Why Bitcoin will not make it...

[elmuchodingdong]

I thought a lot about Bitcoin recently and all the arguments against it are BS. That is why I got into it.

But then recently an argument came to my mind which I think is the best argument against Bitcoin ever and nobody ever came up with it before me.

Bitcoin will fail because it is deflationary.

"What the hell??" you may be asking yourself. "That is Bitcoin's biggest advantage!".

Nope... The problem is this: The rich and really powerful people NEED a system that is inflationary because that will continuously increase their share of that system. And that is how it works with the US Dollar. As new US Dollar is printed the Dollar loses value which on first glance makes it look like an unattractive system because you are continuously losing your share of the system. But the truth is that the more money you have the easier you can get more of it and thus as more money is printed the share of the rich people increases because your share decreases faster than theirs.

So if the Bitcoin is unattractive to the elite - and it is - then why would they adopt it? Why would big corporations adopt a system that was designed for "us, the people"? Why would they invest into a system that is already mostly owned by somebody other than themselves. Nobody who has power has an interest in Bitcoin. And why should simple people like you and me win against the powerful elite?

Imagine you were a Bitcoin whale and a different coin became big. Would you immediately invest in that other system? No! You want YOUR coins to be valuable. Not the coins of another system in which you have no weight. And the same applies to the elite. They do not want to move into a system that does not favor them over everyone else when they are currently invested in a system that does.

Sure Bitcoin will exist and it will continue to work as a store of value for people like us. But it will never be adopted by the economy and it will never reach prices such as $10 million per Bitcoin. For this to happen Bitcoin would need to be used by everybody.

[BlackHatCoiner]

But then recently an argument came to my mind which I think is the best argument against Bitcoin ever and nobody ever came up with it before me.

Hold your breath.

But the truth is that the more money you have the easier you can get more of it and thus as more money is printed the share of the rich people increases because your share decreases faster than theirs.

Why does it decrease faster than theirs and why are you using “shares” instead of purchasing power?

Total pseudollars in circulation: $5,000,000,000.
I own $1,000,000.
You own $1,000.

The system inflates with $5,000,000,000.
I lost 50% of my purchasing power.
You also lost 50% of your purchasing power.

Could you explain that further? I may have misunderstood that part of your message.

Imagine you were a Bitcoin whale and a different coin became big. Would you immediately invest in that other system? No! You want YOUR coins to be valuable. Not the coins of another system in which you have no weight.

You see, the problem with the new coins' potential is the wealth distribution. A cryptocurrency may work in a great way technically, but whales will grab it; it will then be manipulated. On the other hand, Bitcoin isn't consisted of whales, because it wasn't grabbed in the beginning.

So if the Bitcoin is unattractive to the elite - and it is - then why would they adopt it? Why would big corporations adopt a system that was designed for "us, the people"?

Quick answer: Because it's something new and innovative. It may still be an experiment for humanity.

[joniboini]

I think the recent news about institutions buying BTC etc should be good enough to counter your argument. A system only for the elite won't be widely adopted.

There's no need to remind us that Bitcoin won't be adopted, or that bitcoin will fail because we've been told that since a few years ago, at least more than hundreds of times. The result? Well, you can see it for yourself.

[DOH!]

Butchers are trying to repeat history, they want to repeat a crackdown by the childish manipulation of Elon and wall street, a lot of scenarios and plans have been drawn up for dumping, it's too fast  to realize based on normal needs.  Bitcoin is the only greatness, they are trying to disrupt that magic moment and we will resist.  Keep your shorts!

[hugeblack]

If we stop thinking about bitcoins that are generated every day and think of them as satoshis, we need many years until the production of satoshis becomes little and does not meet the needs of the rich.

About 600,000,000 satoshi are produced with each block, which is a very large number and more than what is printed in many countries.

So we are still early.

[elmuchodingdong]

Why does it decrease faster than theirs and why are you using “shares” instead of purchasing power?

Total pseudollars in circulation: $5,000,000,000.
I own $1,000,000.
You own $1,000.

The system inflates with $5,000,000,000.
I lost 50% of my purchasing power.
You also lost 50% of your purchasing power.

Could you explain that further? I may have misunderstood that part of your message.

Example:

Jeff Bezos owns:
$100.000.000.000

I own $1000

Now the central bank doubles the amount of US Dollars out there. We all keep buying on Amazon.

Jeff Bezos now owns:
$200.000.000.000 (because a lot of the new money has been spent on Amazon)

I still own $1000 because I am poor and can not afford to save money and needed to spend the other $1000 on Amazon.

Jeff Bezos has maintained his purchasing power. Mine has halfed and since everyone's purchasing power has decreased Jeff Bezos' has actually increased because his purchasing power has grown compared to the rest of us.

This is EXACTLY how inflation works. Think about it! This is exactly why there is inflation in our system...to "stimulate the economy" i.e. send cash to big businesses. It makes the rich richer.

And this is why the rich won't like the idea of Bitcoin.

[BlackHatCoiner]

And this is why the rich won't like the idea of Bitcoin.

While I get your point that inflation is what these billionaires want, I'm afraid that being rich on a relatively early era of Bitcoin, the first decentralized digital currency that operates with this innovating technology, is a reason why they should enter. A deflationary currency that gets more scarce overtime and that it's perfectly distributed in terms of wealth is a challenge; the more bitcoins they accumulate, the more profit they'll have in the long term.

And who told you that they'll stop getting richer from inflation? Bitcoin won't replace fiat. As it seems nowadays, it's becoming just an alternative for some people.

[DannyHamilton]

Example:

Jeff Bezos owns:
$100.000.000.000

I own $1000

Now the central bank doubles the amount of US Dollars out there. We all keep buying on Amazon.

Jeff Bezos now owns:
$200.000.000.000 (because a lot of the new money has been spent on Amazon)

I still own $1000 because I am poor and can not afford to save money and needed to spend the other $1000 on Amazon.

Jeff Bezos has maintained his purchasing power. Mine has halfed and since everyone's purchasing power has decreased Jeff Bezos' has actually increased because his purchasing power has grown compared to the rest of us.

This is EXACTLY how inflation works. Think about it! This is exactly why there is inflation in our system...to "stimulate the economy" i.e. send cash to big businesses. It makes the rich richer.

And this is why the rich won't like the idea of Bitcoin.

Doesn't the same happen without inflation?

Bezos owns 3,000,000 BTC.
You own 0.03 BTC.

No new BTC is created.
You spend 0.015 of your BTC on Amazon.

Now Bezos has 3,000,000.015 BTC, and you have 0.015 BTC.

Your spending power is cut in half, and Bezos has more spending power.

The rich don't care much about whether the currency is inflationary or deflationary.  They'll make sure they plan and invest to acquire more either way.

[elmuchodingdong]

And this is why the rich won't like the idea of Bitcoin.

While I get your point that inflation is what these billionaires want, I'm afraid that being rich on a relatively early era of Bitcoin, the first decentralized digital currency that operates with this innovating technology, is a reason why they should enter. A deflationary currency that gets more scarce overtime and that it's perfectly distributed in terms of wealth is a challenge; the more bitcoins they accumulate, the more profit they'll have in the long term.

And who told you that they'll stop getting richer from inflation? Bitcoin won't replace fiat. As it seems nowadays, it's becoming just an alternative for some people.

Yes it is innovative. But how long will that last? What happens when there are fiat crypto currencies and corporate crypto currencies and other stuff that is actually controlled by the elite. They will sure try to take control over the technology.

Bitcoin can survive as the currency of it's community. But that will limit it's price development. I do not believe we will go much higher from now on. Bitcoin can be used to store value if you don't trust the bank but that is about it. It won't do another ten X. It won't make you rich anymore.

[franky1]

you dont need inflation to force people to spend for it to trickle up to the elitists

bitcoin is following the elitist gold deflation game

the real trickle up tool. is to make the asset harder to use as a medium of exchange (fees/service acceptance) and then offer them an alternative medium of exchange that the little minnows will happily play with

banks used paper bank notes. central services will offer altnet pegged tokens

in the end the real asset is vaulted up in contracts with the elite service and smalltime users are playing with token gestures

research the gold-backed dollar history for the game play
it still works for banks 200+ years later

[Fortify]

I thought a lot about Bitcoin recently and all the arguments against it are BS. That is why I got into it.

But then recently an argument came to my mind which I think is the best argument against Bitcoin ever and nobody ever came up with it before me.

Bitcoin will fail because it is deflationary.

"What the hell??" you may be asking yourself. "That is Bitcoin's biggest advantage!".

Nope... The problem is this: The rich and really powerful people NEED a system that is inflationary because that will continuously increase their share of that system. And that is how it works with the US Dollar. As new US Dollar is printed the Dollar loses value which on first glance makes it look like an unattractive system because you are continuously losing your share of the system. But the truth is that the more money you have the easier you can get more of it and thus as more money is printed the share of the rich people increases because your share decreases faster than theirs.

So if the Bitcoin is unattractive to the elite - and it is - then why would they adopt it? Why would big corporations adopt a system that was designed for "us, the people"? Why would they invest into a system that is already mostly owned by somebody other than themselves. Nobody who has power has an interest in Bitcoin. And why should simple people like you and me win against the powerful elite?

Imagine you were a Bitcoin whale and a different coin became big. Would you immediately invest in that other system? No! You want YOUR coins to be valuable. Not the coins of another system in which you have no weight. And the same applies to the elite. They do not want to move into a system that does not favor them over everyone else when they are currently invested in a system that does.

Sure Bitcoin will exist and it will continue to work as a store of value for people like us. But it will never be adopted by the economy and it will never reach prices such as $10 million per Bitcoin. For this to happen Bitcoin would need to be used by everybody.

Building on what you have said there is another element that will actually sap away the power of bitcoin over time. Let's say that there is a fixed amount of 21 million bitcoin, the expected maximum to ever be created. Over time dust is left in various wallets, people die without anyone knowing they held bitcoin amounts and all sorts of mishaps occur that results in chunks of that 21 million bitcoin never becoming available again. Good for the bitcoin price getting pushed higher short term but bad for the actual usability as a currency as availability is constantly shrinking. Next you have billionaires buying up large amounts simply because they can and they have so much money being created around them that sinking it into a fixed access has insignificant impact on their future finances. Again, the pool of funds for everyone else shrinks, these megarich have no need to sell. Next you have companies like Paypal coming in and buying up huge volumes, but then locking it away internally without any ability to transact directly with external wallets - it's trapped inside their ecosystem. All of this is forever sapping away how useful Bitcoin will be in the future because the denominations get smaller and smaller. Who wants 0.01 BTC when you can have 10,000,000 of RandomCoin that has better prospects for actual functional and commercial usage?