... except we should remember the fact that exploiting this power is not an all-or-nothing choice. Some have shown that double spends and other abuses of this kind of power have already happened, yet Bitcoin survives. As long as someone can exploit this in small ways and get away with it (without causing total collapse), they will have an incentive to continue. And the short-term gains (converted to value that doesn't depend on Bitcoin's future) for that person/entity may be much more attractive than the threat of eventual collapse when their little game is up (and the masses start jumping the Bitcoin ship).
Also, the pool operators (who have the ability to exploit this power) have not really spent large sums of money themselves. They have power because ignorant minors are essentially handing over their vote to the pool operators in exchange for convenience and low variance.
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... except we should remember the fact that exploiting this power is not an all-or-nothing choice. Some have shown that double spends and other abuses of this kind of power have already happened, yet Bitcoin survives. As long as someone can exploit this in small ways and get away with it (without causing total collapse), they will have an incentive to continue. And the short-term gains (converted to value that doesn't depend on Bitcoin's future) for that person/entity may be much more attractive than the threat of eventual collapse when their little game is up (and the masses start jumping the Bitcoin ship).
Also, the pool operators (who have the ability to exploit this power) have not really spent large sums of money themselves. They have power because ignorant minors are essentially handing over their vote to the pool operators in exchange for convenience and low variance.