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Concerns Over Bitcoin's 21 Million Supply Cap: BlackRock's Influence, Security Risks, and Potential Protocol Changes

Bitcoin, launched in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, is a decentralized cryptocurrency designed with a fixed supply cap of 21 million coins. This scarcity is a fundamental aspect of Bitcoin's value proposition, distinguishing it from traditional fiat currencies that can be printed indefinitely. The 21 million cap is hardcoded into Bitcoin's protocol and can only be altered through a significant protocol change, such as a "hard fork"—a major upgrade that splits the blockchain into two versions, with one retaining the original cap and the other potentially modifying it. Such a change requires consensus among the majority of Bitcoin's network nodes, making it technically challenging but not impossible. Alternatively, a "soft fork"—a backward-compatible change to the protocol—could theoretically alter the cap deceptively, without requiring a full network split, though this would still need widespread node and miner agreement.
In recent years, the immutability of Bitcoin's supply cap has come under scrutiny, particularly as Bitcoin faces challenges in maintaining its security and scalability. A critical concern is the "security budget issue," where Bitcoin's long-term financial sustainability for miners—whose computational work secures the network—relies on transaction fees. However, as of early 2025, the fee rate remains low at approximately 2 satoshis per byte, far below what is needed to sustain miners after the block reward (halving every four years) diminishes. The expectation that Layer 2 (L2) solutions, such as the Lightning Network, would generate sufficient fees for Layer 1 (L1) to maintain security has largely failed, as L2 adoption has not scaled as anticipated. Additionally, efforts to scale L1 directly, such as increasing block sizes, have been resisted by Bitcoin Core developers, limiting Bitcoin's transaction processing capacity and exacerbating fee pressures.
This backdrop of security and scalability challenges has heightened concerns about the 21 million cap's vulnerability, especially amid growing institutional interest in Bitcoin. BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset management firms, managing over $10 trillion in assets as of 2025, has entered the cryptocurrency space through its Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), launched in January 2024. BlackRock's involvement has brought increased institutional attention to Bitcoin, but it has also raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and influence over Bitcoin's governance, particularly regarding the supply cap.
Updated Statement on BlackRock's December 2024 Admission and Risks to the 21 Million Cap:
Bitcoin's 21 million supply cap, a cornerstone of its value and appeal, is facing renewed scrutiny following BlackRock's December 2024 acknowledgment that the cap could potentially be altered through a "hard fork," which would split the Bitcoin network into two separate versions—one maintaining the original cap and another potentially increasing the supply. This admission, detailed in a BlackRock-produced video and reported in cryptocurrency forums and web content, has sparked intense debate within the Bitcoin community, as discussed in the X thread and related online discussions. BlackRock's position as a major player in Bitcoin ETFs and its potential influence over regulatory and market dynamics have amplified concerns about the cap's vulnerability to change, especially amid speculation that large financial entities might seek to dilute Bitcoin's scarcity for their benefit.
However, many Bitcoiners may underestimate the risks of the 21 million cap being removed, given several pressing issues:
The Security Budget Issue: Bitcoin's long-term security relies on miners being adequately compensated through transaction fees, but the current fee rate of approximately 2 satoshis per byte is insufficient. The original idea that Layer 2 solutions (like the Lightning Network) would generate significant fees to support Layer 1 (L1) security has failed, as L2 adoption has not scaled as anticipated. Meanwhile, efforts to scale L1 directly—such as increasing block sizes—have been resisted by Bitcoin Core developers, leaving the network vulnerable to declining miner incentives as block rewards diminish over time.
The Risk of a Deceptive Soft Fork: The supply cap could potentially be altered through a soft fork—a backward-compatible protocol change—without requiring a full network split. Such a change could be implemented deceptively, gaining gradual acceptance among nodes and miners, bypassing the more overt resistance a hard fork might face. This possibility adds a layer of concern, as it could undermine Bitcoin's scarcity without the community fully realizing the implications until it's too late.
These risks, combined with BlackRock's public acknowledgment of the cap's potential malleability, have fueled fears that institutional pressures, including those from major players like BlackRock, could drive changes to Bitcoin's foundational scarcity, threatening its core value proposition as a decentralized, finite asset. The X thread highlights these concerns, with users debating the implications of BlackRock's influence and the technical feasibility of altering the cap, either through a hard fork or a deceptive soft fork.

Quote from: Meowser on Mar 07, 2025, 09:51 AMI found the adress, it was hidden. Now I made a claim. There was an adress autogenerated for PTC (That didn't show up in the wallet yet) and everything was signed. Yet I have 0 coins claimed since 02.03.2025 19:07. That's almost 5 days since.

Should I still just wait? The wallet is only online when I check for progress.

Thank you.

Your claim was picked up and accepted and you can check the progress here
https://patchcoin.github.io/claims-made/#claim-661 (toggle show all claims for a complete overview).
There is quite a few entries in front of yours, so it will take a couple of days before it will get processed.

Quote from: arthur on Feb 25, 2025, 06:37 PMHey Meowser.

The snapshot was at block height 795,000.

If you enter your address into a block explorer like https://chainz.cryptoid.info/ppc/, you should be able to see if your PPC qualifies.

It sounds like you're using the correct Windows download.

I found the adress, it was hidden. Now I made a claim. There was an adress autogenerated for PTC (That didn't show up in the wallet yet) and everything was signed. Yet I have 0 coins claimed since 02.03.2025 19:07. That's almost 5 days since.

Should I still just wait? The wallet is only online when I check for progress.

Thank you.

Alrighty.  Thanks for the update and verification.

Countries in 2017 that used less energy than Bitcoin:



And then you realize that the chart above is the furthest-left data on this chart:



Bitcoin might be the single largest waste of energy in the entire world.

Patchcoin is the solution. Just like Bitcoin it has 21 million coins, but uses less than 1% of the energy.

Quote from: maverick on Mar 05, 2025, 08:19 PMHello.  I've claimed my PPC, however received none of it... Looking at claims, I see many have been fulfilled, but mine still show 0 claimed... Why?

You can watch the progress of claims here: https://patchcoin.github.io/claims-made/

Claims are slowly being fulfilled each block, to ensure network security. There have been 8.57 million PTC claimed, and 3.72 million PTC distributed so far.

Your PTC should arrive in a few days.

Also - verified for the forum, thanks for joining us.

Hello.  I've claimed my PPC, however received none of it... Looking at claims, I see many have been fulfilled, but mine still show 0 claimed... Why?

Alternatively you could try importing the seed used on your ledger into the official peercoin flutter wallet. Looks like they are compatible.

Quote from: mcguirejd on Mar 04, 2025, 03:02 AMI currently have my PPC trapped on a ledger with no easy way to move them at the moment. Which also means I can't sign with that address either.

Is there any other way to make a claim for patchcoin?

I'm not familiar with Ledger internals, but I recall it being able to be used as a hardware wallet for electrum. If that's the case and electrum is able to read / use the private keys on the device, it should be possible to also sign any messages with it from electrum, making it compatible with patchcoin claims.