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It's not the same as taking early risks; this is a very constrained and artificial environment in which bitcoins are generated. One can be pretty certain that i

It's not the same as taking early risks; this is a very constrained and artificial environment in which bitcoins are generated. One can be pretty certain that if one generates coins early, one can then make money selling them to others. This is much more similar to a pyramid marketing scenario, where the earlier franchises are inherently worth more, and eventually the value generated for the terminal generation of participants is close to nil. I'd argue you're not exactly correct about the release path of currency in a fractional reserve system, although I don't disagree that elements are currently implemented in quite unfair ways. I'd also suggest, though, that government fiat currency works very much better than anything commodity based, or indeed than a partially fiat system that functions exactly like a commodity based system, as bitcoin does.

wmf 15y ago
One can be pretty certain that if one generates coins early, one can then make money selling them to others. I don't know about that. Back in 2009 or 2010, Bitcoins were worth practically nothing and almost everyone predicted that they'd never be worth anything. And if no one mined, maybe Bitcoin would never have taken off (to the extent that it has) and it would still be worthless.
- abulafia 15y ago
  I'm suggesting that if you believe in the model, and even the most obvious ramifications of such an economy, the value of participating in the system is to be as far upstream as possible. I don't believe in the model, so, I'm not suggesting it has real value now or going forward. You're also actually assuming something that runs counter to the stated bitcoin model, as described in the FAQ (which seems to be down at the moment). That is that there's an investment in making bitcoins, which they would say is not so. The intent in burning cycles and power is simply to ensure security, while the value comes from faith in the currency. Hence, there is no investment in creation: the investment would instead be in accepting bitcoins in transactions, which iterates the pyramidal nature of the system.

wmf 15y ago

One can be pretty certain that if one generates coins early, one can then make money selling them to others. I don't know about that. Back in 2009 or 2010, Bitcoins were worth practically nothing and almost everyone predicted that they'd never be worth anything. And if no one mined, maybe Bitcoin would never have taken off (to the extent that it has) and it would still be worthless.

abulafia 15y ago
I'm suggesting that if you believe in the model, and even the most obvious ramifications of such an economy, the value of participating in the system is to be as far upstream as possible. I don't believe in the model, so, I'm not suggesting it has real value now or going forward. You're also actually assuming something that runs counter to the stated bitcoin model, as described in the FAQ (which seems to be down at the moment). That is that there's an investment in making bitcoins, which they would say is not so. The intent in burning cycles and power is simply to ensure security, while the value comes from faith in the currency. Hence, there is no investment in creation: the investment would instead be in accepting bitcoins in transactions, which iterates the pyramidal nature of the system.