbeg]

Bitcoin will never be the sole currency just like the internet is not the sole source for news, phones are not the sole way to communicate etc...

How about cryptocurrencies in general? Anything that requires some kind of prior knowledge, 'luck', pre-existing wealth, technological capability etc. will eventually run into the same problem.

What kind of problem? It's not a problem if it doesn't become the sole currency. I don't think anyone hoped for something like that anyway.

If cryptocurrencies become the only currencies, doesn't that still leave a shitload of people behind?

Isn't every single speculator, consciously or not, hoping for that?

[freebird]

i'm glad you have brought up a question that hasn't been discussed to death. please explain how the current system is anything but making you sick to your stomach then we'll discuss bitcoins

I haven't discussed it to death with anyone. If you already have, why are you joining another discussion about it?

because this topic has been discussed to death and that's why there is a search feature.

regardless, at least make at attempt to answer my question to you. otherwise it looks like someone is paying you to talk nonsense

The current system has been making me sick to my stomach for quite some time. You are making assumptions that have no basis in reality. The very point of this thread is that the problems that we are currently facing will only (possibly) get worse. My numbers might be off, but even if today 1% (or 70 million) of the world population owns 90% of the money, that is still a better scenario than 1 million owning 60% of it.

Personally, I would rather have a bunch of geeks own most of the money than a bunch of corrupt banks and the governments they buy off.

[seriouscoin]

...and over half the Bitcoins that will ever exist are already in the hands of such a small amount of people (let's say 1 million?), what would be the repercussions?

As it stands today, a huge chunk of people are left out.

snip...

As soon as i read this, i know its another rambling about...."wealth distribution"

I dont know about you guys but i'm sick of newbies who spent literally 5 mins thinking and then post up.... a "flaw" they just find.


EDIT:
I think we should vote for having Newbie section to up their logged in time requirement to 100hrs.

This isn't a flaw I just found. I think it's a potentially fundamental flaw. Stop acting like you own the place.

Why the fck you think you can have a "discussion" on "fundamental flaw" in a Speculation forum?

Idiot, go do a search, and if you're genuinely interested you will find the discussion and read over all the points that were brought up.

What a lame attempt, troll.
 

[freebird]

become what it once was-- a niche for a specific type of transaction

I just want to point out that it hasn't even fulfilled that niche yet. Bitcoin as a niche financial instrument is useful for making money transfers between people and businesses in different countries, to avoid bank wire transfer fees, Western Union fees, PayPal fees, etc. Most of the people and businesses who could save money by using bitcoin for this purpose aren't even using it yet.

[bitbeg]

i'm glad you have brought up a question that hasn't been discussed to death. please explain how the current system is anything but making you sick to your stomach then we'll discuss bitcoins

I haven't discussed it to death with anyone. If you already have, why are you joining another discussion about it?

because this topic has been discussed to death and that's why there is a search feature.

regardless, at least make at attempt to answer my question to you. otherwise it looks like someone is paying you to talk nonsense

The current system has been making me sick to my stomach for quite some time. You are making assumptions that have no basis in reality. The very point of this thread is that the problems that we are currently facing will only (possibly) get worse. My numbers might be off, but even if today 1% (or 70 million) of the world population owns 90% of the money, that is still a better scenario than 1 million owning 60% of it.

Personally, I would rather have a bunch of geeks own most of the money than a bunch of corrupt banks and the governments they buy off.

Any proportion of any group will structure itself in the same way. You will still have greedy geeks-- or are they somehow immune to human nature?

Revolutionaries become tyrants, it has always happened throughout history.

Regardless, the proportions would remain the same. Would these geeks one day, in a moment of mass enlightenment, redistribute the wealth?

And one more point-- it is no longer the just geeks, but rather geeky speculators and speculators alone who are driven by greed that are buying up the most coin and form the the majority of cryptocurrency holders.