I’m worried about the future of Bitcoin

[samkalyzom]

 I heard that the reward is halved every 4 years after each halving, so the reward miners will receive will always approach zero. To maintain the Bitcoin network, the price of Bitcoin must keep rising infinitely, which is impossible. Could there be a point where the value of the Bitcoin miners receive is almost zero, and the Bitcoin network collapses due to a lack of miners?

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future? But that would certainly cause Bitcoin’s price to drop significantly.

Could Bitcoin switch to PoS like Ethereum? That would also cause Bitcoin’s price to fall.

I don’t know if my understanding is correct

[pooya87]

Could there be a point where the value of the Bitcoin miners receive is almost zero, and the Bitcoin network collapses due to a lack of miners?

The reward the miners receive is the sum of block reward (that gets halved every ~4 years) and the sum of all transaction fees inside that block. So the only way what they receive could be zero is if we are about a 100 years from now that the block reward is zero and also nobody uses bitcoin anymore to pay any fee.

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future? But that would certainly cause Bitcoin’s price to drop significantly.

Anything is possible but remember that capped supply is one of the main principles of Bitcoin. Changing those is extremely difficult because it fundamentally changes Bitcoin.
Not to mention that there is no reason to do so in the near future (that's the next decade or two). And in my opinion speculating about any further than that is wrong because of the way technology advances, we may have something far better than Bitcoin 20 years from now.

Could Bitcoin switch to PoS like Ethereum? That would also cause Bitcoin’s price to fall.

No never because PoS is a fundamentally flawed protocol.

[Die_empty]

I don’t know if my understanding is correct

Given that the price of bitcoin has historically increased, this trend is very likely to continue. After all, other assets have kept appreciating. Even if all the 21 million bitcoins are mined, miners will still be rewarded with transaction fees. Bitcoin's hard cap makes the coin unique. One of the differences between Bitcoin and altcoins is the the limit. I don't think increasing the supply limit of Bitcoin will ever be considered. POW makes Bitcoin decentralized and secured, so it's still the best option.

[Charles-Tim]

I heard that the reward is halved every 4 years after each halving, so the reward miners will receive will always approach zero. To maintain the Bitcoin network, the price of Bitcoin must keep rising infinitely, which is impossible. Could there be a point where the value of the Bitcoin miners receive is almost zero, and the Bitcoin network collapses due to a lack of miners?

This question has been answered. The question should now be will miner be making money from only transaction fee. I think they should be. Let us expect bitcoin price to increase. Also some coins are spamming the network which add to transaction fee. There will likely be more of them in the future.

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future? But that would certainly cause Bitcoin’s price to drop significantly.

I do not think this would be possible. It will strongly be opposed by the bitcoin community.

Could Bitcoin switch to PoS like Ethereum? That would also cause Bitcoin’s price to fall.

For what reason? PoW is better than PoS. Not only that miners will benefit. The miners will pay for electricity. This will help increase employment in electricity companies. Unlike PoS.

[Ambatman]

I don't know if it would possible to picture a Bitcoin that's not POW or more than 21million.
If there's any changes, it seize been called Bitcoin.
Yes it would get to zero when all block are mined but as long as transactions are made
Then there would be incentives for miners to continue but we can't tell if the fee would be enough then but that's in the future.

Bitcoin's hard cap makes the coin unique. One of the differences between Bitcoin and altcoins is the the limit.

Bitcoin is unique from altcoins because it's Bitcoin.
Hardcap is just one of its defining feature.

[Rruchi man]

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future?

Any tamper on the total amount of Bitcoin would be a red flag because it would raise a lot of questions about the nature of Bitcoin that we've trusted over the years, and people would be interested to know who increased the supply and to know if it is really free from control.

And in my opinion speculating about any further than that is wrong because of the way technology advances, we may have something far better than Bitcoin 20 years from now.

This is a fact.

@OP, worry about now; leave worry about the future for later.

[Catenaccio]

I heard that the reward is halved every 4 years after each halving, so the reward miners will receive will always approach zero.

After heard about it, did you make any research to figure out the fact?

How is the 21 million bitcoin cap defined and enforced
Controlled supply
Can Bitcoin's hard cap of 21 Million be changed?

Bitcoin miners earn bitcoin in two things: Bitcoin block reward that halves every four years, and you have to know 4 years is estimation, it's exactly 210,000 blocks. With average block time is 10 minutes, the estimation gives you 4 years.

Another earn source of Bitcoin miners is Bitcoin transaction fees that can be low or high, depends on Bitcoin users who are ready to pay high or low transaction fees.

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future?

It is possible but nobody wants it to happen.

Could Bitcoin switch to PoS like Ethereum?

Nobody wants it too because Bitcoin network with Proof of Work is decentralized, and switching to Proof of Stake will make it centralized.

[betswift]

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future?

Any tamper on the total amount of Bitcoin would be a red flag because it would raise a lot of questions about the nature of Bitcoin that we've trusted over the years, and people would be interested to know who increased the supply and to know if it is really free from control.

And in my opinion speculating about any further than that is wrong because of the way technology advances, we may have something far better than Bitcoin 20 years from now.

This is a fact.

@OP, worry about now; leave worry about the future for later.

Yeah, as it was said, there is no incentive to get a bigger total amount - it would destroy the hard cap that has been set and trust would go lower than ever for BTC, which would be the worst scenario for the crypto space in general, in my opinion.

[Hatchy]

For what reason? PoW is better than PoS. Not only that miners will benefit. The miners will pay for electricity. This will help increase employment in electricity companies. Unlike PoS.

I think at the time the last block will be mined, miners will only earn from transaction fee. I don't see any how the reward will become zero. Maybe there will be a surge in transaction fees . Though op ask a good question but then he should understand that Bitcoins price is driven by its scalability and limited supply and no there will not be a way to increase the supply. If ever this happens, it will reduce the trust alot of us has in Bitcoin. And screw PoS. Look how the eth network is more like a mess. We can't compare it in any way to that of the PoW used by Bitcoin.

[FortuneFollower]

For what reason? PoW is better than PoS. Not only that miners will benefit. The miners will pay for electricity. This will help increase employment in electricity companies. Unlike PoS.

I think at the time the last block will be mined, miners will only earn from transaction fee. I don't see any how the reward will become zero. Maybe there will be a surge in transaction fees . Though op ask a good question but then he should understand that Bitcoins price is driven by its scalability and limited supply and no there will not be a way to increase the supply. If ever this happens, it will reduce the trust alot of us has in Bitcoin. And screw PoS. Look how the eth network is more like a mess. We can't compare it in any way to that of the PoW used by Bitcoin.

Yeah, and the reward will be not a zero, but rather something along the lines of 0,0..(zeroes)..1? As I understand it. Right now, the reward for the block is around 3,1 BTC.
But the fees, as you said, would become the main source of income for miners, maybe.

[TheUltraElite]

so the reward miners will receive will always approach zero.

Reward for miners comes from the block subsidy and the transaction fee. Even if teh block subsidy is miniscule, the later will not be zero.

To maintain the Bitcoin network, the price of Bitcoin must keep rising infinitely, which is impossible.

No, read what I wrote above.

Could there be a point where the value of the Bitcoin miners receive is almost zero, and the Bitcoin network collapses due to a lack of miners?

Would have happened already when the number of miners were small. Did it happen? No.

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future? But that would certainly cause Bitcoin’s price to drop significantly.

Why are we even thinking about it? The supply is one of the fundamental aspects that keep it scarce.

Could Bitcoin switch to PoS like Ethereum? That would also cause Bitcoin’s price to fall.

Nope. Because there is no problem in the first place.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Could there be a point where the value of the Bitcoin miners receive is almost zero, and the Bitcoin network collapses due to a lack of miners?

Would have happened already when the number of miners were small. Did it happen? No.

Bitcoin network difficulty will be adjusted after 2140 blocks which last about 14 days. The network halt only happens if all Bitcoin miners stop mining, but fortunately in other cases, blocks will be found with longer time, more than average block time of 10 minutes, but new blocks will surely be found. And after 2140 blocks, difficulty will be adjusted and become lower. It will help new blocks to be found faster.

Future Bitcoin Supply
Bitcoin Equivalent Network Time
Bitcoin difficulty estimator

[Oluwa-btc]

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future? But that would certainly cause Bitcoin’s price to drop significantly.

Could Bitcoin switch to PoS like Ethereum? That would also cause Bitcoin’s price to fall.

I don’t know if my understanding is correct

You're right about the halving and the fluctuations of price and unstable network too but looking at the general trends of Bitcoin in the future it's sure to deliver the miners to major rewards and profits, tho some people say the rewards come from the transactions fee but we can't really tell of it,and the rate of miners would be increasingly more which will be led to the general supply of Bitcoin in the future because alot of investors will want to hold and invest in it  but this is something we shouldn't worry about  cause the rewards won't turn out to be Zero. 

[kryptqnick]

As pooya87 mentioned, miners don't just get the block reward (which is getting halved), but also transaction fees (which can be quite a lot). So as long as people keep using Bitcoin, and as long as BTC price grows over time, I think there will be enough incentive to do this kind of work. Also, let's not forget that miners can quit, and then the difficulty rate readjusts, so it's not an issue if some miners leave over time because of being unsatisfied with rewards.
There's no need to increase the total supply, as Bitcoin is highly divisible into sats. I don't think there will be a consensus on moving to PoS like Ethereum did in the near future because it's a protocol many feel strongly negatively about.

[fikrett]

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future? But that would certainly cause Bitcoin’s price to drop significantly.

Could Bitcoin switch to PoS like Ethereum? That would also cause Bitcoin’s price to fall.

I don’t know if my understanding is correct

You're right about the halving and the fluctuations of price and unstable network too but looking at the general trends of Bitcoin in the future it's sure to deliver the miners to major rewards and profits, tho some people say the rewards come from the transactions fee but we can't really tell of it,and the rate of miners would be increasingly more which will be led to the general supply of Bitcoin in the future because alot of investors will want to hold and invest in it  but this is something we shouldn't worry about  cause the rewards won't turn out to be Zero.  

The reward will never be zero, but they go to fees rather than the block reward.
Thus, we can't say for sure how it will be handled, but the thing that is certain is that everything should be fine.

[icalical]

Miners' rewards would be lower every halving, but through the historical balance of supply and demand, the Bitcoin price usually go up not to mention that they are also getting income from transaction fee. A few miners drop out, but this is all part of an automatic adjustment that regulates mining profitability for those still online, a shifting difficulty level that will keep the network going with less miners on it.

As for increasing the supply of Bitcoin, this is not likely. Bitcoin's hard cap of 21 million forms a fundamental part of its value. Changing this would disrupt its appeal of scarcity and undermine trust in a way that the decentralized community would not go for. Moreover, unlike Ethereum, it is not in Bitcoin's philosophy to migrate toward Proof of Stake. While Proof of Work in Bitcoin has held up over the years, Proof of Stake is arguably more secure, decentralized, and perhaps more energy-efficient.

[Alpha Marine]

When the supply of something is reduced and the demand stays the same or increased, the value of that thing will definitely increase. That's what halving does. Halving reduces the supply of bitcoin and the reduced supply, increases the price value of bitcoin because the demand either remains the same or increases. This means even if the reward miners get per block mined reduced, the value of the bitcoin they get increases.
Miners made about $300 in 2012 even though the reward was 25btc back then. Today they make just over 3btc and the reward is over $180k. This figure will increase with the increase in bitcoin price. So there is no way they'll make zero dollars as long as bitcoin is not equal zero. Bitcoin price at this stage will always be reasonable. In four years time when the reward will be halved to 1.5625, bitcoin price might get to over $200k after that.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

I heard that the reward is halved every 4 years after each halving, so the reward miners will receive will always approach zero.

There is nothing to be worried about the price of Bitcoin, because despite the reward for mining each block is divided into half every halving, the beautiful thing about it is that it has always remained profitable to miners who are lucky enough to successfully mine a full block reward, of which I will be displaying below to demonstrate how truly profitable it has been despite the half reward each 4yrs, as a result of it crossing a new All-Time-High.

   

You could see that the image above shows the previous and present mining reward for Bitcoin and it's value in dollars, of which you could noticed that despite the current mining reward is been divided into 3 BTC, it's value in dollar is still very huge (i.e approx. $180,000)

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future? But that would certainly cause Bitcoin’s price to drop significantly.

The answer is NO, the total supply of Bitcoin is fixed (i.e 21million BTC) and as such it can't be altered by not even by Satoshi Nakamoto the anonymous creator, or present
group of developers, as it's price is now controlled by demand and supply

[adultcrypto]

I heard that the reward is halved every 4 years after each halving, so the reward miners will receive will always approach zero. To maintain the Bitcoin network, the price of Bitcoin must keep rising infinitely, which is impossible. Could there be a point where the value of the Bitcoin miners receive is almost zero, and the Bitcoin network collapses due to a lack of miners?

Is it possible that Bitcoin could increase its total supply in the future? But that would certainly cause Bitcoin’s price to drop significantly.

Could Bitcoin switch to PoS like Ethereum? That would also cause Bitcoin’s price to fall.

I don’t know if my understanding is correct

Indeed such time will come but it is a very long time now. Even though it is not clear how it will be when we get to that point, the likely thing that will happen is that miners will be rewarded through transaction fees which might be a little higher than we have today. What is certain is that the bitcoin network will not collapse when the block reward gets to zero. Like I said, people will just be charged fees to get their transactions confirmed and I know there will also be competition among miners in terms of charging fair price.

[RockBell]

Given that the price of bitcoin has historically increased, this trend is very likely to continue. After all, other assets have kept appreciating. Even if all the 21 million bitcoins are mined, miners will still be rewarded with transaction fees. Bitcoin's hard cap makes the coin unique. One of the differences between Bitcoin and altcoins is the the limit. I don't think increasing the supply limit of Bitcoin will ever be considered. POW makes Bitcoin decentralized and secured, so it's still the best option.

The price of bitcoin have been know to have been on increase for years now and to some extent that should be enough to encourage people to actually invest. Because I don't think this trend is going to stop any moment from now. And after everything even the miners are benefiting the most just that the number of miners is very important and the 21 Million is not a bad number doh but I feel that miners spend a lot to actually set everything up. Everything about bitcoin is unique and it is very valued because been the first in everything from the beginning is what makes the difference.

I don't think I will also agree for the increase of the supply of bitcoin, and there are people that will actually want the supply of bitcoins to increase but of what use when is not everyone that can still be able to afford one bitcoin so to me is still very okay this wat and those that want to buy we definitely see and buy their will always be a seller that is what the market is all about.