[Early adopters] stand to make a fortune if the currency were to take off and it seems that would leave us with an economy controlled by a small number of participants, defeating much of its potential benefits.
This is only true if early adopters keep holding onto their bitcoins as the value rises. In practice, only a very few will do this.
I started mining about a month ago, which will qualify me as an early adopter if this really takes off. And I can tell you right now that if the exchange rate were to spike to something like $10 within the next year or so, I would probably cash out all or nearly all of my holdings, on the hypothesis that a correction was coming soon. Anyone who buys now and continues to hold at $10, at $50, at $100, ... and finally cashes out at $1000, probably deserves their fortune for exhibiting that level of foresight, patience, and self-control.
This is only true if early adopters keep holding onto their bitcoins as the value rises. In practice, only a very few will do this.
I started mining about a month ago, which will qualify me as an early adopter if this really takes off. And I can tell you right now that if the exchange rate were to spike to something like $10 within the next year or so, I would probably cash out all or nearly all of my holdings, on the hypothesis that a correction was coming soon. Anyone who buys now and continues to hold at $10, at $50, at $100, ... and finally cashes out at $1000, probably deserves their fortune for exhibiting that level of foresight, patience, and self-control.