Bitcoin's Biggest Problem Has A Working Solution. Most Just Don't Know It Yet.
Bitcoin has a problem. It's called the Security Budget Issue (or 2140 Problem) and it's been a growing cause of concern without a solution for years now. That is until recently.
Here's the issue: Miners get paid less every four years. Right now they earn 3.125 BTC per block. In 2032, it's 0.78 BTC. By 2140, it's zero. The entire security of Bitcoin depends on miners getting paid enough to make attacking the network unprofitable.
Transaction fees were supposed to replace the declining subsidy, but outside of the occasional flurry the mempool is often stuck at 1 sat/vB these days. Those transaction fees don't add up to much for miners.
Bitcoin Core developer James O'Beirne admits: 'We might have only two halvings left before this becomes a serious issue.' The founder of Blockchair is even clearer: 'Bitcoin needs to plan its security under the assumption that fee rates will remain at 1 sat.'
So what's the solution?
Well there are a few which have been touted over the years:
Scale on-chain. Make blocks bigger or faster, but this war was already fought in 2017. The small blockers won. Scaling Bitcoin is heresy now.
Change the consensus. Switch from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake like Ethereum. But that destroys everything that makes Bitcoin actually decentralized and trustless.
Break the money. Tail emissions (infinite inflation), demurrage (tax on holding), or burning dormant coins. Each one violates Bitcoin's core promise of fixed supply and property rights.
These three options aren't really solutions. They're workarounds at best.
But what if there was a fourth option?
One that doesn't require a single code change in Bitcoin Core. No consensus fights. No breaking the 21 million cap. No governance votes. Just reading data that's been gathering in Bitcoin blocks since genesis.
That solution exists. It's called $NAT.
$NAT is a fungible token on Bitcoin whose per-block issuance is computed directly from Bitcoin block metadata. That issuance is then directed to miners with no opt-in required.
This parallel reward system aims to materially supplement the security budget without changing Bitcoin.
But how does it work?
When a miner wins a block, an indexer deterministically calculates the block’s $NAT amount based on the "bits" (the difficulty field) of said block. That amount is attributed to the coinbase address, which is where the miner receives their BTC. The miner/pool then has custody of the $NAT and, if pooled, can pass it through to hashers just like BTC if they so desire.
This creates a parallel, market-priced revenue stream for miners that sits alongside BTC subsidy and fees. A revenue stream that benefits Bitcoiners, miners and the entire industry by helping keep Bitcoin secure for years to come.
Think of it like this: Bitcoin and $NAT are born from the same block, mined with the same energy. Bitcoin handles the transactions, $NAT ensures miners stick around to secure them. A symbiotic relationship forged by necessity.
And this isn't theoretical. The code is running on mainnet. The tokens are being distributed to miners right now. The solution to Bitcoin's security issue has been live for six months and barely anyone knows about it. Yet...
Want to learn more?
Follow @natgmi and @tap_protocol for all the latest $NAT news and watch the video below to learn more about $NAT and the protocol that powers it.
