If most of Bitcoin is owned by few it cannot be a store of wealth for all

[Lordhermes]

In one way I may agree with you but the other way, I may not, in my own understanding, bitcoin is too expensive for low category of investors to get thereby resulting to low demand by lower tier investors but to celebrities and influencers, also bitcoin transaction takes a lot of time all these while causing mempool congestion thereby making investors moving on to other coins like doge, Tron, for faster transaction with respect to low fee unlike bitcoin, Invariably, bitcoin usability may be for the richer in the future and other coins for the poorer.
In addition, bitcoin is regarded as the first mover advantage over every coins so perfectly, institutions and other companies adopts it because of its trustability more than other smaller coins.

[Mpamaegbu]

Nothing in life has ever been for all. There are always those who won't have access to certain things of life, no matter how necessary those things are. Even as essential as drinking water is, not everyone still has access to potable water across the globe. Do I go ahead and mention gold? Let me leave it at that. I don't think it's self defeating that Bitcoin as a store of value won't be for everyone. You need the Internet to be able to receive and send out Bitcoin. Not everyone or country has internet access. That's a common knowledge. So, let no one drum it to you that for Bitcoin to be a store of value it must be accessible to all. Nah!

[molsewid]

Nothing in life has ever been for all. There are always those who won't have access to certain things of life, no matter how necessary those things are. Even as essential as drinking water is, not everyone still has access to potable water across the globe. Do I go ahead and mention gold? Let me leave it at that. I don't think it's self defeating that Bitcoin as a store of value won't be for everyone. You need the Internet to be able to receive and send out Bitcoin. Not everyone or country has internet access. That's a common knowledge. So, let no one drum it to you that for Bitcoin to be a store of value it must be accessible to all. Nah!

Indeed, also for my point of view bitcoin cannot be consumed by few people there are still amount of bitcoin that are not yet mined so the probability that bitcoin will be owned by rich people or institutions are not yet possible. I also agree investment like bitcoin and other such as gold cannot be purchased by all people no pun intended and no other meaning but that is true, only those people who has enough money can buy it now.

[Mpamaegbu]

there are still amount of bitcoin that are not yet mined

We have less than 3million Bitcoin that is yet to be mined. The data stands at 18,640,481 in circulation as against the 21,000,000 total supply it has.

the probability that bitcoin will be owned by rich people or institutions are not yet possible.

The way it looks now, it's among getting out of the link of individuals as institutions are coming in and buying heavily ATM. Individuals had their chances a long time ago and just a few took that initiative to buy in and hodl.
 

only those people who has enough money can buy it now.

Wrong! Only those who value it will want to buy it. Owing Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies isn't about having money but about placing enough value on it to want to buy it.

[k@suy]

In one way I may agree with you but the other way, I may not, in my own understanding, bitcoin is too expensive for low category of investors to get thereby resulting to low demand by lower tier investors but to celebrities and influencers, also bitcoin transaction takes a lot of time all these while causing mempool congestion thereby making investors moving on to other coins like doge, Tron, for faster transaction with respect to low fee unlike bitcoin, Invariably, bitcoin usability may be for the richer in the future and other coins for the poorer.
In addition, bitcoin is regarded as the first mover advantage over every coins so perfectly, institutions and other companies adopts it because of its trustability more than other smaller coins.

If in the first place, if there's only few people who owned bitcoin i bet that its price wouldn't get where it was today, it wouldn't make a noise in the life of people. For sure, it wouldn't become a trending cryptocurrency and there's only few who knows about the existence in bitcoin. It never satisfies the law of demand and supply and to think that there is only few who have it, then the trader market would have no color. I guess it is somewhat boring and no life kind of business market.

[dunfida]

Who said that bitcoin was solely created for that store of wealth in the first place? This had been created for new way payment system and earning profit is just a bonus.
Also bitcoin isnt just owned by few even though there are people or companies who do have tons but doesnt mean that they do have the full control in the market.Considering
the supply plus those lost bitcoins then you can tell that it is diversified or allocated into lots of hands somehow there would be always those people
who are always on the top or peak side.

[BuNga_cute]

Why is a rich person like Elon Musk interested in investing in Bitcoin, because he knows that Bitcoin can make a profit and make him even richer.
But most people avoid investing in Bitcoin, because they don't understand that investing in Bitcoin can make they rich. Same thing with Gold,
why is Gold now more attractive to many people than Bitcoin. Because everyone already understands that saving Gold can make they rich. While
there are still many people who don't understand Bitcoin, in the end people will only invest in something they know. So it is natural for now most of
Bitcoin is owned by the rich. But that doesn't mean ordinary people can't store their wealth in Bitcoin. However,  they themselves do not understand
that storing wealth in Bitcoin will provide big profits in the future.

[Eleven_11]

I don't know the exact percentage, but most of BTC is owned by a few.
So logically, BTC can never become a store of wealth for the masses.
BUT if BTC cannot serve as storage of wealth for all and neither as day to day currency due to very slow and increasingly expensive transfers, what role will BTC play in the future?
I honestly think that it will become a billionaire's toy in the future and coins like XLM which offer incredibly fast and inexpensive transfers, will play the major role in the financial day to day transactions.
So I believe that the people who have just started to invest in crypto should consider these other coins and forget about bitcoin.
If the world will accept crypto as currency, it won't be BTC.

You know, I am a newbie and I also do not know much about bitcoin. I am also thinking about the decentralization of Bitcoin. If rich people and companies are buying thousands of it. Won't they be able to manipulate the market as well? I am not sure about this but I really want to know. Also, when Stock market is down, seems that bitcoin follows.

[magneto]

I don't know the exact percentage, but most of BTC is owned by a few.
So logically, BTC can never become a store of wealth for the masses.
BUT if BTC cannot serve as storage of wealth for all and neither as day to day currency due to very slow and increasingly expensive transfers, what role will BTC play in the future?
I honestly think that it will become a billionaire's toy in the future and coins like XLM which offer incredibly fast and inexpensive transfers, will play the major role in the financial day to day transactions.
So I believe that the people who have just started to invest in crypto should consider these other coins and forget about bitcoin.
If the world will accept crypto as currency, it won't be BTC.

Your argument does not make any sense.

By your logic, the only way to have a long term store of wealth is if we had a completely socialist currency that is equally distributed?

How would that even work? And when someone transacts, doesn't the equilibrium get disturbed? Again by your logic, the whole store of value would fall apart because wealth is now disproportionally allocated?

Just look at gold, silver, etc. which have been stores of value for millenniums now. What they have in common is natural scarcity that can't be manipulated by human intervention, even though their distribution is highly unequal and skewed as well - and that is what makes BTC a good store of value in the long run.

[Casdinyard]

I'd rather say Bitcoin will not be believed as a store of wealth, if that's the case. Its market value will move in a different manner. The reason why its market price is volatile, is simply because its value is determined by demand and supply. Volatility is also the reason why many people are interested "storing" their wealth into this technology by means of investment, because as price goes up, profit is being earned. And this won't be possible if Bitcoin will be limited to only few people. The market price in such way will be less volatile, or somewhat stable, and not to mention that its usage will be also limited to people who has holdings, and will more likely not acknowledged by institutions and businesses.

[oHnK]

In one way I may agree with you but the other way, I may not, in my own understanding, bitcoin is too expensive for low category of investors to get thereby resulting to low demand by lower tier investors but to celebrities and influencers, also bitcoin transaction takes a lot of time all these while causing mempool congestion thereby making investors moving on to other coins like doge, Tron, for faster transaction with respect to low fee unlike bitcoin, Invariably, bitcoin usability may be for the richer in the future and other coins for the poorer.
In addition, bitcoin is regarded as the first mover advantage over every coins so perfectly, institutions and other companies adopts it because of its trustability more than other smaller coins.

The current price of BTC is indeed so expensive that even a pennant investor will not be able to afford it.  But this is part of BTC's journey over the years.  In the past, BTC was not much interested and until now people have flocked to buy it so that the price is no longer affordable.  BTC will not be able to provide wealth equally but be able to fight inflation created by bankers and economists.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

So I believe that the people who have just started to invest in crypto should consider these other coins and forget about bitcoin.
If the world will accept crypto as currency, it won't be BTC.

Well this has been the saying from when I joined the space but yet the whole industry still revolves around bitcoin. We have more of institutional investors joining the Bitcoin market and only those that their greed can't be controlled are moving to the altcoins.

If you think bitcoin can only be owned by few then that of altcoins has tn be worst because they're owned by friend if founders and CEO all in the name of presale then the whales come in via mainsakse and filled their bags as much as they can then start playing games with the market to favour them.

You should understand that the industry is held by bitcoin, as you can see many altcoins movement are tired to that of bitcoin. If bitcoin fails then the industry is lost and that's just the fact. Many will lose interest and trust in the industry that they'll have no choice but to leave.

[wxa7115]

Nothing in life has ever been for all. There are always those who won't have access to certain things of life, no matter how necessary those things are. Even as essential as drinking water is, not everyone still has access to potable water across the globe. Do I go ahead and mention gold? Let me leave it at that. I don't think it's self defeating that Bitcoin as a store of value won't be for everyone. You need the Internet to be able to receive and send out Bitcoin. Not everyone or country has internet access. That's a common knowledge. So, let no one drum it to you that for Bitcoin to be a store of value it must be accessible to all. Nah!

I agree, while it is undeniable that bitcoin is being held by a minority of individuals we can say the same about many assets like gold, real estate, stocks and many other different assets and yet that doesn't stop people from speculating with them and to use them as a store of value, it is true that bitcoin has more requirements to be held in comparison to something like because now you need access to electricity, Internet and a device in which you can install a wallet.

But besides those requirements which can be met by billions of people around the world the only condition for you to obtain bitcoin is to have a little bit of money and your desire to acquire bitcoin so I really think that it can still perform its store of value function regardless of the amount of hands in which it is concentrated.

[Coin-Keeper]

We have some long and great posts on this thread.  How about some basic mathematics to demonstrate that owning even 1 BTC makes you one of the few that ever will.  Fact: there will never been more than 21 million BTC.  Pure math and easy to confirm so I am treating that statement as a given for this argument.  The world population will be 8.5 Billion give or take by the end of next year.  21,000,000 coins max into 8,500,000,000 people means one person in 404 can own 1 BTC.  Even if the demand means that folks are trying everything to own .1 (1/10th) of a coin only 1 in 40 will ever be able to achieve that, and that assumes that no person can ever own over .1 of a coin.  I guess that means that most of use here are well past our allotment already, LOL!

[DarkDays]

Nothing in life has ever been for all. There are always those who won't have access to certain things of life, no matter how necessary those things are. Even as essential as drinking water is, not everyone still has access to potable water across the globe. Do I go ahead and mention gold? Let me leave it at that. I don't think it's self defeating that Bitcoin as a store of value won't be for everyone. You need the Internet to be able to receive and send out Bitcoin. Not everyone or country has internet access. That's a common knowledge. So, let no one drum it to you that for Bitcoin to be a store of value it must be accessible to all. Nah!

You got that right! There is no  much of an example in the world where a particular resource has not been for a few. Bitcoin, itself, we all know, is no exception. Even having a fraction of a BTC is better than none at all. So, despite its scarcity, all that these comments lead to is that if you want the gain you gotta be in the game!

[wxa7115]

We have some long and great posts on this thread.  How about some basic mathematics to demonstrate that owning even 1 BTC makes you one of the few that ever will.  Fact: there will never been more than 21 million BTC.  Pure math and easy to confirm so I am treating that statement as a given for this argument.  The world population will be 8.5 Billion give or take by the end of next year.  21,000,000 coins max into 8,500,000,000 people means one person in 404 can own 1 BTC.  Even if the demand means that folks are trying everything to own .1 (1/10th) of a coin only 1 in 40 will ever be able to achieve that, and that assumes that no person can ever own over .1 of a coin.  I guess that means that most of use here are well past our allotment already, LOL!

This is really important and it is something that is not mentioned that often, when people think of those that have a lot of resources they think about the billionaires, people that have so much money that they do not know what to do with it, they fail to realize that they are in fact rich as well, not to that extent but still they are in a better position than most people around the world.

The truth is that if bitcoin gets adopted as widely as we believe it will then the amount of bitcoin that each person is going to hold is going to be incredibly small to the point that almost every single member in this forum will be ahead of the world average, so even holding a small percentage of one bitcoin is going to be enough for it to have a significant impact in your life.

[uneng]

BUT if BTC cannot serve as storage of wealth for all and neither as day to day currency due to very slow and increasingly expensive transfers, what role will BTC play in the future?
I honestly think that it will become a billionaire's toy in the future and coins like XLM which offer incredibly fast and inexpensive transfers, will play the major role in the financial day to day transactions.

I think if bitcoin becomes really rare, expensive and for these reasons hard to acquire in the future there is a chance it will become a collectible token like those very valuable old coins or paper bills. On the other hand, the number of decimal houses can increase from eight to any higher number, so there will be fractions of bitcoins for everyone in the world willing to adopt it.

[cryptozanga]

I don't know the exact percentage, but most of BTC is owned by a few.
So logically, BTC can never become a store of wealth for the masses.
BUT if BTC cannot serve as storage of wealth for all and neither as day to day currency due to very slow and increasingly expensive transfers, what role will BTC play in the future?
I honestly think that it will become a billionaire's toy in the future and coins like XLM which offer incredibly fast and inexpensive transfers, will play the major role in the financial day to day transactions.
So I believe that the people who have just started to invest in crypto should consider these other coins and forget about bitcoin.
If the world will accept crypto as currency, it won't be BTC.

1% of Crypto Wallets hold 87% of all Bitcoins, people who invest now is just making the rich richer.

Another crazy fact, only 1000 wallets hold 40% of all Bitcoins.

All those who tell you to invest now, they do so because they buyed years before you.

[wxa7115]

I don't know the exact percentage, but most of BTC is owned by a few.
So logically, BTC can never become a store of wealth for the masses.
BUT if BTC cannot serve as storage of wealth for all and neither as day to day currency due to very slow and increasingly expensive transfers, what role will BTC play in the future?
I honestly think that it will become a billionaire's toy in the future and coins like XLM which offer incredibly fast and inexpensive transfers, will play the major role in the financial day to day transactions.
So I believe that the people who have just started to invest in crypto should consider these other coins and forget about bitcoin.
If the world will accept crypto as currency, it won't be BTC.

1% of Crypto Wallets hold 87% of all Bitcoins, people who invest now is just making the rich richer.

Another crazy fact, only 1000 wallets hold 40% of all Bitcoins.

All those who tell you to invest now, they do so because they buyed years before you.

Most people after entering this market told their friends and family to come to this market, if they had listened at that point then they would have incredible profits already but they did not and now they are complaining the price is too high.

The adoption of bitcoin all over the world is not going to stop, there was a time when that number was barely above 1 million and now some estimates put it close to 150 millions, that is a full country of people using bitcoin, if you do not adopt it now then there will be a whole continent of people ahead of you, personally I do not care but the more time you take the lesser the benefits you can get out of it.

[Twentyonepaylots]

There are 21 million of bitcoins in the market. The percentage of people owning more than 100 BTC is around 12% afaik. Yes that is a huge number, but compared to the remaining 88 percent, it's still small. So what should us small-time imvestors do to combat such 'imbalance' of power over the rich? Simple. Just spread the word about bitcoin, making sure that you at least entice them to own a few bitcoins themselves, and we should stabilize this.