Blockstream CEO Adam Back has addressed recent concerns regarding Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins, sparked by a BlackRock disclaimer, as per a report on U.Today. The controversy arose after MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor shared an educational clip in which BlackRock noted there was no guarantee Bitcoin's supply would remain capped at 21 million. This led to speculation within the crypto community, but Back, a respected cryptographer cited in Satoshi Nakamoto's white paper, reassured that Bitcoin’s scarcity remains intact and unthreatened.
Back explained that the disclaimer was merely a legal safeguard for BlackRock, which offers Bitcoin ETFs but has no control over the cryptocurrency itself. He clarified that BlackRock's lawyers likely added this language to avoid liability if, hypothetically, the Bitcoin community ever decided to change the fixed supply. However, such a scenario is highly improbable, as the 21 million cap is central to Bitcoin’s value proposition, distinguishing it from inflationary fiat currencies and other altcoins.
Supporting Back's stance, early Bitcoin advocate Charlie Shrem stated that increasing Bitcoin’s supply cap would fundamentally alter the cryptocurrency. The community has historically treated any suggestion of changing the cap as heresy. Therefore, despite legal disclaimers from financial institutions, Bitcoin’s 21 million cap remains secure, backed by consensus from its decentralized network and community of users.