The fall of Mt.Gox has a lot of people saying Bitcoin is dead.Yes, the Tokyo-based exchange may be gone, but the virtual currency has much more than a single exchange (which wasn't even the largest at the time that it collapsed).There's still a great deal of room for Bitcoin to grow, particularly in the West: Mt.Gox's collapse hasn't done much to temper curiosity among regulators and entrepreneurs.It's no surprise that Americans are still interested in the cryptocurrency: Bitcoin is highly concentrated in the United States.Despite recent crackdowns by foreign governments on Bitcoin, which has sent its prices tumbling, North America has twice the number of Bitcoin-related, venture-backed businesses that Asia does.Overall, Canada and the United States account for 60 percent of such companies, according to a study released last week by Coindesk.Seventy percent of all Bitcoin venture capital goes to U.S.-based firms.The distribution of investment in Bitcoin seems to be highly unequal, suggesting that the United States may have an early lead on the currency's development compared with other countries.

Given Bitcoin's potential not just as a method of payment but as a kind of programmable currency that can be used for contracts and other kinds of  cumbersome transactions, this could be a huge deal.And while drawing comparisons to the early Internet may not be exact, it's hard not to think that the first country to figure out digital currency will enjoy tremendous first-mover advantages.Of course, the drawback to consolidation is that those benefits will be concentrated in the hands of a relative few.That dynamic is already playing out among individual holders of Bitcoin, with a growing gulf between the Bitcoin-rich and the Bitcoin-poor.According to Risto Pietilä, a Finnnish entrepreneur, the overwhelming share of Bitcoin wealth is held in just a few dozen wallets.Half of all bitcoins belong to around 927 "individuals."If those figures are right, then half of the world's 12 million or so bitcoins is held by a tenth of a percent of all accounts.That's a stunning statement of inequality, since in the real world 46 percent of the world's wealth belongs to 1 percent of the global population.

The Bitcoin world, then, is even less equal than the real world.You don't have to look far to find concrete evidence of this concentration.Ross Ulbricht, the alleged operator of the illicit drug marketplace Silk Road, may have been sitting on a pile of as many as 144,000 bitcoins worth tens of millions of dollars when the FBI seized them.Others have said they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Mt.Some of those people showed up at Mt.Gox's headquarters in protest.Their accouterments — Google Glass, a Macbook Pro, a trendy messenger bag — gave them away.As unfortunate as their losses were, the protesters are a reminder that no matter how unequal the Bitcoin economy is, it's still mostly a playground for the ultra-rich.I remember my first credit card vividly.For months, I had been attempting to woo my local bank.“Give me a card,” I begged.“You can trust me.” My pleas fell on deaf ears.Then one day, after all but giving up, I found myself at Gap.(As I recall, I was there to purchase a pair of skinny jeans.)

While fumbling through my wallet at the checkout counter, the cashier asked me if I wanted to apply for a Gap Visa.After an instant vetting (what the heck did they look up, anyway?), they awarded me an account.The physical card arrived in the mail a few days later.I’ve had the card for years.Think about that.I am a bastion of trust (trust me on that one).My finances have always been solid.snowden bitcoin nsaI have a pleasant appearance.bitcoin mining flash driveThe only thing holding me back from getting a credit card was my youth.ethereum lowest feesI had to wait a long time for someone to give me one.And it’s not just credit cards.bitcoin merchants london

Banks often require parental permission to open savings and checking accounts.In general, young people have restricted access to the entire financial system—credit and otherwise.You can’t blame the banks, though, or the credit card companies.They have to assess risk somehow.And to them, I was risky business.But how could I prove my trustworthiness if I was never given the chance?bitcoin core data directoryIt’s a classic chicken-and-egg problem.As a society, we want to lead young people to financial independence.bitcoin etsWe want to teach young people about financial responsibility.Yet the current financial paradigm fails miserably.Young people have to overcome immense hurdles to build credit and gain access to credit cards and reasonable loans.On the other hand, credit card culture can be detrimental to those who lack financial common sense.

Debt entraps millions.If only there were some way to empower young people to prove their trustworthiness without exposing financial firms to unnecessary risk.That’s where bitcoin comes in.No trust barriers exist.Young men and women don’t have to bend over backward to prove themselves.Transactions are peer-to-peer and instant.Anyone can download a bitcoin wallet and use it.Forthcoming applications of the blockchain—such as smart property—inject this trustless paradigm with an additional dose of democracy.The trust issue is particularly acute for minority youths.Faced not only with a disadvantage in age and experience, they have an additional barrier to overcome—that of being a minority.This has a direct effect on social mobility.For instance, 32 percent of white children born in the bottom quartile of income distribution remain there.This number increases to 63 percent for black children.In the world of personal and commercial lending, discrimination is a reality, but it isn’t necessarily based on hate or racism.

It’s based on risk.Pragmatism is the highest virtue of the financial professional.Bitcoin has the power to address social mobility and discrimination, both as a currency and as a protocol.In a bitcoin economy complete with smart property, it doesn’t matter what color your skin is or what part of town you’re from.All that matters is your ability to utilize a smartphone or similar device.(Yes, Internet access is also a factor, albeit a quickly diminishing one.)Bitcoin is uniquely promising, because it does not attempt to alter the valuations of financial professionals or of the system as a whole.Instead, it makes the need for those valuations obsolete.Technologies currently in the development stage include smart contracts and smart property.In short, these applications will utilize the protocol to enforce legal obligations, thereby protecting the interests of both creditors and purchasers—without the need for discrimination.With bitcoin, nobody is at a disadvantage because of trust—neither the youth nor minorities.