Quote from: antimattercrusader on April 16, 2013, 10:13:36 PM

Well, IMO, you do have a bit of a point about the potential "new" wealthy elite being created.

However, in all aspects of life, there are lost opportunities. If indeed BTC takes off and early adopters become very wealthy, those who did not will not be adversely affected. Just not positively affected. I am one of the people who missed the opportunity with ASICs, and such is life. That doesn't change Bitcoin's excellent utility as a medium of exchange.

One plus of the potentially upcoming BTC elite, they didn't earn their status by basically stealing from society and oppressing innovation. Quite the opposite, in fact. Should BTC take off, the early adopters (IMO, including those who risked their funds on ASIC) should be well rewarded. It was, and still is, a risky venture. They're putting their funds, time, and energy into making this network work. And if it indeed works, they should enjoy the benefits.

The problem with these ASIC miners is that they are literally "money making machines". To consider it unfair is a matter of perspective but it is certain that the perceived "everyone can mine Bitcoins" mentality from infomercials is an illusion as those with the most miners will come to hold the most BTC and thus control the value of the currency.

I am trying to raise awareness about this issue, maybe you can help me.

Quote from: somevan on April 16, 2013, 10:32:11 PM

Quote from: bstatic on April 16, 2013, 10:02:45 PM

This will put GPU miners completely out of the market in under 6 months and all the wealth generated will go to those groups who bought or manufactured the most powerful mining hardware aka the "elite".

Bitcoin does not change key motivations within the human population. If all wealth was equally distributed within a few decades (perhaps sooner), we'd start to see the typical power law (80/20) rule emerging again.

Some people care more about creating wealth, others care more about happily spending it today. A gross simplification, and there exist many other facets. However, I've seen these archetypes play out with the people around me, throughout my life.

In this case one group (the elite) will exploit and profit immensely on BTC sales to the other group (the unsuspecting public). You didn't describe how this model has played out with the people around you, only that they did.