[colordrops]

Seems a bit Orwellian to suggest that bitcoin is money printed from thin air. Yes, bitcoin was instantiated at some point, but at that point it had pretty much zero value. It has a fixed rate of issuance which will eventually end, and no one can change that. It is the opposite of fiat in that respect.

[hughw]

Actually, developers can change the limited issuance. Some group of developers, and their interested backers, will probably hard fork in 2024 and change the protocol to permit more to be mined. There will be inevitable "that's not Bitcoin" debates, but there will be a chain with old and new bitcoins on it for a little while anyway.

[colordrops]

That's theoretical at the moment, and it's probably unlikely that it would win out as all the current holders of bitcoin would lose value. Even if it did though, it would be based on market consensus rather than a secret meeting room.