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The court jester in medieval times was said to have served as a wise counsel to royal rulers. They were said to have filled a need to wake a ruler up to something that 'loyal' sycophants wouldn't have dared to utter.
Whether this historical idea is true or not is open to debate. I'm no historian.
What's not open to debate is the fact that sometimes we need to hear things from outside of our comfort zone - mull it over, debate it and maybe change things: or change ourselves.
I'm afraid on this Saturday/Sunday I've got a jest for us all to mull over...
The jester in this case is The Onion the king here, of course, is Bitcoin - and by extention, ourselves.
[Here's the piece](Bitcoin On Path To Functioning Just Like Real Currency After Small Concentration Of People Acquire Majority Of It). Just one headline (no article underneath).

Bitcoin On Path To Functioning Just Like Real Currency After Small Concentration Of People Acquire Majority Of It

There's some crappy articles that push FUD from 'serious' papers, but I've got to admit, this one (from one of our favorite court jesters in 2017) hurts a little.
I've got no clever reply to the jester's quip.
I can only dig deep and point out that Bitcoin was mined fairly from the beginning with no pre-mine; that many early adopters didn't hoard it all but spent it like water, gave it away via Bitcoin faucets; lost it; donated it and possibly even intentionally lost it.
I remember reading a December 2010 Hal Finney quote in which he foresaw that the 'ultimate fate' of Bitcoin as being the future reserve currency (as opposed to
I believe this will be the ultimate fate of Bitcoin, to be the "high-powered money" that serves as a reserve currency for banks that issue their own digital cash. Most Bitcoin transactions will occur between banks, to settle net transfers. Bitcoin transactions by private individuals will be as rare as... well, as Bitcoin based purchases are today.
When reading his full quote in context we can see that Hal couldn't have foreseen lightning being such a game-changer for Bitcoin on Layer 2.
However, the jester is still there and the 'jest' still exists .
The question is, what should we make of it - and what could/should we do?
But at least a small minority of people won't be able to freely print more of it and give it to themselves, their family, and their friends.
So, yeah, Bitcoin doesn't fix everything but it's still an improvement on the status quo
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Well, it's essentially wrong.
Others have written better about it than I have, but I did do some online "research" on this about a year ago for my very small readership and I tried to summarize what I learned.
As far as I can tell based on data and analyses published by others, (a) Bitcoin's wealth distribution isn't actually that bad, and (b) the trend lines in Bitcoin are the exact opposite of what has been happening with fiat.
In the fiat system, the "rich" (top 0.1%) have been getting a bigger and bigger slice of the pie, and the share held by the bottom 90% has been getting smaller and smaller.
Meanwhile, in the Bitcoin system, the whales have been gradually dwindling down their share of total supply, while both "retail" and the "public" at large (exchanges, ETFs, and public companies) have been growing their share of total supply.
[See the two graphs in my summary.]
Analogous to other criticisms of Bitcoin, it's easy to criticize the new system for issues inherent in being new (still growing into its future role). But look at the trend and the difference is clear as day.
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I don't see Bitcoin as utopian money that is magically going to solve our issues. Bitcoin is marginally better than gold and significantly better than fiat. It IS the best money we have ever used as a species and therefore, I believe it will continue to grow in market cap. However, I won't be at all surprised if 300 years from now, the human race has discovered something better. If Bitcoin can bring us a marginally better world for the next 300 years where the purchasing power of billions cannot be arbitrarily diluted, the network will have fulfilled its noble purpose.
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Let's look at this from a different angle.
Imagine Satoshi could've somehow magically distributed an equal amount of Bitcoin to everyone in the world. And also assume nobody wants fiat anymore. Basically a complete reset.
For a brief moment everyone is equally wealthy. And at the same time equally poor.
But it's what happens next that matters most. As soon as you need to eat you need to spend some of your Bitcoin to buy food. You need somewhere to live and clothes to wear.
In other words, the Bitcoin begins to redistribute to those who provide value and away from those only consuming. Eventually the wealth will be unevenly distributed again.
The difference is that nobody can print. They have to provide value to receive more Bitcoin.
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I understand the data to suggest early adoption whales are selling & will be for the rest of their lives.
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I've thought about this before. Since I view Bitcoin as a more fair currency than fiat, the issue of wealth concentration bugged me. I found this article insightful.
vs fiat wealth concentration
Bitcoins distribution isn't equal, but it is fair. If it's distribution was equal, it would not be fair. I believe bitcoins fair rules will lead to a more fair distribution over time compared to fiat.
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its true. a small percentage hold most of the wealth its probably even worse than the 1 percenters with fiat.
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Even if that was true, which it isn't. The difference is that so far, the amount that one has, has not evaporated in terms of the material things that one can exchange with what one has. Very different if you had been saving for something over the past 100 years.
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Thanks to all users for all your input. You've each given me some homework to do. Until then, it wouldn't do your replies any justice to comment further without more reading. ✌️🧡
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