Todd's Tail Emissions Proposal Sparks Debate Over Bitcoin's Fixed Supply

Peter Todd's advocacy for permanent Bitcoin block rewards has reignited debate about the cryptocurrency's fixed supply and future security model. At the Bitcoin++ conference in Toronto, July 23, 2026, he delivered a presentation titled 'Tail Emissions and Demurrage.' In it, he argued that once Bitcoin's block subsidy ends around 2140, miners would rely solely on transaction fees.

Todd warned that fee income can be highly uneven, making it profitable for large miners to reorganize recent blocks containing high fees. To address this potential instability, he suggested a modest fixed reward paid in every block indefinitely, a mechanism known as tail emissions. This, he maintained, would give miners a reliable baseline of revenue.

Todd also proposed demurrage: a charge applied to coins that remain idle for long periods, with the proceeds directed toward network security. He noted that a carefully chosen emission rate could eventually match the rate of loss due to forgotten keys, damaged hardware, and incomplete estate planning.