Prohibited changes
These changes are considered to be against the spirit of Bitcoin. Even if all Bitcoin users decide to adopt any of these changes, the resulting cryptocurrency can no longer be considered "Bitcoin" because it has diverged too much from the original design.
- Increasing the total number of issued bitcoins beyond 21 million, or decreasing it below 20999999.9769 (the currently-planned limit). It would make sense to increase the limit from the current value if precision is increased, but not beyond 21 million.
- Changing the bitcoin distribution algorithm whatsoever before block 6930000. The reward is currently planned to drop to zero after this block, but some adjustment may be necessary after this point if precision is increased.
- Recycling lost coins. People use Bitcoin assuming that some bitcoins will inevitably be lost. If coins are artificially "un-lost", the money supply is changed in a way that people would not have expected.
- Any rule that adds required, explicit centralization. For example, a change requiring that all blocks be signed by some central organization.
See Also
Hardfork Wishlist for hard forks that might happen and still be called "Bitcoin".
