In a day where possibilities for Bitcoin investments bloom in the U.S. and its price continues to rise, the numbers from the stock market’s gains during the last year and a half mostly show an alarming increase in wealth inequality.
The Robinhood’s democratization has been in style for a while now, ever since it gave the little guy easier access to the stock market and more possibilities to profit from it. However, the US economy perseveres to grow its breach between the wealthy 10% and the bottom 90%.
A recent CNBC report showed that the wealthiest Americans have gotten even wealthier during the Covid-19 pandemic, getting to break a record by owning 89% of U.S. stocks and adding $6.5 trillion.
Meanwhile, the stocks held by the other 90% of Americans actually went down from 12% to 11%, adding a considerably smaller amount of $1.2 trillion. The hopes for wealth equality that came with the “democratization” cannot help but gasp at these numbers.
The other numbers that increased in the U.S. during the pandemic are the index of poverty and inflation. The inequality gap goes beyond the trading market, as shown by the World Economic Forum past September:
in June 2021, employment for low-wage workers had fallen by 21% from January 2020 levels, while employment for high-income workers had gained 9.6%.
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Wealth and poverty are blooming at the same time, and stocks represent 70% percent of the wealth gains since the pandemic started. Democratization aside, the top still holds the advantage of being able to buy and hold, while the bottom ones need a faster way to make ends meet.
One wonders if the growth of Bitcoin could help the breach between classes, being its profit and the possibilities of owning assets of great potential for the middle class.
Bitcoin Could Help Wealth Inequality
Last year, Americans benefited from Bitcoin, earning around $4 billion from it. Although it is a lower cipher than the stock market’s profit, the latter has been around for centuries and its wealth inequality has only gotten stronger, while Bitcoin is still young and has already become of importance for the middle class.
One of the main reasons why bitcoin is of great interest around the world is because the blockchain has consistently shown the potential of closing the wealth inequality gap. It has opened a path for the middle class to own assets.
New Bitcoin possibilities come midst an unprecedented crisis not just as mere hope but a necessity. As some fear the alleged loopholes in cryptocurrency that have been criticized and feared by many, others can see that it is the loopholes that can help the lower and middle classes grow out of the few chances they are offered.
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To those whose very few possibilities of income and economic growth keep them entangled in poverty, the stories of middle and low-class Bitcoin users around the world represent a new scene that might help diversify the economy.
Currently, immigrants represent 14.4% of the American population. Added to that, around half a million US citizens are homeless, and many others find themselves going through unemployment and financial trouble.
The traditional banking and the employment industries do not benefit those who have a hard time getting common requests such as a residential address. As owning and investing in cryptocurrencies lack these obstacles, their growing acceptance can potentially oppose the inequality gap that the stock market has only helped grow.
