I'm not sure if this topic has been raised here, but I wanted to discuss the landscape that we are in within the crypto world.
The way I understand it, part of the goal of crypto-currency is to give some power back to the people, power that banks and large financial institutions have wielded over the common folk for a long time. And make no mistake, this is a corrupt system we're talking about, as has been well documented over the years.
One of the larger complaints that we regularly hear about is the 1% or even the 0.1% - these are the powerful people that own the majority of the wealth in the world, and who are mostly vilified and abhorred by the less fortunate.
It's my understanding, that many crypto evangelists want to move away from this kind of world, but how is that shaping up so far?
From what I can see, the majority of BTC wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few, the same goes for many altcoins. The other day I saw a post that one person owns all the GVT in circulation.
So let's hypothetically say that crypto is a success, and we start to move away from fiat and eventually use cryptocurrency, that's great in the sense that power from banks has been removed (to some degree), but what about the problem of disproportionate wealth distribution? Aren't we just moving from one system of masters and serfs to the next?
Perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree, maybe that isn't a goal or ideal of crypto to strive for, but I have seen people like Brock Pierce talking about creating a crypto utopia in Puerto Rico and it also makes me think - what kind of utopia are they thinking of? Because sure, it's utopia for them, but I don't know if the people who will be living there and serving them will think the same.
Part of the reason this comes to mind now is because of the blatant manipulation that I've seen in the markets and exchanges.
The last few days of charts for BTC look like an alt-coin pump-n-dump, and this has been going on for a while. So what is the end game? Suck in newbies, get them to spend some money, shake them out with a crash, shake them out with erratic pump-and-dump manipulation so that the few can continue to amass BTC - to what end?
Where will they be when they are the only ones holding crypto and everyone else either a) has been burned and won't touch crypto again or b) doesn't care to join in the dance?
What's the point?
You surely raise a valid point there which should be a thought for quite a number of people. Even though this topic have been discussed before, its still a matter evergreen as discussions about this will continue to haunt us whether we choose to accept it or not especially this time when influence in bitcoin is growing and large corporation are coming in with huge funds to pilot the market to achieve their own selfish interest and the valid question remained, are we not leaving one bad scenario to another? Or even a worse one.
However, without ignoring all of the possibility of things not going according to what we are made to believe about how the redistribution of wealth is going to happen, it still give the hope that things might happen in that direction. In the world to day, unless you are a genius, an absolute risk taker which one manager to pay off, or you inherit wealth, the percentage of people living comfortable might not be attainable but with crypto, all you will need is a fraction of all of those, inheritance does not matter and one could leave that comfortable life. If you ask me, it worth a try than one with no hope.