[coinward]

Power like what you've described comes from control of the money supply. If I have billions of dollars worth of BTC I may start paying men with guns to defend me from the other men with guns, well then we have a power struggle.

[JumpCrisscross]

> Power like what you've described comes from control of the money supply

So Ecuador [1] and every member of the Eurozone are powerless? As well as practically every revolutionary force in history? What about governments when we were on the gold standard?

> If I have billions of dollars worth of BTC I may start paying men with guns to defend me from the other men with guns, well then we have a power struggle

This works equally well with your holding Bitcoins or dollars or renmimbi. Wealth conveys power. Whether it is held in gold or Bitcoin or Amazon stock is irrelevant.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_of_Ecuador

[coinward]

Do you think revolutionary armies didn't pay their soldiers?

Gold standard reflected sound monetary policy and kept government misallocations in check. Since moving to the fiat standard, governments have unleashed record spending. Bitcoin is exposing what happens to the money as a result of the monetary expansion.

Bitcoin has replaced gold, and those of us who have adopted a BTC standard will have separated in prosperity levels from our fiat based peers within a generation or two.

[JumpCrisscross]

> those of us who have adopted a BTC standard will have separated in prosperity levels from our fiat based peers within a generation or two

What you’re describing is true of any asset that appreciates in value. The wealth confers power. That it is a currency is irrelevant.

If the U.S. switched its legal tender to Bitcoin tomorrow, it would change how we borrow and spend. But it would be no more of a shock to the system than a balanced budget amendment on the Treasury and the Fed. (Less, in fact, since the U.S. on Bitcoin could still deficit spend.)

[toxik]

A Bitcoin-funded military coup. Now that’s sci-fi stuff!