This was a conclusion i reached many years ago back in 2009. I dabbled with mining but considered it a waste of time as i figured if it took off, we'd soon see dedicated hardware which would outperform that of what we see in desktops today (aka, ASICs)

Plus there's no doubt in my mind that what we consider cutting edge asics (with the pricetag to boot) is merely scraps fed to the competing masses that manufacturers hand us. Ultimately the real winners are asic manufacturer's, who will have a monopoly not just over the mining hardware itself, but over Bitcoin too and the mining process. (No doubt they'll use any experimental tech to mine for themselves, turning over a profit giving them an advantage; when this ceases to be, they sell it to the masses at a premium. Rinse and repeat.)

I personally would like to know how this is any different from centralized/privatized banks who conduct fraudulent business with FIAT.

With this in mind, within a few days i didn't go near crypto again for many years - only coming back here after hearing about NXT and NEM. In retrospect my foresight actually cost me alot of money - if i had carried on with mining, i'd have been better off today. But the way i see it is this is a short term profit that has no long term sustainability. It won't last. In fact, i'd argue the only thing keeping Bitcoin afloat is miners who manipulate the market and, most certainly, black market trade of said currency (Which is an inevitable outcome as governments and banks will deem crypto's a threat - there's a reason "anonymous" coins have such high appeal. This is a fact.)

PoW needs a successor if Crypto is to be taken seriously, then all is left is to deal with any threats from banks or governments who will likely regulate it to destruction.