There is a narrative among the Bitcoin faithful that what they have bought offers not only investment potential, but freedom from the powers that dominate government-issued “fiat” money. Cryptocurrencies are described by their fans as a people-powered revolution, digital banking unchained from the interests of the wealthy and powerful.
This may well have been the original intention. But the modern reality is that almost all Bitcoin investors own less than one per cent of one Bitcoin. These “retail” investors make up more than 75 per cent of addresses, but own a tiny fraction – 0.22 per cent – of the market. The top 100 Bitcoin accounts own more of the currency than the bottom 38 million. In the crypto economy, businesses and wealthy individuals control currencies more actively than any central bank. They do so not to maintain the market, but to further their own interests.
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