5 ms·

Are you saying that point 3 is incorrect? Will there be more than 21M Bitcoin?

monsterbash506 8y ago
It's not scheduled or anything but it could still happen if it were desired.
schmichael 8y ago
If a majority of miners (hash power) decide to mint more, there will be more. The code change is a simple one. The politics and economics are, as always, much more complex.
- martindale 8y ago
  If a majority of full nodes (validators) reject blocks from those miners, their chain will be orphaned and the block reward will fall to the subsidy they've created for themselves (where block_reward = block_subsidy + block_fees). Bitcoin has value because this just isn't possible, in practice.
  - schmichael 8y ago
    > just isn't possible It's absolutely possible. Who runs nodes? There's no way to know that the majority of hash power doesn't already control a majority of nodes.
    - martindale 8y ago
      As long as you run your own node, it doesn't really matter who runs the rest. If a peer relays an invalid block to you, disconnect from that peer and defer to the chain with the most work. Have you read the paper?
      - schmichael 8y ago
        If a block is accepted by a majority of nodes and miners it isn't invalid. Your own personal node is free to implement different logic, but it will be unlikely to interact in a functional way with the rest of the network.
        martindale 8y ago
        The full node operators are typically holding Bitcoin, and I just don't see anyone willingly accepting a reduction in the value of their assets. Any such block would be viewed as an attack on their sovereignty.
    - wp381640 8y ago
      There is a way to know since segwit was activated using a user activated soft fork despite not having a majority of miner support Node control has worked in both theory and practice
bitxbitxbitcoin 8y ago
Point 3 is incorrect because there will never be exactly 21M bitcoins. It will end up being slightly [1] less than 21M. [1] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply
- Lordarminius 8y ago
  > It will end up being slightly less than 21M Or a lot less. People lose their keys all the time, die mispay.
  - bitxbitxbitcoin 8y ago
    Definitely a lot less if you look at it in terms of lost keys. I'm speaking specifically about the scenario where no keys are lost, the total possible supply of bitcoin will still never be 21M.

It's not scheduled or anything but it could still happen if it were desired.

If a majority of miners (hash power) decide to mint more, there will be more. The code change is a simple one. The politics and economics are, as always, much more complex.

martindale 8y ago
If a majority of full nodes (validators) reject blocks from those miners, their chain will be orphaned and the block reward will fall to the subsidy they've created for themselves (where block_reward = block_subsidy + block_fees). Bitcoin has value because this just isn't possible, in practice.
- schmichael 8y ago
  > just isn't possible It's absolutely possible. Who runs nodes? There's no way to know that the majority of hash power doesn't already control a majority of nodes.
  - martindale 8y ago
    As long as you run your own node, it doesn't really matter who runs the rest. If a peer relays an invalid block to you, disconnect from that peer and defer to the chain with the most work. Have you read the paper?
    - schmichael 8y ago
      If a block is accepted by a majority of nodes and miners it isn't invalid. Your own personal node is free to implement different logic, but it will be unlikely to interact in a functional way with the rest of the network.
      - martindale 8y ago
        The full node operators are typically holding Bitcoin, and I just don't see anyone willingly accepting a reduction in the value of their assets. Any such block would be viewed as an attack on their sovereignty.
  - wp381640 8y ago
    There is a way to know since segwit was activated using a user activated soft fork despite not having a majority of miner support Node control has worked in both theory and practice

bitxbitxbitcoin 8y ago

Point 3 is incorrect because there will never be exactly 21M bitcoins. It will end up being slightly [1] less than 21M. [1] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply

Lordarminius 8y ago
> It will end up being slightly less than 21M Or a lot less. People lose their keys all the time, die mispay.
- bitxbitxbitcoin 8y ago
  Definitely a lot less if you look at it in terms of lost keys. I'm speaking specifically about the scenario where no keys are lost, the total possible supply of bitcoin will still never be 21M.