Bitcoin post-issuance: an existential threat

Bitcoin acolytes often cite the network’s predictable, finite, supply schedule as its most alluring feature. A marked departure from global central banks’ propensity to inflate money supply, the hard-coded 21 million cap ensures that savings held in Bitcoin will retain value over time. This property ostensibly confers ‘sound money’ characteristics, positively positioning Bitcoin as a viable contender for global reserve currency status.    

And yet, despite this noble narrative, monetary theorists often overlook the equally significant technical component of Bitcoin — its blockchain. Without a secure underlying ledger, Bitcoin is susceptible to censorship and double-spend attacks. If the network itself is rendered unusable, the ‘sound property’ features ultimately become irrelevant. After all, who would possibly choose to store their wealth in an asset that has become impossible to predictably transfer?