Michael Saylor, founder of MicroStrategy, predicted that Bitcoin (BTC)'s growth over the next decade will depend on minimal protocol changes and the expansion of capital markets. He stated, "The most important characteristic of BTC is that it cannot be arbitrarily changed. Moving forward, the base layer will operate more conservatively, and the burden of proof required for protocol changes will increase. Even if payment, lending, credit, and yield products develop based on BTC, BTC itself must remain unchanged." He added, "Now, the direction of BTC will be more influenced by capital flows than by mining volume, and the four-year halving cycle model is no longer dominant." He also cited 'paper Bitcoin' as one of the major risks, explaining, "If intermediary institutions create more claims than actual holdings, the market will periodically experience credit crises. In such cases, even if the protocol itself is maintained, investors can suffer losses due to leverage, opacity, and rehypothecation. Whether BTC exposure is backed by actual BTC holdings is a key issue for the next decade, and for this, custody, proof of reserves, and transparency are crucial."
