I'm just learning/getting started with bitcoin and one thing that's obvious straight away, is that the more computational power you can throw at it (with the cheapest energy possible), the more coins you can make.
Lots of people mining coins (myself included) just appear to be hobbyists - maybe with some nice equipment, but nonetheless, not 'industrial-scale'.
So why aren't there companies investing millions in solar panels and ACIS machines to mine bitcoins? Wouldn't someone that invested a few million (or more) in a setup like that monopolize bitcoin, in a manner of speaking? (Until people investing equally large amounts?). It'd raise the difficulty beyond what hobbyists could afford to make BTC profitable for them to mine.
Maybe millions isn't enough, what if someone spent BILLIONS doing this? Would it have the effect I suspect?