Hi here !
So, the captitalization of BTC reached 40B $ , this is nice but not huge at all compared to FIAT currencies.
My question is : with such a "low" amount of money, does the traders have real power over the Bitcoin price ? I always heared about the natural inflation, simply more demand etc... But don't you think that if a lot of early investors with huge amount of BTC could gather and have control over its price ? Or they are simply slave of the system like every one of us ?
I'm waiting for your toughts
Bitcoin price is controlled by small, retail investors, which is harmful to it as a currency. It means that the price is driven by mob mentality and the market is very inefficient (the price and intrinsic value rarely match). So the answer to your question is yes, regular every day bitcoin investors like the people on this forum do affect the price. They don't affect it individually, but together they do.
However, for bitcoin to grow as a currency, it needs its price to be controlled by institutional investors instead (such as hedge funds, banks, etc). I discuss why in a post here if you are interested:
http://demoinvestor.com/articles/00000001