Some people getting rich of bitcoin doesn't make everyone else worse off. And a "new aristocracy" is a huge stretch. A few people will get rich off it but not like that.
And the value of bitcoin won't deflate forever. Eventually the price will stabilize.
When will the price stabilize? Serious question, I can't figure it out. What conditions would need to be present for the bitcoin economy to be stable so that prices of goods/services are consistent over extended periods of time? Do you mean that deflation will actually end or that the rate of deflation will be reduced from its current excessive rate (from a currency standpoint, as a commodity/investment it's great)?
If you view a change in currency as fundamentally pretty useless, then yes, giving massive amounts of financial control of resources and labour(which is what money represents) to people with BTC hoarded does indeed take away from others.
And if BTC were to become (for instance) a primary currency for a country, and that country were to experience economic growth, then deflation must necessarily continue.
>If you view a change in currency as fundamentally pretty useless, then yes, giving massive amounts of financial control of resources and labour(which is what money represents) to people with BTC hoarded does indeed take away from others.
People are voluntarily paying them for their coins because they, for whatever reason, value them. You can say that's silly but it's not like you are being forced to buy bitcoins or anything.
>And if BTC were to become (for instance) a primary currency for a country, and that country were to experience economic growth, then deflation must necessarily continue.
Isn't the same true for any other finite resource? Everything will deflate/increase in value relative to rest of the economy.
>> People are voluntarily paying them for their coins because they, for whatever reason, value them. You can say that's silly but it's not like you are being forced to buy bitcoins or anything.
I'm saying it would be a bad idea to adopt as a de-facto currency, that's all.
>> Isn't the same true for any other finite resource? Everything will deflate/increase in value relative to rest of the economy.
Currency isn't and shouldn't be a resource, it's a medium of exchange. If BTC is a resource then cool, but lets stop pushing it as a currency.
>Currency isn't and shouldn't be a resource, it's a medium of exchange.
Well why not? A medium of exchange is a resource. There are exchanges and markets for currencies, people speculate on them, etc. They are definitely a resource.
Resource in the sense that the item in question has some inherent value. If I can't exchange Bitcoin for anything, then Bitcoins have zero value. If I can't exchange rice for anything, that rice will still have some value to me.
It's important to realize that all currencies, including Bitcoin and the USD, are only as valuable as the stuff I can buy with them. There's no point in having a million dollars, if I can't buy anything with it. That makes currencies distinctly different from "resources".
In many cases impoverishing various governments, corrupt or otherwise, would be worse than useless. Many, many people rely on government for food, fuel and shelter.
Secondly there are many of us who consider a currency that can be centrally adjusted as part of economic stabilisation to be a very good thing.
Third, in an expanding economy, a deflating currency steals wealth from the productive and hands it to hoarders.
So yeah, it's pretty useless as far as I can tell.
And the value of bitcoin won't deflate forever. Eventually the price will stabilize.