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

[Mahanton]

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.

Wont really be that necessary and if there would be alterations or additions then it will just surely lost its supporters towards bitcoin since they do know that they can do adding up a supply if they wanted to.
Just let it as it should be and we'll be fine.Hence, the last bitcoin would be mined in 2140+ as far as i remember. 21M would be just enough and even if it would be on that global adoption scale then we do
know that it can really be partitioned or divided on smaller units but though we do also know that there are lots who do own 1 btc into their wallets.So as usual there would really be an another issue
of uneven wealth distribution but its too early to mind of such thing but talking about potential then most likely we would really be heading there.

[1714834778]

1714834778

[Debonaire217]

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.

Indeed, this feature is called scarcity, meaning, the lower its volume and the higher the demand, the higher the price of each BTC could be and people in the future even today will value satoshis. I just wonder what could happen if all of the BTC's will be mined, will bitcoin attracts further? The reason I am worried about that is because I believe that miners perform a very essential role in order to make the price of bitcoin high. Related to bitcoin halving, there will be a small mining reward for the future blocks.

[imstillthebest]

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.

Wont really be that necessary and if there would be alterations or additions then it will just surely lost its supporters towards bitcoin since they do know that they can do adding up a supply if they wanted to.
Just let it as it should be and we'll be fine.Hence, the last bitcoin would be mined in 2140+ as far as i remember. 21M would be just enough and even if it would be on that global adoption scale then we do
know that it can really be partitioned or divided on smaller units but though we do also know that there are lots who do own 1 btc into their wallets.So as usual there would really be an another issue
of uneven wealth distribution but its too early to mind of such thing but talking about potential then most likely we would really be heading there.

true and we can be two of that , that will be lost when it comes to supporting bitcoin because we dont want to increase its supply but if there are leavers there were also joiners or people that will put more trust on btc because i heard there are people that wants  btc supply to be boosted .

 the issue is hard but its nice to know that btc are  still being accepted no matter what are devs planning to do with it .

[jpnl0006]

No matter the need that arises in the future, the need to increase Bitcoin total supply is not possible as it has been enshrined in the white paper. The total circulation remains constant and that is the more reason why the scarcity will further increase the price and also increase the demand for it.

[hulla]

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.

Halving will be useless if the max supply of bitcoin is increase. However, bitcoin won't crash even if it max supply happen to be increase cause it something Vitalik have done with ETH which didn't affect ETH price with quality but I don't think that what we need now concern bitcoin because there are more important thing we ought to focus in not max supply increase. 

[Abiky]

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.

We have a long journey ahead before Bitcoin reaches 21 million coins in circulation. Both you and I won't be able to live by the time all Bitcoins have been mined (which is the year of 2100). If Bitcoin remains actively popular, developers will continue to work on scalable solutions for people to be able to pay with satoshis. We already have the Lightning Network, so my guess is that people will be using it massively for micropayments using BTC's smallest denomination (which is 1 satoshi) in the future.

As I've said before, there will only be 21 quadrillion satoshis in existence. I think that's more than enough for all of the people in the world today. Knowing that not everyone will use Bitcoin for mainstream transactions, makes me think that Bitcoin's max supply of 21 millions coins is just fine. But no one knows for sure what will happen in the future. If developers decide to increase BTC's max supply to a much higher value, it might negatively impact Bitcoin's price. That is if they want Bitcoin to be used as digital cash instead of a store of value. But I doubt they'll go this route, as Bitcoin will be able to "live fine" with the Lightning Network enabling people to transact in satoshis further expanding its possibilities in the mainstream world. Just my thoughts

[Abiky]

Yes indeed, and why would someone needs to increase it if we could just use the circulating Bitcoin? We might be using satoshi in the future instead of Bitcoin due to the limited supply. And that's the great thing about Bitcoin once it reached it's total supply but I don't know if Bitcoin would still exist during that time though we probably aren't alive during that time.

Exactly. You and I won't be able to live by the time all Bitcoins are mined on the network. Increasing the max supply is more of a future concern than anything else. In case prices remain the same or go down the drain, developers will need to find a solution in order to maintain miners on the Blockchain. Since rewards will be paid solely off fees, miners will depend heavily on Bitcoin's price on the market. If development continues, I'd expect people to use "satoshis" via the Lightning Network for mainstream payments in the long term. By 2100, future generations might be dealing with very small fractions of a Bitcoin that are worth cents (in USD). Based on my calculations, there will be a total of 21 quadrillion "satoshis" on the network. I think that increasing BTC's max supply could make matters worse as it could devaluate the cryptocurrency on the market.

Nonetheless, there are far more important things to focus on making Bitcoin a better cryptocurrency for all. Increasing the supply is not mandatory for Bitcoin's mainstream adoption. Putting scalability and decentralization above all else, could allow Bitcoin to survive far beyond 2100. At least, we don't need to worry about Bitcoin reaching its maximum supply in our lifetimes. There's plenty of "room" for everyone with Bitcoin's current hard cap in supply. Just my thoughts

[nasipadang]

This is what I sometimes think about, can miners survive only with the proceeds from transaction fees in the future, if the block reward is gone, which means the bitcoin market has reached the max supply. Then with blockchain technology that is still new and still in the free development stage, can it be possible to add max supply and not damage the block chain of bitcoin itself. Maybe for mining problems it can be solved with a hard fork if the bitcoin price can adjust, I mean here miners still benefit. The hard fork also makes the max supply take a long time, coupled with a solution using mBTC.

[odolvlobo]

It is unlikely that any of us will be around to see the subsidy drop to 0, but some of us may witness the point at which there is only 1 bitcoin left to be mined (in 80 years), and most of us will be around to see the subsidy drop below 1 BTC per block (in 10 years).

[grabpopcorn536]

I don't think there is any need to increase the number of bitcoins in the future because it is contrary to what Satoshi Nakamoto created. The community will not allow that, bitcoin needs to keep 21 million to ensure scarcity. If you look for ways to expand the number of bitcoins, then bitcoin will no longer be bitcoin.

[mardaed]

I don't think there is any need to increase the number of bitcoins in the future because it is contrary to what Satoshi Nakamoto created. The community will not allow that, bitcoin needs to keep 21 million to ensure scarcity. If you look for ways to expand the number of bitcoins, then bitcoin will no longer be bitcoin.

Indeed. The whole community exist for this reason, to have continuous movement in the system and keep it regulated as well. Bitcoin, it is what it is, it has its own movement and distribution. And by 2100, I bet there has been many changes and improvements with Bitcoin and its community.

[FlightyPouch]

I don't think there is any need to increase the number of bitcoins in the future because it is contrary to what Satoshi Nakamoto created. The community will not allow that, bitcoin needs to keep 21 million to ensure scarcity. If you look for ways to expand the number of bitcoins, then bitcoin will no longer be bitcoin.

It is still bitcoin, but not the crypto currency this community will support if that even happens. Talking about this, I remembered the incident in the past where a lot of bitcoin is made. I am not saying that this will happen again but I think if the max supply will arise in the future it will be for profit and greedy reasons and I can certainly say that I am not alive at that time.

[eaLiTy]

It is still bitcoin, but not the crypto currency this community will support if that even happens. Talking about this, I remembered the incident in the past where a lot of bitcoin is made. I am not saying that this will happen again but I think if the max supply will arise in the future it will be for profit and greedy reasons and I can certainly say that I am not alive at that time.

Not sure what you are talking about, suppose the developers wants to increase the maximum cap we have right now, it does not mean that they are holding the coins but they will alter the miners incentives and it will have a natural process like we have now rather than creating the coins for the developers to hold  . No one is thinking about raising the cap as there is no need for it and the story about greed is just absurd.

[Swordsoffreedom]

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.

Based from my understanding, the nearer we reach the end of its supply, the lower the denomination of bitcoin distribution will happen and its price would definitely skyrocket assuming that it continues its growth throughout the years. That is why I do not see the need for its supply to increase in the near future. Miners will always stay because in order to transfer bitcoins in one wallet to another, it still requires some miners to do such job and their fees will most likely increase in the future.

Agree with your thought. If the amount of BTC does not increase, then the demand for it will continue to increase day by day. So, I hope no one wants to increase Bitcoin’s amount.  If the amount will increase, we will see a big change in the Bitcoin market. may be the price will drop badly . If the price of BTC goes down, it will not be good for us. We all wants a stable bitcoin market.  In this time, if the price of BTC will rises then its spread will be increased too, people will be more interested on it. And we need it for the bright future of BTC.

[$crypto$]

Agree with your thought . If the amount of btc does not increase  , then the demand  for it will continue to increase day by day . So i hope no one wants to increase bitcoin amount .  If the amount will increase, we will see a big change in the Bitcoin market. may be the price will drop badly  . If the price of btc goes down , it will not be good for us . We all wants a stable bitcoin market .  In this time ,if the price of btc will rises , its spread will  increase , people will be more interested on it. And we need it for the bright future of btc

If the number of bitcoins will increase, there must be a bitcoin founder first and until now the inventor of bitcoin has not yet been found, meaning that addition to bitcoin is not possible and bitcoin is still 21 million in supply.
So changes in the future will continue to occur, but not to add to the supply in terms of price, it is speculative, maybe in the future there will be a lot of demand and the higher the price because of the scarcity of bitcoin will become a stable coin if it reaches the amount of supply.

[grabpopcorn536]

I don't think there is any need to increase the number of bitcoins in the future because it is contrary to what Satoshi Nakamoto created. The community will not allow that, bitcoin needs to keep 21 million to ensure scarcity. If you look for ways to expand the number of bitcoins, then bitcoin will no longer be bitcoin.

It is still bitcoin, but not the crypto currency this community will support if that even happens. Talking about this, I remembered the incident in the past where a lot of bitcoin is made. I am not saying that this will happen again but I think if the max supply will arise in the future it will be for profit and greedy reasons and I can certainly say that I am not alive at that time.

Yes, bitcoin is still bitcoin and the community will no longer support it and those who make the amount of bitcoins increase will no longer be trusted. Increasing the number of bitcoins is worse than a 51% attack, it will pull the value of bitcoin to zero. I think if the DEV team is going to do so, then Satoshi Nakamoto will appear again and prevent that from happening.

[erikoy]

Yes, bitcoin is still bitcoin and the community will no longer support it and those who make the amount of bitcoins increase will no longer be trusted. Increasing the number of bitcoins is worse than a 51% attack, it will pull the value of bitcoin to zero. I think if the DEV team is going to do so, then Satoshi Nakamoto will appear again and prevent that from happening.

I think it could still be possible by having an announcement first to all the bitcoin users of their plan. It could be arrange actually by having another bitcoin v.2 that will be merge to bitcoin v.1 when both crypto will have the same market price. We can expect a good supply after it will be merged. However, I am not sure if this will work and only the bitcoin dev can say something about merging if its possible.

[TedMosby]

Increasing the supply is like the helicopter money.

I don't think that there's a need for it to increase. It's bitcoin and its scarcity is one of its asset and the best thing that it had. We are far seeing that day that there will be debates of increasing the supply. The concern is more of the transaction speed and fees.

In February 2019, news.bitcoin.com published this article.
Proposal to Increase Bitcoin’s 21 Million Supply Sparks Debate
Bitcoin’s Fixed Supply – Arbitrary or Mandatory?
https://news.bitcoin.com/proposal-to-increase-bitcoins-21-million-supply-sparks-debate/

I agree with you that scalability is the concern.
however, with this proposal, you shouldn't think that this debate is far away to happen.
something that you think most likely not gonna happen usually has more probability to happen than you think.

[sayulita]

Increasing the supply is like the helicopter money.

I don't think that there's a need for it to increase. It's bitcoin and its scarcity is one of its asset and the best thing that it had. We are far seeing that day that there will be debates of increasing the supply. The concern is more of the transaction speed and fees.

In February 2019, news.bitcoin.com published this article.
Proposal to Increase Bitcoin’s 21 Million Supply Sparks Debate
Bitcoin’s Fixed Supply – Arbitrary or Mandatory?
https://news.bitcoin.com/proposal-to-increase-bitcoins-21-million-supply-sparks-debate/

I agree with you that scalability is the concern.
however, with this proposal, you shouldn't think that this debate is far away to happen.
something that you think most likely not gonna happen usually has more probability to happen than you think.

Why people only think about increasing the bitcoin supply if there is a scalability concern. The developers can easily make more decimal places in the bitcoin and replace the satoshi to other even more shorter value like 1/100 of a satoshi and that can actually do the trick and solve the bitcoin supply problem, even in the future when the bitcoin price could reach let's say $100 million then the smallest divisible value, i.e. A Satoshi would be equal to $1 and we can then add more decimals to the bitcoin value so the smallest value then can become 1/100 satoshi i.e. 1 cent which is economically a good choice than to just increase the hard cap of bitcoin.

[FlightyPouch]

It is still bitcoin, but not the crypto currency this community will support if that even happens. Talking about this, I remembered the incident in the past where a lot of bitcoin is made. I am not saying that this will happen again but I think if the max supply will arise in the future it will be for profit and greedy reasons and I can certainly say that I am not alive at that time.

Not sure what you are talking about, suppose the developers wants to increase the maximum cap we have right now, it does not mean that they are holding the coins but they will alter the miners incentives and it will have a natural process like we have now rather than creating the coins for the developers to hold  . No one is thinking about raising the cap as there is no need for it and the story about greed is just absurd.

Well, I am talking about if the cap is increased, I think a lot of people would be hating the idea and might not support the crypto if that ever happens. I know that it will not happen and I am just saying that if it happens, just a big "IF", I think it could be at that purpose, thanks for that explanation though and yeah, I also disagree with the idea.