> One is what proportion of ordinary people could actually get access to bitcoins in third world nations.

I don’t know about truly impoverished countries of Africa, but I have seen more Bitcoin storefronts and Bitcoin kiosks in South America and Eastern Europe than in wealthier countries of North America or Western Europe.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that Sub-Saharan Africa was very quick to adopt mobile payments. The countries may be poor, but millions of people may have phones even if they don’t have electricity or running water in their homes, and they are able to do a lot with those phones.

All you need to get access to bitcoin anywhere in the world is a <$40 smartphone and an account on localbitcoins.com.

Sort of. Some places have very limited coverage on LBC. I've gone through my old ads ($50 BTC!) and in Guatemala it is still sparse. There's a bit of money pitching it on Facebook groups and grabbing a 5-10%+ markup nickle and diming it.

What do you gain by controlling currency beyond corruption?

Actually it's the opposite. If you don't control the currency, you end up with a ton of corruption.

It is pretty obvious that you really experienced such policy .

Yeah, lived in a country through an embargo, several wars in the neighborhood, more horrible stuff than that in the economy too.

Bottom line: people are creative creatures. Either we have some rules we can all agree on and enforce them, or people will start inventing all sort of, erm, market optimizations techniques to survive and prosper.

Not only mining, but also bitcoin gambling.