The 1% wealth issue is a big concern for many crypto currency users. This concept of dysfunction in the current system has been part of what has formed the appeal of the alternative monetary systems. However, it appears that bitcoin is at least not immune to the
concentration of wealth.
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| Charts from https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/rise-of-the-zombie-bitcoins |
On investigation of the
bitcoin rich list, which in itself is a testament to transparency. I have found something that I think calls for further investigation. There are 8 addresses that are all holding just under and almost exactly 66,600 bitcoins! This currently valued at over $28 million USD is not likely to be just a coincidence.
Is there a group within which there is some agreed maximum level? Who are these people? All these address's show similar behavior. Could this be a sign that at the top there are people working to prevent too much wealth centralisation? Or could all these addresses be held by the same entity? They would then control over 528,000 bitcoins. That is 221 million dollars today! It would be a large organisation in the bitcoin world. These addresses would certainly be able to shine more light on what the real wealth divide is in the bitcoin world.
Details as follows:
7
$ 28,701,364.50
66,583.22
1KiVwxEuGBYavyKrxkLncJt2pQ5YUUQX7f
8
$ 28,644,827.68
66,452.07
1PnMfRF2enSZnR6JSexxBHuQnxG8Vo5FVK
9
$ 28,613,249.67
66,378.81
1AhTjUMztCihiTyA4K6E3QEpobjWLwKhkR
10
$ 28,551,614.41
66,235.82
1DiHDQMPFu4p84rkLn6Majj2LCZZZRQUaa
11
$ 28,550,715.10
66,233.74
1EBHA1ckUWzNKN7BMfDwGTx6GKEbADUozX
12
$ 28,538,531.47
66,205.47
14e7XAZbepQp9MXXzjNG3fNLoAUpaBAXHW
13
$ 28,523,540.24
66,170.70
1PB4xXUFyy4kSNqroCBVaQuCuw9VcN3be4
14
$ 28,520,414.69
66,163.45
18f1yugoAJuXcHAbsuRVLQC9TezJ6iVRLp
All these addresses were active until the end of 2014 and none of them have had any withdrawals. this might suggest that they may even be paper wallets. The largest
recent transactions are of most note. However these trails quickly become dispersed as many of these contributing addresses appear to use
brainwallets and coin consolidating transfers which mask their identities.
Initial transactions are also a good place to start. Addresses 7 and 8, 10, 12, 13 and 14 all received a large and almost equal amount of funds from the same address in a simultaneous transfer. This suggests some kind of connection
The answer may already be out
there. A lot of volunteer investigation goes on. Online articles on the subject are have been common in the past, but many are now comically in need of updating. I found
this one from Forbes when bitcoin was worth $6.50. Some forums even link some of these addresses to Mt Gox. There are so many opinions that it becomes difficult to know who to trust. An authoritative source on
rich list identities would be a valuable asset to the community. Information is freely available. but after some hours of investigation, no simple conclusive answer can be found.
Many of these addresses contain
public notes which have been written into the blockchain. This is where people have sent money to these addresses in the hope of receiving larger payments in return. Many of them are the same, as someone people have annoyingly appealed to all these addresses separately, creating false linkages on the blockchain.
"Public Note: Good afternoon! Your help is necessary. My wife has a problem with health, treatment is necessary (we expect a baby). If you have some unnecessary btc or satosh, please, help, we will rejoice any help."
"Public Note: i see many people here begging for money, but i`m looking for an investor for my app-idea.Mr. Zuckerberg payed for Whatsapp $19 bil. My app will be used worldwide.i tried to get money this way: milliondollarsapp.com. Do you want to be my private investor?"
And others even offer email addresses.
"Public Note: No1 Bitcoin Program 200days online FinMutual https://finmutual.com/?ref=yonce my email: yoncedownline@gmail.com"
Though simply a bazaar distraction, it's amazing that there are these kinds of things out there to be found. How successful have these digital beggars have been? I await a reply from the person above. It also sparks the idea, whether it may be worth spamming or politically pressuring these account holders in this way. This micro-donation spamming provides a direct method of communication
As in the fiat financial system, we must understand that the one percenters may not want to be identified. Some of them even may have earned their money illegitimately. In 2013 after silk road was shut down the
FBI was in the top 10. Since then there have been government auctions and some anonymity has been lost for these coins. Over time, it can become harder to maintain an anonymous profile in bitcoin. When coins are spent identity becomes increasingly harder to conceal. This leaves any criminal millionaires left in a difficult position as, at the same time, the longer they hold their coins the more likely they will be detected.
Most of the owners of these bitcoins are likely legitimate. they may even be linked to a popular company. As yet I have come up empty handed. Bitcoin investigation though freely available has much to be developed. It may have already become so vast that it is insurmountable by the individual. Companies like
Elliptic attempt to chart these flows of funds and offer some resources for free. Possibilities of transparency are much higher than the levels that we accept today. Blockchain investigation on this may always be expensive and time-consuming, working against people who do not want to be found. It may be better to use people power to change this. We can spam their addresses, but this requires generosity on the part of the poorest bitcoiners. A clever twist learned from the beggars.
We could spam these addresses with political requests for them to expose their identity. A petition could be put up requesting signatures of bitcoiners on a public site, and that site could then forward the request to the rich bitcoiners through a small payment with a message and link. Shall we band together to find out what's going on in bitcoins royal coffers?
It is not clear whether wealth inequality is an issue with bitcoin, but it is clear that we can do something about it.
If you would like me to do this, please comment below, this page will form the petition. Once sufficient support is gathered I will send a single message to the top 14 bitcoin addresses, linking to this page. Hopefully the willing holders will identify themselves through a small transfer in return. This is not a fight against anonymity, but for transparency, even pseudonyms would do. The more support we have the more likely they will be to reveal their identities.
