The chief developer of the cryptocurrency block explorer Blockchair, Nikita Zhavoronkov, has voiced his worries on the declining security budget of Bitcoin. Zhavoronkov said that in order to counteract the security impact of the most recent reduction, the network must endure persistently high costs. Fees have restored to normal after Runes were issued after the halving.
Lead Developer of Blockchair Questions Bitcoin’s Security Budget
The chief developer of Blockchair, a cryptocurrency block explorer, Nikita Zhavoronkov, has issued a warning regarding the problem of Bitcoin’s security budget and how reducing it can impact network opertivity in the future. According to Zhavoronkov, the security budget of Bitcoin—that is, the sum of fees and subsidies that miners receive—had also nearly halved with the most recent halving.
He took his concerns to social media, where he clarified that the network would need to continue paying exorbitant costs if this security budget was to be maintained. Due to Rune issuance, large network fees were incurred immediately following the halving; however, this is no longer the true since these have nearly recovered to pre-halving levels.
He said:
Miners need to continuously make an additional 3.125 BTC in fees in order to counteract the security impact of the most recent halving.
Zhavoronkov explained that one of three things must happen as a result of the ongoing reduction of Bitcoin’s security budget: either an initiative to scale Bitcoin onchain, enabling more transactions and increasing fees for miners; a change in the network’s monetary policy, which may entail eliminating the 21 million BTC issuance limit; or a modification to the Bitcoin consensus mechanism, switching from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
Several X users chastised him, arguing that the fact that Bitcoin’s price rose concurrently with a decrease in supply did not make the budget cut problematic. Zhavoronkov emphasized, “The value miners secure also rises with the price, so the security budget should be measured in BTC, not USD.”
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