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Comment by whatshisface

4 years ago

Bitcoin is unlikely to have a 5,000 year lifespan because unlike gold it can be obsoleted.

Gold has already been obsoleted by fiat money because it's too expensive and slow to transact with in the modern world.

Bitcoin won't necessarily have the same problem, because it's an information protocol. Protocols can be updated and improved. Even if the main chain ossifies and can't be improved, bitcoin tokens are already being moved to alternative blockchains (sidechains) via 2 way pegs.

It’s likely after some number of years, most people will have lost their Bitcoins and there won’t be many left in circulation.

  • I think that would be a very amusing outcome. the rate of accidents can't be held at 0 so the supply of Bitcoin can only decrease in the long term.

    However, is there any reason the network couldn't decide to, say, subdivide Satoshis even further to allow the remaining supply to become more tradeable? If the changes are slow enough over time it doesn't seem like there's a limit to how far that could go.