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BTC The battle over the 21 million Bitcoin supply cap has resurfaced
The long-standing dispute over the 21 million Bitcoin fixed supply cap has heated up again. StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson recently proposed that the hard cap on Bitcoin should be replaced with a maximum issuance rate of 4% per year. The proposal has sparked widespread discussion in the crypto industry, and Bitcoin\'s limited supply has long been regarded as one of its core characteristics.
Not long ago, StarkWare launched a privacy protection KYC solution based on zero-knowledge proof on Starknet. The system allows users to verify their identities online while avoiding leaking sensitive personal information.
Why this proposal was proposed
Ben-Sasson believes that Bitcoin\'s current monetary policy does not take into account coins that are permanently inaccessible due to lost private keys, forgotten mnemonic words, or damaged storage devices. In his view, introducing a controllable inflation model will help offset the gradual decline in the supply of Bitcoin in circulation in the coming decades.
Key data behind the debate
- Maximum supply of bitcoins: 21 million
- Bitcoins mined: More than 20 million
- Estimated permanent loss of bitcoins: 3 to 4 million
- Proposed annual issuance rate: Up to 4%
- Estimated time to complete Bitcoin mining: approximately 2140 years
Ben-Sasson pointed out that as more and more coins are permanently lost, the effective supply of Bitcoin continues to shrink. He suggested adopting a moderate and predictable issuance rate to maintain sufficient liquidity and maintain transparent monetary policy. He also believes that future circulation should be better aligned with long-term global population growth trends rather than fixed.
This proposal rekindled discussions about Bitcoin\'s long-term sustainability, especially in the context of block rewards that will gradually diminish over the next few decades, with the issue of incentives for miners particularly prominent.
Bitcoin community refuses to change supply
Many Bitcoin supporters quickly rejected the proposal, arguing that a cap of 21 million coins is the basis of Bitcoin\'s value proposition. They argue that permanently lost coins will only increase the scarcity of the remaining supply, thereby strengthening rather than weakening Bitcoin\'s role as a scarce digital asset.
Critics also point out that each coin of Bitcoin can be divided into 100 million Cons, forming a total of 21 trillion consumable units. They believe that even if millions of bitcoins are lost over time, this level of fragmentation is sufficient to support global transactions.
Protocol modifications face major obstacles
Modifying Bitcoin\'s supply cap requires overwhelming consensus among developers, miners, node operators, businesses and the wider community. Historically, proposals to affect Bitcoin\'s core monetary policy have encountered strong resistance, making any change to the 21 million cap extremely unlikely.
Although Ben-Sasson\'s proposal has reignited discussions about Bitcoin\'s long-term economic design, there is no indication that the network\'s fixed supply policies will change. For most participants, the 21 million cap remains one of Bitcoin\'s most solid and long-lasting core concepts.
According to market data, as of 8:04 am UTC, Bitcoin was trading at US$62,839, down 0.37% in the past 24 hours and up 7.15% in the past seven days.
