tl;dr
BlackRock recently released an advertisement promoting Bitcoin, but the crypto community is unhappy with it. The ad discusses the benefits of Bitcoin, including its fixed token supply, but also includes a disclaimer stating that there is no guarantee the 21 million supply cap won't be changed. This ...
BlackRock's Bitcoin Advertisement Sparks Criticism BlackRock recently released an advertisement promoting Bitcoin, but the crypto community is unhappy with it. The ad discusses the benefits of Bitcoin, including its fixed token supply, but also includes a disclaimer stating that there is no guarantee the 21 million supply cap won't be changed.
This has sparked concerns among Bitcoin enthusiasts, who worry that BlackRock's significant Bitcoin holdings could potentially influence changes to the cryptocurrency's supply.
The caption remains for approximately five seconds, eventually fading away as the narrator elaborates on the benefits of a fixed supply, never addressing the potential change. Most crypto observers might have missed it if not for MicroStrategy founder and massive Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor sharing the video on his X account on Tuesday.
Part of the reason this has got Bitcoiners and other crypto users so worked up is because it isn’t the first time BlackRock has made such a disclaimer. The company included a note in its June 2023 ETF filing which indicated that “a hard fork could change the source code to the Bitcoin network, including the 21 million Bitcoin supply cap.”
Are these concerns unfounded? Probably, but it’s got the Bitcoin community talking, including Blockstream founder Adam Back and early dev Peter Todd (who HBO recently suggested could be Satoshi Nakamoto himself).
Nevertheless, Bitcoin stakeholders agreeing to change something as fundamental to Bitcoin’s core as its fixed supply would appear to run counter to the financial incentive that exists to maintain the status quo. So why would BlackRock continue to make it an issue?