Kendy on Nostr: Thank you for your detailed response! I now understand better why River chose to ...
Thank you for your detailed response!
I now understand better why River chose to represent the graphic as such. I hope you can understand how passionate Bitcoiners are about being the sole controller of their bearer asset. And how unique that is. “Some kind of ownership” is not acceptable for a large share of us. That sacrifices a major core principle and strategic advantage of Bitcoin in a world of weak property rights.
As friendly feedback, I wish River would detail exactly what “Individuals” means on a graphic like this going forward. Or at least point to an appendix that does. Perhaps titling, “Bitcoin Investment Distribution” would be less misleading than “Ownership” language. I disagree and don’t think hot wallet means true ownership. Claim to ownership ≠ sole custodian. But maybe I’m thinking in idealistic terms rather than realistic TradFi terms in the TradFi world we’re still forced to operate in at some point.
Overall I appreciate you and River! It is important and meaningful work. I don’t mean to come off rude and overly-critical.
I now understand better why River chose to represent the graphic as such. I hope you can understand how passionate Bitcoiners are about being the sole controller of their bearer asset. And how unique that is. “Some kind of ownership” is not acceptable for a large share of us. That sacrifices a major core principle and strategic advantage of Bitcoin in a world of weak property rights.
As friendly feedback, I wish River would detail exactly what “Individuals” means on a graphic like this going forward. Or at least point to an appendix that does. Perhaps titling, “Bitcoin Investment Distribution” would be less misleading than “Ownership” language. I disagree and don’t think hot wallet means true ownership. Claim to ownership ≠ sole custodian. But maybe I’m thinking in idealistic terms rather than realistic TradFi terms in the TradFi world we’re still forced to operate in at some point.
Overall I appreciate you and River! It is important and meaningful work. I don’t mean to come off rude and overly-critical.
quoting note1vcl…j95wYes they are counted as individuals. They are the owners, it’s just that when they use middlemen, those middlemen can do something about that ownership. In a similar way, people own their house in a particular country, and that country can still do something about that ownership. In the case of Bitcoin, the exchange losing or gambling away your coins still makes you a creditor in their bankruptcy, which means even if you lose the money, there is some kind of ownership claim.
If a graphic shows 80% of all bitcoin is held by a handful of people, all it does is give ammo to people who don’t understand the nuances. We already see this happen with the tables of addresses per wealth bracket. This particular graphic focuses on how much different categories are invested in Bitcoin, which is what people are mostly interested in. Everyone already knows much is held at exchanges.
On your final note, cold storage is not a requirement for individual ownership. You can own bitcoin non-custodially in a hot wallet.