Can Bitcoin Reduce the Global Wealth and Income Inequalities in 2022?

[edgycorner]

Bitcoin can do nothing to bridge this gap.
Bitcoin has become just another asset. Sure it made a few people rich, but they were already in better condition(they had an internet connection and a PC + literate enough) compared to someone who's illiterate and thus will never have an opportunity to improve his condition.

The answer to this question lies in the realm of politics(or sociology) not economics.

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[Quidat]

Bitcoin can do nothing to bridge this gap.
Bitcoin has become just another asset. Sure it made a few people rich, but they were already in better condition(they had an internet connection and a PC + literate enough) compared to someone who's illiterate and thus will never have an opportunity to improve his condition.

The answer to this question lies in the realm of politics(or sociology) not economics.

Very well said, not all does have the opportunity on dealing or able to engage on things that are online not only limited on crypto but also in other opportunities as well
which its true that this doesnt really connect or bridging this gap if we do talk about inequalities because this is something that cant really be easily resolved out.
There are rich people and poor ones and that situation wont change thats why its better to mind off on your own personal situation in terms of finances on how
you would make yourself even more better in standards of your living and dont think off about inequality resolved because of Bitcoin.
It cant just be possible.

[lovesmayfamilis]

I doubt that in a time of crisis and huge price increases, poor people will be able to afford to invest in bitcoin, thereby laying the foundation for future competition with the rich. As hatshepsut93 rightly pointed out, their goal is to survive, not to increase their income. So at that time, even if the rich lose, given the fall in the market, the poor will not feel less disadvantaged either. In addition, one can say that poor people are much less educated, and thus they are simply deprived of information about things like bitcoin.

[Jemzx00]

In the country where I reside the prices of everything are skyrocketing but the income remains the same year to year. Is it still possible that in 2022 Bitcoin can help reduce this wealth and income inequality? Bearing in mind that most people were not early adopters.

Not sure if we're on the same country but this is also the case on my country whereas the income of any or most employee does not have the same proportion on the cost of living.

In regards with your question, The answer would be no, as everyone has the same access to cryptocurrency however not everyone are capable to invest unlike rich people. There are people who came from a low income that was able to get rich due to investing in crypto.

[dezoel]

Bitcoin can be a relief asset to overcome inflation. But the way it has been dealing with the market most of the BTC will be in hands of big corporations and few individuals. This will worsen the inequality even more. Some people made luck in BTC by joining early but before the mass adoption, 99% of people on the plant will not be able to buy 1 BTC from the market. Its price is already unreachable price for most people.

They say that bitcoin have failed to become a hedge against the inflation, I think that is because its value have dumped a lot. It's okay if there are inequalities in this market because those who owns large number of bitcoin can sometimes pump and dump this market and if we are smart enough to know what to do during that situation, we can use that as our own advantage.

Definitely that many people cant buy a one whole bitcoin but they can always buy in smaller portions right after every dump. If they keep doing this, it's possible that they can accumulate 1 btc  in the future. The good thing about btc is that it's volatile which means that those who are late will still have the chance to enter and change their lives for the better.

[Fortify]

It is no longer news that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. And it is not just happening in LMIC countries but even in developed nations. The wealth and income gap has increased. There's really no middle class anymore.

According to this report by the the World Inequality Lab,

Contemporary income and wealth inequalities are very large
An average adult individual earns PPP €16,700 (PPP USD23,380) per year in 2021, and the average adult owns €72,900 (USD102,600)1.1 These averages mask wide disparities both between and within countries. The richest 10% of the global population currently takes 52% of global income, whereas the poorest half of the population earns 8.5% of it. On average, an individual from the top 10% of the global income distribution earns €87,200 (USD122,100) per year, whereas an individual from the poorest half of the global income distribution makes €2,800 (USD3,920) per year (Figure 1).
Global wealth inequalities are even more pronounced than income inequalities. The poorest half of the global population barely owns any wealth at all, possessing just 2% of the total. In contrast, the richest 10% of the global population own 76% of all wealth. On average, the poorest half of the population owns PPP €2,900 per adult, i.e. USD4,100 and the top 10% own €550,900 (or USD771,300) on average.

In the country where I reside the prices of everything are skyrocketing but the income remains the same year to year. Is it still possible that in 2022 Bitcoin can help reduce this wealth and income inequality? Bearing in mind that most people were not early adopters.

This is a story that has been happening for centuries, it is nothing new. Unfortunately the rich are able to buy power by influencing politicians to protect and expand their empires of wealth. It takes a very strong and developed system of government to be able to withstand such pressures, but even the best governments can be chipped away at by greedy people conspiring. It requires constant vigilance and adaption by politicians to be able to fend off attempts to benefit the few at the expense of the many. Countries like Finland managed to come up with a great scheme, the sovereign wealth fund, which allows them to wield a large purse of oil money for the benefit of their people and they are less susceptible to waive ring from hard decisions.

[virasisog]

Bitcoin can do nothing to bridge this gap.
Bitcoin has become just another asset. Sure it made a few people rich, but they were already in better condition(they had an internet connection and a PC + literate enough) compared to someone who's illiterate and thus will never have an opportunity to improve his condition.

The answer to this question lies in the realm of politics(or sociology) not economics.

Rich people could even get richer in crypto because they have bigger assets and could invest bigger in Bitcoin. Rich people are risk-takers and they're open-minded when it comes to any type of investment so as we, poor people invest in Bitcoin, they also have invested bigger in it. Bitcoin couldn't change the gap between the rich and poor because rich people have bigger opportunities and they're more capable in all aspects of investment.

[Anonylz]

Through btc! I sincerely doubt that, the gap between the haves and the haves not is very wide, btc even at this current price is expensive to many middle to low income earners, and for you to effectively gain a reasonable profit from btc you have to buy a good amount of it. And by the look of things, not very many people can afford 1BTC let alone several.
Now if you say alts for instance, perhaps the possibility is there, if you are lucky enough to get your hands on some alts that end up going x100 then you are made. Income inequality will no longer be a thing for you. 

[2stout]

Potentially but more so true for places where the currency is destabilized and devalued at the whims of corruption.  Example, let's say you have a regime change that forces a new currency with a trade in value of 70% of the original.  Basically you are forced to trade it in because @ x date, the currency will no longer be accepted.  In a case like this, bitcoin can provide an opportunity to preserve and increase in value what you already have instead of losing 30% off the bat.

[0verseer]

I do believe Bitcoin/crypto gives people chance and opportunity to grow their wealth outside the traditional norm which is being locked away for a lot of them. But then, lack of knowledge about the thing could hurt and make them poorer too. So can it still help to reduce the global wealth and income inequalities? It's really up to people to govern their own fate, to become richer or poorer, but at least it provides people with chance and opportunity.

[Dunamisx]

It is no longer news that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. And it is not just happening in LMIC countries but even in developed nations. The wealth and income gap has increased. There's really no middle class anymore.

This is a mentality we all have to stand against and fight, why must it be a circle within a specific set of people and we also show that we lacks the power and strong determination to penetrate into their circles, why? Is it fear or intimidation, when we don't even know our right how then can we fight for it, the fact is that we have in many ways accepted failure and defeat right from time and this mentality of how can we go against it created the fear we all had today.

[Lucius]

~snip~
In the country where I reside the prices of everything are skyrocketing but the income remains the same year to year. Is it still possible that in 2022 Bitcoin can help reduce this wealth and income inequality? Bearing in mind that most people were not early adopters.

As you yourself say, Bitcoin is not something that ordinary people recognized from the very beginning (2009), but they started to be seriously interested in it only after the first big bull run when the price reached $1000, and even more during 2017. Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect that Bitcoin can change something in a global sense, but it will surely help many people on an individual level to survive more easily until some better times.

Of course, there should be no doubt that Bitcoin is the reason why some people are millionaires today, or will become so in the future - but these are only exceptions. Most research leads to the conclusion that around 5% of people in the world are connected to Bitcoin in one way or another, and very few of them can be called successful.

[Hydrogen]

In the country where I reside the prices of everything are skyrocketing but the income remains the same year to year. Is it still possible that in 2022 Bitcoin can help reduce this wealth and income inequality? Bearing in mind that most people were not early adopters.

Thanks to bitcoin's trustless format, it doesn't rely on wage based employees or bank managers who are trusted to monitor and run day to day operations. This shift in design translates to greater efficiency. Which in turn equates to large sums of money being transferrable across the world at lower cost.

The single area of grievance has been transaction time. But that has always been a bit of a misnoner with classifications. Bitcoin was being compared to credit card companies, when it functions closer to a credit union or bank that takes multiple working days to complete transactions.

While bitcoin's performance hasn't been ideal with large institutional traders buying and selling it like a stock. And tying its value to indicators and variables that are wholly unrelated to its function. There is still a chance bitcoin could deliver on its potential.

It is a very strange scenario. In that many don't seem to care much about the underlying mechanics behind innovations like bitcoin. They only know if the price is going up or down. And don't seem to care much about the motives or conditions behind it.

For bitcoin to truly thrive people must know more about it from a design and engineering perspective.

[stompix]

Of course, there should be no doubt that Bitcoin is the reason why some people are millionaires today, or will become so in the future - but these are only exceptions.

Kind of ironic, isn't it? Bitcoin has helped a few become exactly the ultra-rich elitist that just helps widen the gap.
And even ignoring those few, Bitcoin won't be able to somehow make just the poor middle class and the middle class richer without also making the ones who have enough money to throw thousands of dollars at BTC even richer.
I really don't get those threads that still cling to some hope of wealth redistribution over and over and over.

Thanks to bitcoin's trustless format, it doesn't rely on wage based employees or bank managers who are trusted to monitor and run day to day operations. This shift in design translates to greater efficiency. Which in turn equates to large sums of money being transferrable across the world at lower cost.

To transfer large sums of money via BTC you need large sums of money in the first place to buy those coins, and poor people don't have those large sums of money, and far more importantly, the 6 billion who live paycheck to paycheck really don't care that much about sending and receiving daily millions across the world.

Bitcoin does perfectly what Satoshi designed it to do, all the rest is just things people want to believe BTC could be capable of if all the stars align.

[sovie]

To transfer large sums of money via BTC you need large sums of money in the first place to buy those coins, and poor people don't have those large sums of money, and far more importantly, the 6 billion who live paycheck to paycheck really don't care that much about sending and receiving daily millions across the world.

Bitcoin does perfectly what Satoshi designed it to do, all the rest is just things people want to believe BTC could be capable of if all the stars align.

No matter what - nothing will be able to reduce the global wealth and income inequalities.
Who would be master and who would be slave if there comes equality in the society. This seems like a dream which is impossible ofcourse.

[EdenHazard]

Bitcoin can do nothing to bridge this gap.
Bitcoin has become just another asset. Sure it made a few people rich, but they were already in better condition(they had an internet connection and a PC + literate enough) compared to someone who's illiterate and thus will never have an opportunity to improve his condition.

The answer to this question lies in the realm of politics(or sociology) not economics.

Nothing to do indeed and even more ... it's like mission impossible to make such things equal , all equal no of course you cannot do that.
There will always a poor and wealth ... yin and yang , balance baby.

If you look at how people in crypto space getting the fortune as the parameter then it's a total incorrect.

[AicecreaME]

It is no longer news that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. And it is not just happening in LMIC countries but even in developed nations. The wealth and income gap has increased. There's really no middle class anymore.

According to this report by the the World Inequality Lab,

Contemporary income and wealth inequalities are very large
An average adult individual earns PPP €16,700 (PPP USD23,380) per year in 2021, and the average adult owns €72,900 (USD102,600)1.1 These averages mask wide disparities both between and within countries. The richest 10% of the global population currently takes 52% of global income, whereas the poorest half of the population earns 8.5% of it. On average, an individual from the top 10% of the global income distribution earns €87,200 (USD122,100) per year, whereas an individual from the poorest half of the global income distribution makes €2,800 (USD3,920) per year (Figure 1).
Global wealth inequalities are even more pronounced than income inequalities. The poorest half of the global population barely owns any wealth at all, possessing just 2% of the total. In contrast, the richest 10% of the global population own 76% of all wealth. On average, the poorest half of the population owns PPP €2,900 per adult, i.e. USD4,100 and the top 10% own €550,900 (or USD771,300) on average.

In the country where I reside the prices of everything are skyrocketing but the income remains the same year to year. Is it still possible that in 2022 Bitcoin can help reduce this wealth and income inequality? Bearing in mind that most people were not early adopters.

Honestly speaking, I don't really think that bitcoin will bridge the gap of inequality. I think it's more on stretching the gap between the poor and the rich wider than before because of this innovation for financial independence.

As you can see, majority, if not all of investors in bitcoin either are initially well-off already or does really have the capacity to invest because they have spare money to use. Because if we will define poor, most of them are really struggling to survive even on the daily basis. Hence, most of them will not really think about investment and saving for the future or the hard times because it is already a hard time for them. Instead of putting their money in any type of investment vehicle, they'd rather buy necessities that would help them survive the day, weeks, or months.

This is the sad reality. People who are poor do not really have savings or investment for their future or retirement because what matters to them is that they will survive the day and will satisfy their hunger and thirst. They are living paycheck to paycheck with little to none and even having negative balance due to debts. And then they'll just worry about tomorrow when it's already there. It's really a tough time for those who aren't privileged enough. There are few lucky ones who managed to get out of poverty line, but not everyone will have the same opportunity as them, so we can't really expect other poor people to achieve the same.

[Bttzed03]

Through btc! I sincerely doubt that, the gap between the haves and the haves not is very wide, btc even at this current price is expensive to many middle to low income earners, and for you to effectively gain a reasonable profit from btc you have to buy a good amount of it. And by the look of things, not very many people can afford 1BTC let alone several.
Now if you say alts for instance, perhaps the possibility is there, if you are lucky enough to get your hands on some alts that end up going x100 then you are made. Income inequality will no longer be a thing for you. 

I thought I would be the first to say this.

Yeah, on the individual level, even the people considered as poor could spend $50 on a highly speculative altcoin and get lucky. We've seen this happen already in the last bullrun alone (DeFi/Meme token pumps). On the global scale, it doesn't change the situation that much because middle and high income earners still benefit the most whether it's bitcoin or altcoins.

[SuperMariob]

Not really. Even in crypto rich people will get richer.
But if you are smart you can make anyway some good money.
I'm personally not aiming to be a millionaire but I made some good money with bitcoin and crypto in general.

[ChrisPop]

Wealth and income seems to follow the Pareto distribution. Logically the rich will get richer as they are the first to have access to investment opportunities, new more productive technologies, etc. while the poor ones fight for their families survival. So one part is working mainly for basic necessities while the other is investing time and money to produce more of it.

In order to solve this problem, I think the very wealthy should invest a good part of their income for the betterment of the societies, not just for their self-interest. In other words to look at other kinds of return on investment not just at money. For example education has the highest ROI but it only makes its returns visibile in about a decade or so.

Furthermore, money needs to circulate, not to stay blocked in a bank account. Value needs to be unlocked in order for our society to advance. But unfortunately we also need competent, ethical leaders which the majority of the countries lack. Most of the politicians are greedy and lack the moral values required to make a society prosper.