bitcoin life expectancy...

[blurden]

I feel like i read this somewhere long ago. What is the predicted life expectancy of bitcoin fully running its course, sans a network takeover?

[DeathAndTaxes]

Not sure what you are asking.

[Elwar]

42

[ElectricMucus]

~5000 years

Major civilizations can last about that long from historic records.

[blurden]

No it's not infiniti, there was a predicted and calculated EOL.

[CoinDiver]

No it's not infiniti, there was a predicted and calculated EOL.

Are you are talking about the mining rewards?

[DeathAndTaxes]

No it's not infiniti, there was a predicted and calculated EOL.

The infinity sign was a nice way of saying your wrong.  There is no "predicted and calculated EOL".  Bitcoin may fail tomorrow or still be around in 20,000 years but there is no termination date built into the protocol.

TL/DR:
Yes.

[Come-from-Beyond]

Approx. 2 years left.

[blurden]

I believe it had been calculated because of the deflationary component limit of 8 decimals...
maybe it was a subjective assumption?

[DeathAndTaxes]

I believe it had been calculated because of the deflationary component limit of 8 decimals...
maybe it was a subjective assumption?

The number of decimal places is arbitrary it can be expended to 12 or 20,000 if necessary.

[foggyb]

Bitcoins wear out in approximately 5-1/2 years, then they have to be reminted.

[blurden]

ok so maybe it was calculated by lost coins? or is expansion handled by the decimals?

[phatsphere]

I believe it had been calculated because of the deflationary component limit of 8 decimals...

bitcoin is getting more, not less. hence not deflationary. second, from time to time coins are lost ... some day in the future the supply of new coins will be less than the loss of older coins.
but

• this does never end at zero
• the 8 decimals are just how it is implemented right now. adding another 8, 16 or 24 digits after the comma is no fundamental issue, just a matter of proper upgrading all clients.

[Spekulatius]

I believe there will be a successor to bitcoin that is better in almost all regards within 5 years from now. The question is: will it be adopted because of high barriers of market entry for this new competitor given bitcoin's higher adoption level? And will it be convertible into bitcoins?

So basically 5-10 years more or a very long time into the future (100 years?)

[malevolent]

As long as Internet / mesh networks / etc. exist.

[blurden]

thank you all for the replies - i've got somewhat of an idea. I'll write off whatever I read (and can't seem to find again) as speculative, and I have gained yet another inkling of understanding. 

[MysteryMiner]

Bitcoins will not last for infinity. Only thing that is finite by design is the storage space available for blockchain. In physics and cosmology it is known that no civilization can acquire infinite amount of data.

But even this might not be a problem in far future. The biggest threat to Bitcoins are noobs and government. Geniuses create things, noobs screw them up in any imaginable or unimaginable way and then government steps in and put regulations on it. And this might happen long before all matter in asteroid belt is transformed to solid state drives.

[evoorhees]

Bitcoin will survive until the Singularity... unless the AI decides to continue using it as its currency (and why not?!)   Ohhhhh or maybe the AI itself actually created Bitcoin as the first phase in the Singularity. 

[paraipan]

As long as humans exist on this planet, that know how it works and use it

[phatsphere]

Bitcoin will survive until the Singularity...

all hail to the upcoming cybernetic omnipresent AI. spoiler: money will no longer be necessary ... we just obey or drones bomb us.