4 ms·

I hate to be the one, but the reason I can't embrace crypto? The wealth distribution is even worse than fiat currency. It's horrible. it's no long about the

I hate to be the one, but the reason I can't embrace crypto? The wealth distribution is even worse than fiat currency. It's horrible. it's no long about the 1% it's more about the .0001%. How many women have crypto? How many colored folks have crypto? How many people in all of Africa have crypto? I've had conversations where some don't believe this is a problem. I'm not convinced. You can come up with a new XYZ crypto and the issue is that the distribution never gets to be fair. The haves end up always having much more than the havenots.

good_gnu 8y ago
I don't understand why this is a problem specifically with bitcoin. Is this not a problem with any other currency? I mean I appreciate the sentiment but how does it even matter in which currency the rich are rich and the poor are poor?
turblety 8y ago
But remember, with fiat, the government just prints money [1] whenever it likes and gives it directly to its banker friends. With bitcoin that’s impossible (well unless 51% of the minors agree) 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing
- root_axis 8y ago
  You're simply trading one government for another more nebulous and less accountable one; the schism over block-size is a perfect example of this and that's peanuts compared to the types of issues that are to come. There is absolutely zero guarantee that the mining cartels won't print more bitcoin; the final decision on whether or not to do so rests with them and it is in their direct financial interest to do so even if it may not be in their political interest. Even then, it is very possible that the impact of high fees might make the idea of printing more bitcoins politically palatable. Either way, the bottom line is that it is a political issue, just like the current system.
  - brandonsometig 8y ago
    Miners don't have the ability to 'print' more Bitcoin. They can release blocks with whatever transactions they like in but they will simply be rejected by the network. The fact that there is 10,000 public bitcoin nodes (and probably x10 private ones) keeps the system honest.
    - root_axis 8y ago
      You're right that the miners don't have unilateral authority to print more bitcoin, but ultimately they are the muscle behind the process. This is akin to saying "the military can't just print more money to pay for military spending". This is true, and it's unlikely that the military would turn their guns on the institutions in order to achieve this goal because it would threaten the stability of the entire system in which they thrive (like with the miners and bitcoin)... yet... somehow things always work out in such a way where they get their money. It never gets to the point where they have to turn their guns on anyone because their silent authority confers enough influence that the politicians making the decisions (i.e. developer cabals in the case of bitcoin) manage to find solutions that keep them fat and happy while delivering enough voluble rhetoric to ensure that the general population doesn't revolt. Same thing will happen for the miners eventually.
gruez 8y ago
>How many women have crypto? How many colored folks have crypto? How many people in all of Africa have crypto? CommunismCoin?
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
anjc 8y ago
Absolutely bizarre.
Bombthecat 8y ago
EOS had a so long ico phase that they are one of the most distributed coins. Nano was distributed via captcha and went long under the radar. Hence also pretty nice distributed.
pretendscholar 8y ago
>How many colored folks have crypto? I still can't believe the term colored people has made a comeback in both academic and colloquial circles. Are chinese people considered people of color? Seems like they are doing well at mining.
throwaway127831 8y ago
Re: women in crypto, I’m not sure what the solution could be. Both men and women had the same opportunity to buy Bitcoin when it was incredibly cheap. Unlike the gender divide in STEM jobs, there’s no hiring managers / gatekeepers with bias against women turning down potential BTC buyers. Women just didn’t buy crypto early on. I’ve seen folks go so far as to accuse Bitcoin of being sexist. I just don’t understand how that’s a fair thing to say given that anyone with an internet connection and an appetite for risk could have bought BTC anytime since 2009
bitcoinisqueen 8y ago
How many short vs. Tall people have crypto? Green eyes vs. blue? Nice try with race baiting and bringing identity politics into this. Next thing you know, you will be advocating stealing people's bitcoin and property at gunpoint to redistribute to <insert current in-vogue identity class here> It's what the Russians did and it's how the Communists divide the people: turning people against each other to make them more dependent on politicians and the loving gentle glove of the state (which had an iron fist inside)
madshiva 8y ago
Black is not officially a color. Are you taking in count only Asian and Indian (Real Amercian and not Native) because other "white" american don't exist at all.

good_gnu 8y ago

I don't understand why this is a problem specifically with bitcoin. Is this not a problem with any other currency? I mean I appreciate the sentiment but how does it even matter in which currency the rich are rich and the poor are poor?

turblety 8y ago

But remember, with fiat, the government just prints money [1] whenever it likes and gives it directly to its banker friends. With bitcoin that’s impossible (well unless 51% of the minors agree) 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing

root_axis 8y ago
You're simply trading one government for another more nebulous and less accountable one; the schism over block-size is a perfect example of this and that's peanuts compared to the types of issues that are to come. There is absolutely zero guarantee that the mining cartels won't print more bitcoin; the final decision on whether or not to do so rests with them and it is in their direct financial interest to do so even if it may not be in their political interest. Even then, it is very possible that the impact of high fees might make the idea of printing more bitcoins politically palatable. Either way, the bottom line is that it is a political issue, just like the current system.
- brandonsometig 8y ago
  Miners don't have the ability to 'print' more Bitcoin. They can release blocks with whatever transactions they like in but they will simply be rejected by the network. The fact that there is 10,000 public bitcoin nodes (and probably x10 private ones) keeps the system honest.
  - root_axis 8y ago
    You're right that the miners don't have unilateral authority to print more bitcoin, but ultimately they are the muscle behind the process. This is akin to saying "the military can't just print more money to pay for military spending". This is true, and it's unlikely that the military would turn their guns on the institutions in order to achieve this goal because it would threaten the stability of the entire system in which they thrive (like with the miners and bitcoin)... yet... somehow things always work out in such a way where they get their money. It never gets to the point where they have to turn their guns on anyone because their silent authority confers enough influence that the politicians making the decisions (i.e. developer cabals in the case of bitcoin) manage to find solutions that keep them fat and happy while delivering enough voluble rhetoric to ensure that the general population doesn't revolt. Same thing will happen for the miners eventually.

gruez 8y ago

>How many women have crypto? How many colored folks have crypto? How many people in all of Africa have crypto? CommunismCoin?

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

anjc 8y ago

Absolutely bizarre.

Bombthecat 8y ago

EOS had a so long ico phase that they are one of the most distributed coins. Nano was distributed via captcha and went long under the radar. Hence also pretty nice distributed.

pretendscholar 8y ago

>How many colored folks have crypto? I still can't believe the term colored people has made a comeback in both academic and colloquial circles. Are chinese people considered people of color? Seems like they are doing well at mining.

throwaway127831 8y ago

Re: women in crypto, I’m not sure what the solution could be. Both men and women had the same opportunity to buy Bitcoin when it was incredibly cheap. Unlike the gender divide in STEM jobs, there’s no hiring managers / gatekeepers with bias against women turning down potential BTC buyers. Women just didn’t buy crypto early on. I’ve seen folks go so far as to accuse Bitcoin of being sexist. I just don’t understand how that’s a fair thing to say given that anyone with an internet connection and an appetite for risk could have bought BTC anytime since 2009

bitcoinisqueen 8y ago

How many short vs. Tall people have crypto? Green eyes vs. blue? Nice try with race baiting and bringing identity politics into this. Next thing you know, you will be advocating stealing people's bitcoin and property at gunpoint to redistribute to <insert current in-vogue identity class here> It's what the Russians did and it's how the Communists divide the people: turning people against each other to make them more dependent on politicians and the loving gentle glove of the state (which had an iron fist inside)

madshiva 8y ago

Black is not officially a color. Are you taking in count only Asian and Indian (Real Amercian and not Native) because other "white" american don't exist at all.