Can Bitcoin Supply Be Manipulated?

[OgNasty]

Anything can happen.  That really isn't a question.  I think the question you should be asking is what scenarios could present themselves that would cause the development team to pursue a change in Bitcoin's supply.   Personally, I think it would be the end of Bitcoin if this happened, so it's rather unlikely, but things do happen.  Maybe the government would make the Core team an offer they couldn't refuse.  Maybe more nefarious activities from more scrupulous individuals could even be at play.  I don't think the community would stand for it though, and ultimately they would need massive support to make something like this happen, which is why I say it is extremely unlikely.

[hazenyc]

So there are 21 million total because that is how it was coded. Will it be possible to increase the supply or even make it infinite if someone was able to crack the code?

Isn't about a user cracking the code, to apply a change on the network then more than 50% of the nodes should run with that change. In theory, this could be possible, but more than 50% of the people should be agreed with this idea and that's the complex part.

When governments print more money the coins lose their value, that could happen to bitcoin if a fork like that comes.

So, my answer is, yes, it can be manipulated but it will never happen.

I thought for such substantial changes you need more than fifty percent. You don't fly need most of the miners but also all exchanges to upgrade the wallets. I on't know precisely how it works but I remember Andreas Antonopoulos said that in order for the supply to be changed you need more than just a lion share of the hash power.