From 21 million to 53 million Bitcoin
The figures cause shock. The total supply of Bitcoin currently stands at approximately 20.1 million BTC. If a maximum annual issuance rate of 4% were applied, this would mean that around 804,000 new Bitcoins could be created in the first year alone. And this would not be a one-off increase. With annual compounding of 4%, the total supply could, according to the calculation accompanying the proposal, exceed 53 million BTC within 25 years. In other words, Bitcoin would transform from an asset with a strictly predetermined supply cap into an asset with a limited, but continuously growing, monetary base.
The argument for lost Bitcoin
Ben-Sasson bases his proposal on a real problem within the ecosystem: significant amounts of Bitcoin have been permanently lost because their holders lost their private keys or wallet access details. Ledger has estimated that up to 4 million BTC may have been lost or rendered inaccessible, a figure that could increase over time. Thus, the argument is that the actual available quantity of Bitcoin will gradually shrink, even if the protocol still provides for a cap of 21 million coins. However, the main reason why Ben-Sasson's proposal is considered doomed to rejection from the outset is that these lost coins represent a permanent benefit for everyone else who still controls their wallets and Bitcoins, because the lost coins cannot be sold. They remain permanently out of Bitcoin's circulating supply, as they are now inaccessible.
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