Will the need to increase BTC's max supply arise in the future?

[Abiky]

I'd rather use smaller fractions of satoshis instead. I think the limited supply of BTC now became a very powerful psychological thing and having the supply suddenly turn into billions of BTC might do more bad than good, considering supply is one of the reasons some people are here.

Smaller fractions of satoshis is about the same thing as having more supply, without having to think "oh, now we have more BTC!". If Bitcoin ever gets to $100k or more, I personally believe this will become a problem not just for miners, but for everyone else.

Using smaller denominations of a Bitcoin is an option. But if fees rise all the way to the moon, it will no longer be feasible. Raising BTC's total supply, should alleviate things a little. If devs still want to keep the 21 million coin hard cap, they'd need to focus on scalable solutions as much as possible. While we already have the Lightning Network, is still not ready for mainstream use. Even in its current state, adoption for second-layer payments is ridiculously low. Maybe it's because people are not aware about the LN or they don't know how to use it?

In the time being, we don't need to worry about raising the 21 million coin limit. Bitcoin will work fine for the rest of our lifetimes. By 2100, I'm sure devs and the community would've found a way to "tackle" many of Bitcoin's limitations. I'd expect a widely-scalable Blockchain network used by millions (if not billions) of people worldwide in a seamless manner. This, alongside high prices on the market (over $100k per coin), should make Bitcoin the best store of value in the whole wide world. If everything works as intended, miners could live off BTC fees without the need to increase the total supply at all. With many Bitcoin forks out there on the market, Bitcoin has essentially "raised" its total supply of 21 million coins. Just my opinion

[MCobian]

In my opinion there is no need to increase the Bitcoin max supply, just fine with 21 million coins. Because there is no need to increase
the supply even Bitcoin can used by everyone in this world. As many people have said, to have Bitcoin you don't need to buy 1 whole
Bitcoin. Moreover, by only having a max supply of 21 million coins, this is what distinguishes it from fiat currency. Because Bitcoin will
become the best store of value.

[20kevin20]

Using smaller denominations of a Bitcoin is an option. But if fees rise all the way to the moon, it will no longer be feasible. Raising BTC's total supply, should alleviate things a little. If devs still want to keep the 21 million coin hard cap, they'd need to focus on scalable solutions as much as possible. While we already have the Lightning Network, is still not ready for mainstream use. Even in its current state, adoption for second-layer payments is ridiculously low. Maybe it's because people are not aware about the LN or they don't know how to use it?

My best guess is, a lower denomination comes packed with a lower fee as well - as in, you could pay fractions of satoshis per byte (and I think that already could be done without further changes to BTC's structure). If BTC gets to an insane price range such as millions, I doubt the network will still "fight" over the range of sats/byte we currently have as we speak. The more BTC'll be priced, the less sats people will pay for txs - and I think that's quite logical. It'd make no sense to pay hundreds/thousands of bucks per tx, even if we're talking about millions.

[FlightyPouch]

IMO, I don't think that is necessary. Since we are talking about the future and talking about the supply, I guess a lot of people are actually using it. That also means the demand is higher making the value of it high so I agree that we should just maybe introduce another denomination or maybe we should't think of that at all since Satoshi might be enough denomination for that.

[kezinaur14]

If it ever becomes a world reserve currency used for payments all around the world like some people believe we will have to think of something.

By the time Bitcoin reaches 21 million we will probably have at least 1/4 of that permanently lost and another 1/4 in safe accounts of lifetime hodlers which will leave only 10 million in circulation. That's not enough for over 500 million people. I said 500 because not all people in the world will use Bitcoin just like USD and EUR are estimated to be used by about 350 million people each.

Yes and no. I don't think that we will ever need an increase in the max supply, and you have given the reason right there, even if we get very widespread adoption, it'll prolly never go over 500m users, and 10m btc is more than enough, if it isn't, then price will increase and it will fit, as long as the chain can handle the traffic we should be good, there'll be a point where we'll switch from large transactions (0.01 or more btc) and, let's call it regular transaction volumes. To a smaller transactions (sub 0.01) but in much greater volumes, and it'll be dictated once price rises.

[Nellayar]

This issue had been discussed even before. It just differ from the previous topic but the thought was in it. The scarcity of bitcoin supply made it more valuable. Imagine, a shitcoin that has 10B supply of token it is useless since you can buy/sell it in a low price. Unlike with bitcoin, there is a volatility. And we all know that the more it fluctuates, the more investors want it to invest. It is good for me to have low supply of bitcoin because as a pioneer of crypto industry, it will be a win-win situation for us. Specially when it moves around 40K dollars above in the future.

[Innerpumper]

In my opinion, with the current supply of bitcoins 21 million is a slight amount to the whales, even if Bitcoin has been distributed all over the miners, maybe bitcoin is above the peak plus if more and more trends in the community about Bitcoin, the price will still continue to rise because of the supply of a little.

[RondoAnyar]

I see only 21 million bitcoins that will remain in the crypto cycle forever, because if there must be additional bitcoins I think it will make bitcoin have a low price and the price decline is out of control. so it would be better if the bitcoin price remains where it is today

[7788bitcoin]

In my opinion, with the current supply of bitcoins 21 million is a slight amount to the whales, even if Bitcoin has been distributed all over the miners, maybe bitcoin is above the peak plus if more and more trends in the community about Bitcoin, the price will still continue to rise because of the supply of a little.

The total supply of fiat currency wont be enough to purchase by one entity so there is nothing much to worry about a single whale purchasing all the coins. The basic thing you need to understand is that the price of bitcoin is rallying because of the so called whales who have the purchasing power to hold the market.

@OP i hope no one would be dumb enough to increase the supply as it will have an impact on the price and it is better not to mess with that, the valuation will crash if that happens.

[James1970]

Bitcoin could be devided for very low part, we dont need to increase it supply while we can use 1 satoshi

[NelfiNovita]

Do you think that the need to increase BTC's max supply will arise in the future? Or will Bitcoin be able to "live" just fine with a max supply of 21 million coins? Your input will be greatly appreciated.

yes maybe if the supply of bitcoin will be increased in the future because there are more bitcoin users. Besides that, the price of bitcoin will continue to rise as users and buyers in the crypto market continue to increase. if the supply of bitcoin is still as much as 21 million coins in the future, but bitcoin is still alive at a price that is much higher than the price of bitcoin today.

[Abiky]

My best guess is, a lower denomination comes packed with a lower fee as well - as in, you could pay fractions of satoshis per byte (and I think that already could be done without further changes to BTC's structure). If BTC gets to an insane price range such as millions, I doubt the network will still "fight" over the range of sats/byte we currently have as we speak. The more BTC'll be priced, the less sats people will pay for txs - and I think that's quite logical. It'd make no sense to pay hundreds/thousands of bucks per tx, even if we're talking about millions.

Good point. Since Bitcoin is divisible to 8 units, there might be no need to increase the max supply in the future. If prices go all the way to the moon, people might be transacting with "satoshis" instead of a Bitcoin. In the future, it's expected for Bitcoin to boost its transaction capacity like never before. It's hoped that the Lightning Network gains massive adoption in the mainstream world, making "satoshi" payments (micropayments) practical once more.

Based on my calculations, there will ever be 2,100,000,000,000,000 satoshis in existence (21 max supply / 1 satoshi). That's plenty enough Bitcoins for anyone to use worldwide. In case fees become too high relative to Fiat, people will pay less for their transaction to go through the Blockchain. That is of course, if people know how to set their own fees in their wallet of choice. With so many Bitcoin-based forks available today, the max supply of 21 millions coins has been virtually expanded. The main Bitcoin blockchain might be able to last for long with its hard-coded maximum supply for the foreseeable future. Future generations will have to see if Bitcoin will be able to live up to the standards after the year of 2100. Just my thoughts

[javainn]

maybe need for additional btc upgrades in the future, but i am worried if the addition of btc supply in the future will affect btc prices. because we know if it will make btc more and more people hunt and the price in the market may decrease and bitcoin is not a superior coin in the future

[ampu]

I don't think increasing the amount of bitcoins is happening because it makes sense for a 4-year block reward reduction to increase the rarity of bitcoin. If an increase in the number of bitcoins occurs, it is certain that the value of bitcoin will decrease and both investors and users will switch to a better cryptocurrency.

[erikoy]

I don't think increasing the amount of bitcoins is happening because it makes sense for a 4-year block reward reduction to increase the rarity of bitcoin. If an increase in the number of bitcoins occurs, it is certain that the value of bitcoin will decrease and both investors and users will switch to a better cryptocurrency.

No, it will depend on how it will be manage. In my own opinion it is better to create bitcoin version 2 and then waiti for time to come that both bitcoin version will reach the same market price and merge together. So, this can make bitcoin supply to increase and double its figure from 21M then it will go on 42M btc supply. However, I do not know how things will going to work but this is something I am positive that it is possible to do like that way. Well who knows one day it will be happening.

[jademaxsuy]

No, it will depend on how it will be manage. In my own opinion it is better to create bitcoin version 2 and then waiti for time to come that both bitcoin version will reach the same market price and merge together. So, this can make bitcoin supply to increase and double its figure from 21M then it will go on 42M btc supply. However, I do not know how things will going to work but this is something I am positive that it is possible to do like that way. Well who knows one day it will be happening.

Hmm..But what about the technical aspect of this idea? I think it can never be the same because they are in different version as you have stated. It will just be like oil and water where it could not be mixed together. It will just create technical issues in the future especially when it comes to transferring or exchange of bitcoins. Two versions of bitcoin may be a good idea but let us wait for the developer for if it is really necessary to add btc supply or remain that way. Supply is not a problem because anyone can buy bitcoin in parts and prices will just going to have a good volatility due to lowers btc supply than adding more btc supply in the market.

[ArcheAdvertising]

For long, Bitcoin has been touted as the "store of value" of the crypto/Blockchain space with its limited supply of 21 million coins. Based on estimates, all Bitcoin will be mined by 2100. Now, what if developers decide to increase that hard cap in supply? If at that point in time, Bitcoin's prices stay just the way they are right now (less than $1m), it may become unprofitable for miners to continue supporting the Blockchain. With no block reward, they'll be living off fees. If prices are too low, earned fees won't be able to sustain miner's operations. By then, developers would need to raise the limit of 21 million coins to a higher value, re-introducing a block reward in order to attract miners into the Blockchain. Otherwise, the security of the Bitcoin blockchain will be at risk.

Do you think that the need to increase BTC's max supply will arise in the future? Or will Bitcoin be able to "live" just fine with a max supply of 21 million coins? Your input will be greatly appreciated.

If it did then what would be the difference between BTC and any FIAT currency? If you think about it, there would be no difference since you cannot say that it is anonymity since it is increasingly regulated and will continue to be. So that's why I think the MAX SUPPLY shouldn't change. Only time will tell for now deflation has been working. Just look at its price and see where it started.

[int03h]

The goal for 4 years to reduce the number of bitcoins mined in a block is to increase the scarcity of bitcoins. I think that if you increase the number of bitcoins, the halving won't make much sense and bitcoin will crash. Bitcoin is currently at its best and bitcoin only has 21 million coins.

[mikeauerbach]

One of the main Bitcoin's feature is its divisibility. Bitcoin is divisible into 100 million units and its smallest unit is called a Satoshi. That's why there is no need to have more than 21M Bitcoins.

[Janation]

I don't think the developers are even thinking about this.

If we will be thinking about it, we've been finding a solution to this as a problem because there will be a lot of people using it in the future. That means the demand of it is so high the reason I think that it will not be needed because the value or price of Bitcoin will be so high that even the smallest denomination will be of a good price.