A renowned economist fears that a triumphant advance of Bitcoin will „fuel social divide“.
A far-reaching triumph of Bitcoin is not a pipe dream for every observer.
A popular meme, i.e. a viral joke, in the crypto community has long been calling out a „horror scenario“ in the event that Bitcoin becomes the global reserve currency in the future:
According to this, major investors in the market-leading cryptocurrency would automatically become the new upper class, while „nocoiner“, i.e. those who had not invested in Bitcoin Formula until then, would be financially and socially marginalized.
This narrative , which is not meant to be taken seriously , was first circulated a few years ago on the Reddit social network, with a „time traveler“ claiming that Bitcoin will rise to a market value of 1 million US dollars in the future. The joke then became independent and achieved great popularity, so that there is now even a German short film about it.
An economist is now warning, however, that the meme could become a reality if Bitcoin can indeed become the dominant currency in the world at some point
Jon Danielsson from the prestigious London School of Economics argues in a related article that such a future would produce a “Bitcoin aristocracy”. An “extreme unequal distribution” of wealth would also “fuel social division and populism”. In this regard, he explains:
“First of all, the current major investors would become the richest people in the world, with a position similar to that of kings and emperors in past centuries. You would literally own all the money in the world. You can buy anything you want. And there are only a few of them. Compared to the masses of people who have assets through mutual funds, stocks or real estate these days, that would be a tiny group. “
The government would then inevitably have to decide whether it wants to „protect or attack“ this upper class. Whereby these people would only have accumulated their wealth “by buying early”. In contrast to entrepreneurs, who create a certain added value through their companies, they would never have made a real “social contribution”.
However, Danielsson comes to the conclusion that there will never be this future, because due to the violent price fluctuations of the market-leading crypto currency, it could never become a true currency. In the long term, this “internal contradiction” would rather mean that Bitcoin “goes to zero” at some point.
