Post
Topic
Board Economics
Re: Bitcoin adoption slowing; Coinbase + Bitpay is enough to make Bitcoin a fiat
by
AnonyMint
on 10/04/2014, 14:29:23 UTC
[snip]

Notice in Bitcoin the new coin production schedule is designed such that rate of increase is declining and the total supply is designed to never exceed 21 million BTC coins. However, IMO that is myopic because the mining is already centralized and if the government takes over, there is no limit to what they might do with the protocol. I argued that more upthread or in the past, where I said once the masses dominate the coin userbase, they really don't care as long as they get their debt and Walmart goodies.


Bitcoin mining is global. If somehow the government took over the major miners in the United States and forced them to change the protocol, wouldn't that just create a forked coin which people could choose not to use and instead keep using the real Bitcoin which is still mined throughout the rest of world and by smaller miners in the United States? For your scenario to play out, a total government takeover of the Internet (far more severe than the Great Firewall) and well as blanket observation and control of all commerce would be required. Even if it were technically possible for this regime to carry out this kind of extreme totalitarianism, I do not think it has the political capital and economic resources to do it. Nor do I think they are stupid enough to try. Power will adapt to Bitcoin, not destroy it.

Circle CEO apparently disagrees and says the G20 will cooperate. I have also provided citations upthread about G20 declarations on their plans to cooperate.

Two or three pools control > 50% of the hash rate. That isn't the entire internet. That is only three businesses that have to be raided.

The masses won't care. Who is going to support your fork? You won't even have a majority of mining hash rate.

As for individual miners switching to another pool upon that event, note one miner in East Washington had already 6 - 7% of the total Bitcoin network hash rate and is aiming to reach 10%. ASICs concentrate mining power and this will continue to get worse.