927 People Own Half of All Bitcions

[BittBurger]

And we wonder why there is volatility?

http://www.businessinsider.com/927-people-own-half-of-the-bitcoins-2013-12

There is some legitimacy to the claim that once there are more coins floating around, the fluctuations won't be so intense.

But when you've got 50% of the coins in existence being hoarded and played with by only 900 people .... you're going to get volatility. 

That's why Bitcion is so "volatile" (to all you "journalists" out there) ... its not because Bitcoin sucks. 

Its a little depressing knowing that coin production has slowed down so much as time progresses, and will continue to slow down.
 
Somehow don't we need to get those 927 people to break open the pinata and get this currency flowing?

-BittBurger-

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[takagari]

When gold appeared did they evenly distribute it amongst the population? Noo....

This is how currency work's a few wont he majority, hell The american dollar is 99% owned by 1% of the population...

[cr1776]

Article:

Bottom line: Bitcoin has made a fraction of people very rich. And then there's the rest of us.

So far.  

The economic benefits of taking the control of currency out of the hands of a few power-hungry central bankers and giving ordinary people easy means of protecting themselves from the hidden inflation tax and the threat of seizure of their assets by the power-hungry politicians has the potential to make a lot of other people rich, and safe from the predatory nature of those in power.

The article neglects to mention how early we are in this process and the other benefits of bitcoin and instead wants to concentrate on envy.

Regarding the volatility issue, I seriously doubt it is caused by most of these early adopters. 

Prices are set at the margin and the day trader, fast money crowd is much more likely to be the cause of volatility than the strong-handed, true believing early adopters.

[bryant.coleman]

The criminals behind Cryptolocker are holding a few out of those 927 places.

They'll remain there as long as Kasper is not able to catch them.

[eleuthria]

These articles miss the point.  They're calling addresses people.  This would be the equivalent of saying 90+% of all US dollars are owned by 100 people (probably fewer), because BANKS are the ones holding the dollars for the vast majority of all currency.

A huge number of those stockpiles are likely wallets for exchanges.

[Phrenico]

There is some legitimacy to the claim that once there are more coins floating around, the fluctuations won't be so intense.

But when you've got 50% of the coins in existence being hoarded and played with by only 900 people .... you're going to get volatility. 

That's why Bitcion is so "volatile" (to all you "journalists" out there) ... its not because Bitcoin sucks. 

You're out of your mind if you think those a substantial amount of those 47 are trading on the exchanges. Anyway, for all of the bitcoins that they "hoard", it just increases the purchasing power of the rest of our coins.

Notice that the average mega-rich bitcoiner is different from the average person. They aren't exactly the undeserving lottery winners; they were the only true believers when this thing was in its prenatal stage.

The initial distribution of BTC doesn't matter. It will increasingly flow to the productive people, especially because governments can't as easily forcibly redistribute it.

[Pente]

These articles miss the point.  They're calling addresses people.  This would be the equivalent of saying 90+% of all US dollars are owned by 100 people (probably fewer), because BANKS are the ones holding the dollars for the vast majority of all currency.

A huge number of those stockpiles are likely wallets for exchanges.

Good point, that really obscures everthing.

[Lethn]

The 'hoarding' argument has been argued to death.

[Elwar]

Only 2 people max can own half of all bitcoins.

[lindatess]

Only 2 people max can own half of all bitcoins.

Um, Huh?

It's referring to a certain "pool of people" who collectively own half of all bitcoins that have currently been mined.

[BitTrade]

A huge number of those stockpiles are likely wallets for exchanges.

But conversely, many of those addresses are likely owned by single owners.

[Mondy]

And yet people complain fiat is unevenly distributed 

[ajax3592]

I'm sure Goat and Rpietila are one of them  

[franky1]

But when you've got 50% of the coins in existence being hoarded and played with by only 900 people .... you're going to get volatility.  

as was gold.

but then the hoarders sold off and began circulating. EG Dubai/airport vending machines selling gold, pawn shops specialising in gold. 20 years ago you couldnt simply walk up to a snack machine or a town/mall store and buy gold bars (unless it was in the form of jewellery)

same will happen with bitcoin.

its still young, allow bitcoin to grow up before judging its future

Only 2 people max can own half of all bitcoins.

wrong. i know your being sarcastic, but for those that dont get the joke.
a "bitcoin" can be owned by upto 10,000,000 people, if they all hold 1 satoshi each.

so there is plenty of scope to cover the world population, and eventually those that own the most will eventually sell out and put their hoards into circulation

[LatestBTC]

In a way it's a good thing. People putting so much trust and Millions of their money into Bitcoin.

Good until they decide to cash out....

[cfrm]

How many per cent of all USD is held by the 900 richest people in USA?

[bryant.coleman]

How many per cent of all USD is held by the 900 richest people in USA?

Definitely not 50%. Should be much less than that amount. The richest 1% (somewhere around 2 to 3 million people) hold 42% of the wealth in the USA. So should be somewhere around 10-20%.

[pening]

When gold appeared did they evenly distribute it amongst the population? Noo....

This is how currency work's a few wont he majority, hell The american dollar is 99% owned by 1% of the population...

Not that the stat is correct, but if it were its 3.1million people, so quite different.

This doesn't have too much bearing on the volatility as I don't believe those holders are necessarily active.  The volatility is because there's little to base a value on so the slightest news or a unexpected movement up or down quickly gains focus and runs away.  Add to this speculators either pumping or dumping and you have a recipe for large swings. 

[matt608]

How many per cent of all USD is held by the 900 richest people in USA?

The richest 1% (somewhere around 2 to 3 million people) hold 42% of the wealth in the USA. So should be somewhere around 10-20%.

Source?  See this:  Walmart Heirs Worth Same Amount As Bottom 40 Percent Of Americans In 2010
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/waltons-net-worth_n_1680642.html

[FandangledGizmo]

I personally think that those 927 people do contribute to the volatility

1. A buy & hold/hoard strategy (ironically used by people that think they are supporting BTC) manipulates the volatilty of BTC to the upside. (It removes those BTC from the actively traded BTC amount.) BTC is volatile enough as it is with a small market cap but even worse if only a small % of coins are actively traded as small $ or BTC inflows/outflows drastically move the market.

2.Their unintentional strategy manipulates the price of BTC to the downside
(Once hoarded/held - their BTC don't contribute to the future buying pressure only additional selling pressure whenever they choose to sell.  I think it would help if some of them sell a few BTC into large rises and buy on dips with profits, that way I think they will help stabilize rising markets and supporting falling ones.