StarkWare CEO: Proposes Replacing Bitcoin's 21 Million Cap with 4% Annual Issuance Rate

Odaily reports that StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson has proposed replacing Bitcoin's hard cap of 21 million coins with a 4% annual issuance rate. He argues that the current hard cap is "unreasonable" because private keys are lost over time, stating that "as time approaches infinity, all private keys will be lost." Ledger estimates that approximately 4 million bitcoins have been permanently lost. Ben-Sasson stated that a 4% annual issuance rate roughly matches the global population growth rate. This proposal has sparked community opposition, with opponents arguing that the fixed cap is the core value of Bitcoin and that Bitcoin is divisible into 21 quadrillion satoshis, which is sufficient to address the issue of declining available supply.