-
@ 94a90518:2698612b
2024-10-21 14:01:16"The distributional consequences of Bitcoin" https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4985877
The original promise of Nakamoto (2008) to provide the world with a better global means of payment has not materialized.
Let's see. Satoshi released the Bitcoin whitepaper on Oct 31, 2008, when the world was going through the global financial crisis: https://www.bitcoin.com/bitcoin.pdf
✅ a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution ✅ a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network ✅ a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work
That's just the foundation on top of which "a better global means of payment" are being implemented: * https://fedimint.org/ * https://cashu.space/ * https://lightning.network/
If these tools (when production-ready) "has not materialized" in a given jurisdiction – that's most likely due to the legal obstacles. The institution just states the enforced outcome in its claim.
most economists argue that the Bitcoin boom is a speculative bubble that will eventually burst
Maybe. But will it burst before the "most economists" do?
the wealth effects on consumption of early Bitcoin holders can only come at the expense of consumption of the rest of society
How is this different from "the wealth effects on consumption" of the ownership class? "400 richest Americans own about $3200B" – 5 times more than the total realized cap of Bitcoin to date which is $620B: - https://chainexposed.com/RealizedCap.html - https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/
If the price of Bitcoin rises for good, the existence of Bitcoin impoverishes both non-holders and latecomers.
Unless this is not a zero-sum game, and the Bitcoin would at least raise awareness of impoverishment via currency debasement. - https://www.lynalden.com/broken-money/
But even if it's zero-sum, again – doesn't seem much different from how people are being born into debt.
- https://youtu.be/JIc0i7CvD7k
Imagine you are preparing for a running race you've been preparing your entire life for like 20 years and then the day have come, you are at the start line, and you're getting ready. You're waiting for the for the start signal but then instead of start signal you hear an announcement of the winners. The winners are those who started 30 years before you. That is a current situation. When Boomers were on average 30 years old, they already by this age accumulated almost 20% of entire wealth in the United States. When our generation Millennials were on average 30 years old around 5 years ago we only owned 3%.
Last but not least, some words of wisdom on page 18 :)
the people never holding Bitcoin would be even worse off compared to the Latecomers
- https://youtu.be/JIc0i7CvD7k