Our timechain is Bitcoin and our vigor rewards are caller bitcoin introduced to the protocol, mined by electricity. We commonly notation to this arsenic impervious of work, due to the fact that that’s rather virtually what it is. No method jargon, thing much fancy than what it sounds like. You fare and suffer 10 kilograms, that’s impervious of work. You measurement successful a puddle, and your socks are soaked, that’s impervious of work. Right now, Bitcoin is the astir nonstop practice of impervious of enactment that humanity has ever been susceptible of experiencing. Its seemingly alien architecture is gorgeous. With the astir elegant travel of behaviors and incentives, concocted into a masterpiece of work. But bully things can’t past everlastingly — oregon tin they?
Analyzing Bitcoin's inducement model, it leaves immoderate fascinating observations and interpretations that tin instrumentality humanity acold beyond the realms of dependable wealth and into a type 3 civilization. Let's interruption this down for a 2nd and locomotion done the network's incentives for introducing caller vigor into the system. When much vigor is introduced to the strategy (this is done by “mining”), the strategy rewards that behaviour with a predefined magnitude based connected the artifact tallness which was mined.
Nothing excessively fancy, we spot that it starts with a reward of 5 cardinal satoshis (50 bitcoin), and each 210,000 blocks, it winds its mode each the mode to zero satoshis per block. Then what? There is nary inducement to nutrient immoderate much blocks. So, the artifact reward epoch 34, ends astatine artifact 7,139,999. Block 7,140,000 would person to person fractional of zero arsenic the artifact reward if it were to proceed the pattern.
Let's instrumentality a 2nd to deliberation astir this. Think astir however invaluable a azygous satoshi volition beryllium successful the aboriginal erstwhile it is the sole artifact reward. It volition correspond an perfectly gargantuan magnitude of energy. Even if we assumed the network's vigor depletion ne'er grew, it inactive means that it would beryllium beyond astronomical astatine that constituent successful clip due to the fact that 1 satoshi would correspond specified an unbelievable magnitude of electricity. The world is though, the web volition turn exponentially, and the magnitude of energy represented by a satoshi volition beryllium astir each known usable vigor known to humanity. An vigor blackhole. If we see our reward graph, much similar an vigor conic section, the representations are nary different.
Imagine each ringing connected our cones to beryllium a reward cycle. Visually, it would look similar the representation below.
Just similar we spot successful Einstein's peculiar relativity with wormholes and energy, there’s nary quality here. Heavy sources of energy converging to azygous points of observation.
Thinking astir the magnitude of vigor implicit time, we cognize that aboriginal blocks volition transportation much vigor implicit time. If the web is invaluable contiguous for its immutability, past it volition ever beryllium much invaluable time if its immutability is unchanged. This is due to the fact that the immutability of Bitcoin is simply a compounding spot oriented solely astir vigor implicit time. The artifact size, the full magnitude of bitcoin, and the issuance rhythm are the 3 properties which ne'er change. Additional upgrades that don’t amend these properties sphere immutability and truthful should beryllium possible.
The Last Block Of The Last Energy Cycle
Here, 7,139,999 is simply a peculiar number. Because arsenic a fig itself, it is simply a premier number. It’s the past premier fig successful this finite tract size (measured successful fig of blocks). So, we are utilizing a premier fig to correspond this last entropy infinitesimal wrong our system. The strategy conditions alteration aft this block, deterministically and objectively for each observers wrong the strategy — aka participants making satoshis determination astir connected Bitcoin.
Let’s analyse the basal layers of the numerical values, and the value they hold. For those unfamiliar, Wikipedia defines, “The integer basal of a earthy fig successful a fixed radix is the (single digit) worth obtained by an iterative process of summing digits.” This is important, due to the fact that successful information, this is the fastest way airy tin instrumentality to correspond this accusation successful the smallest imaginable capacity. Let's deliberation of this effort successful presumption of entropy, and however overmuch entropy it produces. It means that the fig 7,139,999 would go entangled with that, and the fig may have significance. Much similar we perceive the fig 21,000,000 and it instantly sparks a thought that we are reasoning of bitcoin. So, present we person each the entropy of this effort encoded into that number. Like a thought successful our mind, it goes from “scenes” oregon snapshots. As a random example, you spot a reddish car, and that past takes you backmost to the archetypal clip you went successful a car, and it was your auntie's reddish car increasing up. The entropy that's encompassed with you “seeing a reddish car” is overmuch much than conscionable the reddish car. Well, the premier fig successful this context, 7,139,999, is simply a practice of this entropy successful this writing. Like however webpages person backlinks, it’s benignant of the aforesaid happening for your bid of thought.
We tin present gully an agreed value connected this number. It is the extremity of the existent timechain arsenic it stands today, and its fig and integer roots are premier numbers each the mode to zero. This makes these points geometrically related successful immoderate environment. These are points oregon thoughts to notation the fig and recognize its significance.
What About Block 7,140,000 — Then What Happens?
An aged wives’ communicative surrounding a shortcoming successful Bitcoin’s design. People judge that due to the fact that the reward runs out, determination is nary solution disposable for longevity. We don’t privation to alteration the magnitude of bitcoin, due to the fact that that is breaking its rules. Well, we archetypal request to think, wherever does bitcoin go? They’re not leaving the protocol, they can’t conscionable get up and locomotion away. To lick the inducement model, my connection is to travel the signifier outlined successful thermodynamics for this.
In thermodynamics, we spot this behaviour of colliding blocks wrong a signifier abstraction producing a predictable effect based connected the conservation of momentum and energy. I highly urge watching this video:
At artifact 7,140,000, we travel the aforesaid number of blocks, but alternatively of the protocol rewarding much bitcoin (which it can’t, due to the fact that it has tally retired by now), we plan, today, the way we tin instrumentality for donations to aboriginal civilizations.
We person followed the aforesaid signifier for reward cycles, 210,000 blocks, but we person reduced the reward down by 1-to-100 ratio.
When a miner would’ve gotten 50 bitcoin, they’re present getting 50 cardinal sats. Instead of 25 bitcoin, they’re getting 25 cardinal sats, 12.5 bitcoin becomes 12.5 cardinal sats, and truthful on. But there’s inactive a occupation here. We don’t person immoderate much bitcoin to springiness and we can’t alteration it, different we interruption the immutability. Instead, we execute the aforesaid effect successful a antithetic way.
So now, our illustration starts looking somewhat similar this erstwhile we enactment the pieces together. We’re sending bitcoin into the future, from the past, successful an effort to sphere the future. Kind of the other to fossil fuels. Because we’re giving our fossil (the timelocked sats) to the future, connected purpose. Like a representation to an lipid tract that is thousands of years old, oregon buried treasure, this is nary different.
This is our wormhole. Pretty neat, right? Well, we’re not sending a spaceship done it obviously, but theoretically, we are sending thing done it. What is that something? Well, it’ll beryllium a backstage key. Because if we cognize that thing volition beryllium astatine a constituent successful the future, past we cognize it indispensable beryllium the duration betwixt present and that constituent successful the future.
The wormhole is opened utilizing a cryptographic key, secured by the vigor of the network, and not the obscurity of the key's attributes. This way, we debar the necessity for it to beryllium secured done obfuscation and behave the opposite. Meaning the much radical that clasp this key, the higher the probability for the web longevity it would effect in, owed to the magnitude of vigor it accesses.
Mathematically, we’re trying to travel retired the different broadside to a satellite wherever it is galore years into the aboriginal erstwhile this artifact would occur. Looking a batch similar a wormhole wrong a higher vigor field. Basically, it’s a torus.

Graphic source: Desmos.com
We spot if this signifier repeats implicit time; we’re near with a cyclical vigor system, recycling its vigor without emissions. Congrats to Eric Weinstein (who made this graph), you’re astir spot on!
Generate an OP_HODL code for our blockheights, and these are locked with a backstage cardinal known to everyone.
Here’s an illustration HODL address.
This code was created utilizing a backstage cardinal and locked the funds to beryllium redeemable aft artifact 7,140,000. So, this is simply a reward for anyone astir astatine the clip that artifact arrives. It’s lone a reward if they’re capable to entree this though: 50 millions sats. The backstage cardinal is:
"WIF": "(private key: 5JMdSZpSr8TNBkqHZpq1fKPcCvyafE8uwhfeeZNF1YL8SAa9ZR9)",
"hex": "(private key: 472ab2a7873f7703d94d90252a82988f766f520b002a9036fff663a0372e0003)",
"string":"(brain wallet plain text: “1+1=3=Pi”)"
You tin spot for yourself and don’t request to instrumentality my connection for it! Essentially, this cardinal is entree to an astronomical magnitude of vigor successful the future.
Now ideate that aforesaid pattern, for each artifact into the future: Because it is 1-to-100 of the artifact reward, it means that it would necessitate a full of 210,000 bitcoin to replicate the artifact reward successful this way, functioning similar each artifact containing its ain unsocial UTXO oregon much precocious referred to arsenic non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
We fastener bitcoin pursuing the aforesaid signifier into the adjacent halving, which would beryllium artifact 7,350,000, utilizing this backstage cardinal to deduce the nationalist key, and the hodl address, it would travel retired arsenic the following: 3ALzRjackuKZYPsDZ75KSCNzPYcSWSvjVM. So, it sets the expected behaviour for that reward era.
Repeating the process, we spell to the adjacent “halving,” which would beryllium 7,560,000: 3AKSGQKTgXpHTj1qD69xX8BUkEPL4ozMSe. So we’ve got a 1-to-100 narration with the erstwhile cycles, but present we allocate a nationalist reward to support the web going. Overall, this is investing 1% of the network, successful bid to support the web going indefinitely for the remainder of history. Sort of like, preparing an vigor recycling plan, but for a occupation 100-plus years away. Whatever civilization looks similar astatine that constituent successful time, it’s highly apt they person solutions to precise hard problems successful mathematics and quantum systems.
Meaning, if we tin donate vigor into the future, past it is apt the past portion of the puzzle they request to run large-scale machines requiring infinite energy. Having an vigor strategy that is perpetually recycling based connected the observed laws of thermodynamics successful artifact collisions tin beryllium an vigor preservation system. If thing exists and is immutable, past it tin beryllium utilized for others arsenic clues oregon pointers to our civilization, due to the fact that we’re etching this accusation into this premier fig for the aboriginal civilization to discover. Numbers are a cosmopolitan canvas that everyone possesses, the lone quality is the frequence (context) they’re observing it from. This backstage key, for example, is simply a fig that carries a batch of entropy, truthful it is valuable. If observing it from a numerical context, it’s the decimal fig of the key.
This is the simplest explainer I tin springiness and I enactment astir of this enactment onto Github.
This is simply a impermanent station by Michael Dunworth. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine.