@fisto 11 March 2025 edited more from that month

Bitcoin in Brief A candid take on Bitcoin’s use case, value, and risk of failure—just straight talk, no bullshit.

`[Image generated by AI via ChatGPT]` **Bitcoin's core use case is as a store of value** Its ability to preserve value comes not just from its absolute scarcity—a fixed supply of 21 million coins—but from the trust that this will remain true forever. That trust is built on its extreme decentralization, its immutable protocol, and its conservative development, always prioritizing stability over change. Bitcoin proves its thesis. It’s the best-performing asset of the last decade, with an 86.7% CAGR. Now, with a $2 trillion market cap and growing adoption by governments, institutions, and corporations, it’s too big to fail. **The biggest threat to Bitcoin is its fragile long-term security** The decision to cap block size at 1MB drastically changed miners' incentives. With a limited throughput of 5 to 7 transactions per second, Bitcoin’s current design relies on soaring fees as block rewards shrink over time. Here lies *Bitcoin's Catch-22*: both success and failure of this model bring serious consequences. If it succeeds and fees rise enough to compensate miners, most users will be priced out of L1, leading to loss of funds, over-reliance on custodians, and centralization of supply among a few players. On the contrary, if it fails and the fees don't grow enough, breaking the 21M supply cap and introducing tail emission might become the only way to save the security of the network.