Topic: Bitcoin - Increasing the rich and poor divide? (Read 4076 times)

Hi guys/girls,

I'm sorry if my question is a bit stupid, however I'm a newbie when it comes to Bitcoin and there are a few things that just do not makes sense to me.

First Question

I've read somewhere that only 1000 individuals own nearly 50% of all the Bitcoins currently in circulation. This gives me some concern. I really like the whole idea behind Bitcoin, I think it could be revolutionary if my objective intellect has understood things correctly.

However, if Bitcoin were to take off, and one day (probably many years from now) be adopted worldwide, wouldn't these 1000 individuals literally be so rich they could influence the world like we have never seen? This is only the case if Money= Power. And wouldn't this mean that the rest of the 99.99999% of the population would be a lot less well off in the future than they are today due to the MASSIVE rich and poor divide?

Say for e.g there is roughly 10 trillion dollars in circulation worldwide today, would that not mean that people like the Winklevoss Twins (who have nearly 1% of all bitcoins) would be valued at USD 100 Billion. Is this not mad? Is this not what bitcoin was fighting?

Some people could argue too much power causes corruption. There is less equality. I mean with the introduction of Bitcoin and (possibly) the Outernet which is in development at the moment, this inequality could be mitigated, but who knows.

Second Question

How would recessions be controlled? I understand there are many 'specs' to economics, but if we were to delve into a recession, who would be there to help ease things? What about things like quantitive easing. With bitcoin, no central authority is control of money, which is AWESOME don't get me wrong, but I think it is human nature to desire some sort of security, something to look up to sort things out when the shit gets real.

Third Newbie Question (Technological)

Forgive my ignorance for this. I'm interested in buying bitcoin at the moment, but I just do not understand how the payment system works.

Say for e.g I buy a bitcoin off an exchange like coinbase. I want this coin secure, and so want to now remove it from the exchange and have it in my own hands. I have now removed it from the exchange, but what is to stop them from 'copying' the dat. file so even though I have this 'wallet' they could still have the key to take my bitcoin whenever they want? Even though I have this wallet, the bitcoin is actually stored in the blockchain right? So all they need is my private key to take ownership of the coin.

What if I were to take this file and make a copy, transferring this copy to a USB stick? A hacker could still access my computer which is connected to the internet, and have a peek (i.e through a trojan or keylogger) and a take a copy of my address which stores my private key? Even though I have stored the information on my USB, which is not connected to the internet, there is still a copy of the file on my computer, which can still be accessed, am I right? So creating my copies of this file, for backup purposes e.g corruption or lost file, just increases the chances of hackers finding my wallet and therefore increasing the chances of my bitcoin being stolen. I just don't understand.

Please, please, I understand these questions may seem dull to you guys, but maybe to the average IQ person who is new to bitcoin, this could be confusing. I'm really excited about the idea of bitcoin, but before I invest and participate in this chance to change the world, I want to make sure I am at least secure to some extent with regards to fraudulent activities and keeping my investment safe.

What do you guys think? Any advice positive or negative is welcome. Thanks for reading, Kash.

Who cares about that?

Some people are smarter than others, and it's normal that some are richer than others. Some people may want to a revolution to change that, and it will probably end up not changing anything, but BTC has no built-in function to redistribute wealth. It's not its role, but it may still change a few things things as some early miners weren't rich when they started.

this is the most hilarious i heard of poor people, looks like you never seen the world outside your neighborhood,

you really have no respect for lots of people that are forced in certain poor situations, even nowadays.. even in western countries.. you know the world is not made only of spoiled middle class kids (the only one that fit your description)


anyway.. i believe the only way to achieve global and common wealth is to remove any currency, bitcoin included. there would not be anymore rich and poor but a collaborative world based on other kind of units/scales. i see in bitcoin a step forward that direction.

this is the most hilarious i heard of poor people, looks like you never seen the world outside your neighborhood,

you really have no respect for lots of people that are forced in certain poor situations, even nowadays.. even in western countries.. you know the world is not made only of spoiled middle class kids (the only one that fit your description)


anyway.. i believe the only way to achieve global and common wealth is to remove any currency, bitcoin included. there would not be anymore rich and poor but a collaborative world based on other kind of units/scales. i see in bitcoin a step forward that direction.

FIAT poor people are poor due to lack of education and lack of desire to work. thus they dont improve their life to get better jobs.. (no aspirations)..

with bitcoins, the bitcoin protocol does not care about your family history, it does not check your resume/CV for experience of which school you went to, bitcoin is not choosy.. AT ALL

bitcoin is open to anyone to improve their lives. if they aspire to do so..

all of these basement dwelling cry babies, that want free money without lifting a finger, will always cry that other people have more than them. they will always cry,, i repeat, always

dont blame bitcoin, blame yourselves, dont blame greed blame yourslves. everyone is greedy in one way or another but unless you do something about it, you will still be crying next year.

do not blame it on mining power.. i have loads of bitcoins and i probably only mined 1% or less of my hoard. i got mine from legitimate work and trade. so dont think the only way to get bitcoins is from mining. mining is a suckers game, instead learn to trade, learn to be a retailer, a sole trader, a contractor, the world is your oyster and you dont really need a resume/CV to start working..

so basement dwellers, go forth and prosper or sit there making excuses.. if you reply with excuses then you wont prosper.. your just wasting your own time sitting there thinking up reasons why you CANT work, rather then finding something you CAN do

Bitcoin is/was fighting Gov't control over the money supply and their ability to create almost unlimited monetary inflation.
It is unfortunate that the early distribution of BTC was so concentrated in a few hands, but back then almost no one was paying attention or thinking they had much value.

BTC will still be viable as a currency, and a New World Order will be born.  

First Question
I've read somewhere that only 1000 individuals own nearly 50% of all the Bitcoins currently in circulation. This gives me some concern.

The fact that wealthy people own bitcoin is not the point. The point is that there are a few large holders of bitcoin who could potentially disrupt the BTC/USD (among others) market as they hold such a large percentage of bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a currency, not a welfare system.

It is also a free market, those who are wealthy (in fiat) are free to buy as many bitcoin as they wish. You cannot forbid anyone from buying bitcoin just because they are wealthy, nor should bitcoin be free to those who are poor. (You can donate to them if you want to)