from a functional perspective I don't see how that's different from just having it hardcoded in the genesis block
Having posted the code ahead of time, and making the Genesis block not spendable. Monero (not Bytecoin) had a similarly p2p launch, but we can't measure how concentrated its wealth is.
It's a problem, sure. If you want auditability at the expense of any guaranteed privacy, again, Ripple. It's is totally transparent, assuming you keep a backup of all the old closed ledgers. And uses computing power more comparable to an old-fashioned bank account than to Bitcoin.
I got a ton of free Ripples for free when it launched because it was not p2p, but I agreed to test it. I ended up selling them for a considerable amount of virtually pure profit. Aren't they still using centrally assigned Validators? With that much centralization, they could use virtually no computing power at all.
But it's a reasonable point - guaranteed privacy or guaranteed auditability? For your network traffic, are you bouncing it through an onion route for which the peers aren't required to save records - like Tor? I certainty don't think Monero is centralized or a scam, FWIW. Breaches of privacy are internalized to the users, while a breached supply limit would end the coin.
thinking that cryptocurrencies are all p2p, and that Bitcoin dominates the market because they don’t know this one simple thing, are both telltale signs of a novice.
It's never been my main squeeze, but I've dabbled since the early days. Do with that what you will.
Honestly I don't recognize your username, but since you're privacy focused I assume you just change it. It's been a long time. ❤️
Two have so far!