> If bitcoin sticks around, mining is destined to become a large-scale low margin business Large scale, yes. Low margin, no. The dedicated hardware will replac

> If bitcoin sticks around, mining is destined to become a large-scale low margin business Large scale, yes. Low margin, no. The dedicated hardware will replace software mining, just like GPU mining replaced CPU mining. But, mining is only initially funded by the direct reward, and is meant to transition to a transaction-fee based reward structure. (It's like starting a fire with lighter fluid.) With the decrease in miners, increase in network transaction activity (and thus transaction fees), and a rise in the bitcoin's value, the people who invest in the network will get the most out of it. I think of it as aligning incentives.