Can We Change Bitcoin’s Cap of 21 Million?

• Michael Willson
• May 04, 2025

Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins. This fixed limit is one of the fundamental aspects that makes Bitcoin unique. However, some people wonder if it’s possible to change this hard cap. The short answer is: technically, yes. But in practice, it’s incredibly unlikely. Changing Bitcoin’s 21 million cap would require consensus from developers, miners, and nodes—and even then, it would cause a hard fork, leading to a split in the Bitcoin network.

In this article, we’ll explore why Bitcoin’s supply cap is set at 21 million, why it’s so important, how changing it could happen, and why it’s unlikely to change in the future.

What Is the Bitcoin Hard Cap?

The Bitcoin hard cap refers to the maximum supply of Bitcoin that can ever be created. 21 million BTC is the cap encoded into Bitcoin’s protocol. This cap ensures that no more than 21 million Bitcoins will ever be mined, making Bitcoin a deflationary currency.

The issuance of new Bitcoin happens through mining rewards. Currently, miners are rewarded with newly minted coins for verifying and securing transactions on the network. The reward is halved roughly every four years in an event called the halving. As of 2025, over 19.7 million BTC have already been mined, leaving around 1.3 million coins to be mined over the next 100 years.

Importance of the Hard Cap

The 21 million cap is one of Bitcoin’s most important features. Here’s why it matters:

• Scarcity and value: Bitcoin’s fixed supply mimics precious metals like gold, which are limited in quantity. Scarcity drives value.
• Inflation resistance: Unlike fiat currencies, where governments can print more money at will, Bitcoin’s hard cap ensures there’s no risk of inflation through increased supply.
• Predictable monetary policy: Bitcoin’s supply is programmed to decrease gradually, which gives users and investors confidence in its long-term value proposition.

The hard cap helps maintain Bitcoin’s position as “digital gold”, a store of value that isn’t subject to inflationary pressures.

Reasons Why Satoshi Chose 21 Million Bitcoin Cap

While Satoshi Nakamoto never explicitly stated why the number 21 million was chosen, there are a few educated guesses:

• Divisibility: A single Bitcoin can be divided into 100 million smaller units, known as satoshis. The 21 million cap ensures that Bitcoin will remain highly divisible, even when its price increases.
• Price comparability: Satoshi likely wanted a number that would eventually allow Bitcoin to be priced comparably to existing currencies, while still allowing for flexibility in pricing.
• “Educated guess”: In an early email exchange with Martti Malmi, an early Bitcoin contributor, Satoshi referred to the 21 million limit as an “educated guess.” He explained that the figure needed to be decided without knowing exactly how Bitcoin’s economy would evolve.

Ultimately, the number 21 million created a mathematical structure that allowed Bitcoin to function as both a store of value and a means of exchange, with built-in scarcity and predictability.

Why Bitcoin’s Hard Cap Will Not Change

While it is technically possible to change Bitcoin’s hard cap by editing its code, the process would be highly controversial and almost certainly fail. Here’s why:

• Strong community opposition: Bitcoin’s users and developers overwhelmingly support the hard cap. Any attempt to change it would likely cause a split in the community.
• Loss of trust: Bitcoin’s value is partly derived from its scarcity. If the cap were increased, it would damage confidence in Bitcoin as a fixed-supply asset, similar to how inflation damages fiat currencies.
• Technical hurdles: Bitcoin operates under a decentralized governance model where changes to the protocol require consensus from multiple stakeholders, including developers, miners, and nodes. A change to the supply cap would be highly difficult to implement without a unanimous agreement across the network.

In essence, while changes to Bitcoin are possible, the hard cap is a feature that most users, miners, and developers are unwilling to alter.

Bitcoin’s Incentive Model Protects the Hard Cap

Bitcoin’s incentive model ensures that the 21 million cap remains intact:

• Mining rewards: Miners are incentivized to secure the network and maintain the protocol, knowing that Bitcoin is limited in supply.
• Transaction fees: Once all 21 million BTC are mined (around 2140), miners will continue to earn fees from transactions, ensuring they still have an incentive to maintain the network.

This model, which ensures a predictable supply and gradual reduction in rewards, protects the hard cap.

Bitcoin’s Governance Model Protects the Hard Cap

Bitcoin’s governance model is decentralized. Unlike traditional organizations, Bitcoin has no CEO or central authority. Changes to its code require the consensus of developers, miners, and users. A hard fork would be necessary to change the cap, which would split the network into two competing chains.

The risk of a fork is high, as anyone who disagrees with the new rules could continue running the original version of Bitcoin, creating a new coin. This is why most people in the Bitcoin community are firmly against changing the cap—it would split the network and likely create confusion.

Steps to Change Bitcoin’s Hard Cap

Technically, Bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap could be changed, but doing so would require a coordinated effort from multiple groups. Here’s how it could happen:

• Proposal by developers: Developers would need to propose a change to the code through a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP).
• Community discussion: The proposal would be publicly discussed in forums, on GitHub, and among developers, miners, and users.
• Hard fork: If a majority of the community agrees, the change would be implemented via a hard fork, creating a split in the network.
• Miners and nodes: Miners and nodes would need to signal their support for the new rules. Once enough of the network signals support, the change would be activated.

However, the likelihood of this happening is extremely low, as most Bitcoin stakeholders see the cap as a critical part of Bitcoin’s value proposition.

What Would Happen If the Cap Were Changed?

If the 21 million cap were changed, several things could happen:

• Trust in Bitcoin would erode: Bitcoin’s value is tied to its scarcity. Changing the supply cap would damage its credibility and likely lead to a massive loss of value.
• Network split: A hard fork would create two competing versions of Bitcoin. Miners and users who disagree with the change would continue running the original chain, leading to confusion and fragmentation.
• Market instability: A supply increase would lead to inflationary pressure on Bitcoin’s price, decreasing its appeal as a store of value and creating uncertainty in the market.

Changing the cap would fundamentally alter what Bitcoin is: a scarce, deflationary asset. Most Bitcoiners prefer to maintain the unchangeable nature of the 21 million cap.

Final Thoughts

Bitcoin’s 21 million cap is a key feature that defines its value, scarcity, and resistance to inflation. While it’s technically possible to change the cap, doing so would require consensus from the community, and it’s highly unlikely that such a change would happen. Bitcoin’s hard cap is part of its trustworthy economic model—a model that ensures Bitcoin remains digital gold in a world of fluctuating fiat currencies.

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