Some great food for thought. I do think that it would be nice if more people could mine bitcoin as well as just run nodes. Bitcoin seems to be moving toward a base layer of the fiat monetary system. I guess the race to SBR will allow fiat to run for longer.
I do think we can only view the next 10 years or so in the future as tech evolves so fast and in this time frame bitcoin is secure. Anyone attempting to change the 21M hardcoded amount would clearly fail, as that is the core essence of Bitcoin imo.
Bitcoin is also money for your enemies. Those with larger stakes have even more incentive not to rock the boat with the protocol, so why would they try and change the issuance?
For some reason I dont understand the wish of so many to try to make Bitcoin in something that it is clearly not designed for, like a p2p payment system for everyday use. Somehow, the market also seems to see the holy grail in Bitcoin while not embarrassing all the newer tech that is clearly 'outperforming' Bitcoin L1 left and right. With 'outperforming', I do not just mean performance, but also simplicity to work with, for dApps to integrate with, the costs to the transaction, the need for feeless setup for many use cases that aren't brought to the decentralised world yet etc etc
Anyways, time will tell what happens with Bitcoin, and how it'll evolve. I wouldn't rule out the max of 21M will change over time. Let's see how centralised the control over Bitcoin will become.
The reason the market isn't embracing newer tech for Bitcoin is imo a few reasons, first mover advantage and brand being out there, the newer tech doesn't solve the main problem that bitcoin solves better - store of value and thirdly, you can never have another fair launch of a Bitcoin/store of value product- it was a one time deal.
"you can never have another fair launch of a Bitcoin/store of value product- it was a one time deal"
Not sure why you state this, since I do think it is possible, and some chains proofed it they can launch fair and square. Regarding the store-of-value, this all relates to how distributed a chain is in terms of node operators and/or miners. I do believe other chains will emerge over time to play the role of store-of-value to at least the same degree as Bitcoin, or perhaps even to a higher degree. Only time will tell us, for now it is just a 'believe' 😉
Agree something could come if it improves enough.