Former Bitcoin Developer Reveals Gloomy Prediction for the Coin’s Blockchain

Gavin Andresen, a lead developer for the Bitcoin network, has shared a pessimistic forecast for the Bitcoin network’s demise. His foresight predicts a future in which whales control all blockchain transactions and mining activity, laying the groundwork for the eventual end of the Bitcoin blockchain.

The developer predicted the above in a blog post titled ‘A Possible BTC Future,’ warning readers that his theory is science fiction. He begins by stating that in 2061, the BTC price could reach $6 million and that after inflation, it will be worth $1 million today. Bitcoin transactions on the network are rare in 2061 because users now utilize faster, cheaper, and extremely private blockchains.

According to the developer, the only transactions on the Bitcoin network will be between ‘super-whale-size holders,’ including central banks, centralized exchanges, and multiparty computation addresses that contain wrapped coins.

These whales manage the mining and generate transactions on the network, for which they pay high transaction fees of $7,500 per transaction. Later in 2100, the mining reward drops to zero from 0.006103515625 BTC per block, and transactions on the system are now rare due to speed, privacy concerns, and high gas costs.

Further, because of individuals’ decreasing use of the Bitcoin network, the whales unanimously decide to shut down the network. Andresen says that ‘one by one, they shut the bridges that move BTC between chains’ and burn the remaining BTC by sending it to an address no one can access.

With no coins mined on the network and no transactions taking place, Andressen assumes that ‘the chain stops’ because ‘there is nothing left to secure.’ Still, he says that around 20 million BTC will remain on other blockchains and hold their value because ‘there are a limited number of them and because BTC was the first scarce digital asset.’

Andresen’s thoughts could be possible because many blockchains are being developed at breakneck speed while also providing advanced privacy features. Moreover, because of his involvement in the development of Bitcoin, the developer’s opinions carry a lot of weight.