So...What if there are no miners in the future?
Is Bitcoin only good if there are miners running an algorithm somewhere?
Yes, Bitcoin fundamentally relies on miners to validate transactions and secure the network through proof-of-work. Without miners, the blockchain would stop moving forward, making Bitcoin unusable and vulnerable to attacks — so its entire functionality depends on miners being active.
Here's more on this via AI:
1. If Bitcoin is paused for a year, do wallets still have BTC?Yes, absolutely.
Bitcoin stored in wallets is recorded on the blockchain ledger, which is immutable and persistent. Even if the network paused for a year (no new blocks mined), the existing blockchain history would remain intact. Your BTC would still be associated with your wallet's address.
However, you wouldn’t be able to send or receive BTC during that pause, because transactions require miners to include them in new blocks for confirmation.
2. What happens if a bad actor gets 51% of the hashrate?If a malicious actor controls over 50% of the network’s mining power (a 51% attack), they could:
Reorganize the blockchain (undo recent blocks).
Double-spend their own BTC (spending the same coins twice).
Censor transactions (prevent certain transactions from being included in blocks).
But they cannot:
Steal BTC from wallets they don’t control.
Forge new coins outside the rules.
Break wallet encryption or private keys.
In short: they can't take your BTC unless they already have your private key — even with 51% control.
SummaryYour BTC remains in your wallet even if Bitcoin pauses, and even a 51% attacker can’t steal it — they can only disrupt the network's trust and functionality, not override wallet ownership.