Google and understand the infinite slicing of a pizza.
Imagine BTC cap is 1 trillion, and a collective decision was made to double the number of tokens. Every token holder would now own (either via the mainchain, or via newly branched chain), the exact same share of BTC, only now represented by double the tokens. So, if you had 100 tokens, at 100K each (= $10m), you now would have 200 tokens, at 50K each (= $10m). Its the same reason why Eth (and many alts) "yield" is a misleading scam (the issuance being offset by dilution),
Use your brain. If you own BTC, you automatically will own all and any of its derivatives. We've all been through that. Would Blackrock, in such a case, simply allow you to keep the main chain, and "burn" or "sell" or just keep the side chain? Theoretically possible, but most likely they would just add it to the ETF (or in some way pay it out). Hence all the legal disclaimers. So, always best to self custody. Always remember NYKNOC.
Back at $125K.
That's not how it works. There's a 21 million BTC cap on the Bitcoin chain. A hard fork would be required to remove the cap, and perhaps allow for tail emissions to prevent miners from abandoning BTC mining.
Any change to the 21 M rule is a hard fork — meaning nodes that don’t upgrade will reject blocks that mint more than 21 M.
In practice, this means two chains would exist:
- One honoring the original cap (classic BTC).
- One with the new inflationary rules.
Gib, a person with say 100 BTC would still only have 100 BTC on the original Bitcoin chain with the finite cap. They could also potentially get another 100 tokens of the Bitcoin chain with the infinite supply if they had self custody of their BTC. I am not sure they would receive any new tokens if their BTC was on an exchange at the time of the fork.
If miners decide to reject the new chain, then they can continue to mine at a loss or go bankrupt and be forced to quit. Electricity, hardware, and infrastructure is not free. Bitcoin would then be vulnerable to 51% attacks as miners fall off.
After 16 years, the fee market hasn’t proven itself. The sustainability of the “finite cap + fee-only” model is an open question, and it’s one of Bitcoin’s biggest long-term risks. The 21M cap isn’t just an economic design choice — it’s a social contract. If that’s broken, Bitcoin’s main value prop (digital scarcity) could collapse.
