BlackRock questions Bitcoin supply limit of 21M coins

A recent video from BlackRock has revived discussions about Bitcoin's (CRYPTO:BTC) 21 million coin supply cap, emphasising its significance and raising questions about its permanence.

The video explained Bitcoin's fixed supply as a "hard-coded rule" that governs supply and purchasing power while avoiding excessive currency issuance.

"There is no guarantee that Bitcoin's 21 million supply cap will not be changed," BlackRock added a disclaimer.

This statement has sparked debates within the cryptocurrency community about the integrity of Bitcoin's fixed supply.

Some argue that changing this rule would fundamentally alter Bitcoin's identity.

Super Testnet, a Bitcoin developer, explained that altering the supply cap would require consensus among miners, node operators, and investors, involving a hard fork.

“The inflation cap is definitional to Bitcoin. Eliminate that, and whatever you have isn’t Bitcoin anymore,” said Testnet.

Supporters of the fixed supply highlight its role as a core aspect of Bitcoin's value proposition, making it a secure store of value.

The disclaimer led some critics to speculate on potential future changes.

Dashpay’s Joel Valenzuela suggested that if such changes occur, they could be framed as part of Bitcoin’s evolution.

Bitcoin’s security model relies on mining incentives, which decrease as block rewards halve approximately every four years.

This model necessitates increasing transaction fees or rising Bitcoin prices to sustain miner interest.

Past events, like the Blocksize War of 2016-2017, show that community consensus is challenging.

Despite significant miner support for increasing block sizes, node operators and investors rejected the change, favoring Layer 2 scaling solutions.

At the time of reporting, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) was $101,205.