1) Bitcoin block rewards will eventually become infinitesimal, at that point transaction fees will be the only rewards miners get. Right now transaction fees are around 0.1-0.5 BTC per block, which is nowhere near enough funding to secure the network by itself. We need transaction fees to go up, and the only thing that will force them up is the blocksize limit. Increasing block size might cause fundamental damage to Bitcoin due to this.
When miners will need funds to secure the network, they won't include too cheap transactions. Who wants their transaction to be included in a block, will need to increase the fee. Competition between miners will allow to discover what is the right fee. If now fees are low, it's just because the new generated coins cover happily all the costs. Miners are not stupid, let them do their work. If you think you can do better, start your own pool.
2) Currently average block size is less than 0.4 mb now that the stress test bullshit is over. Gonna be a long time until we even hit the 1 mb limit.
https://blockexplorer.com/blocks-date/2015-08-16It seems that in some periods of the day we are already approachin the limit. When would you wait to increase the block size? Your reasoning is like closing the fence door after all the pigs are already escaped. I remind you that the white paper didn't have a block size limit and it has been introduced only for testing purposes, with the intention to remove it already in mind.
3) Once we hit the 1 mb limit free and nearly no fee transactions will be forced off chain. There is TONS of dust, spam, and gambling that can be done off chain. Over half of all Bitcoin transactions right now are basically dusty junk. This will make plenty of room for legitimate transactions.
When other off-chain technologies will be able to offer instant payments, you will not pay for your coffee with the blockchain, even if the fee is 0. And at the same time, if the block size is large, legitimate transaction will always have theri place.
4) Once almost all the junk is forced off chain the rise in fees will be very gradual, and it will take a long time for the fees to become an issue for people. In any case the blockchain will function perfectly fine regardless of transaction data volume, fees will simply rise.
I don't see anything useful on the rise of the fees. What makes bitcoin special is the adoption. Small blocks means smaller adoption. Small blocks are the best way to lead bitcoin to failure.
If fees ever do get too crazy I'd support a block size limit increase too, but I don't expect that to happen for over a decade if ever.
Just remove the limit and let the miner decide.
5) Hard fork of Bitcoin is dangerous and can result in mass confusion, double spends, and loss of Bitcoins. It will damage the value of Bitcoin at least temporarily.
The hardfork happens when the largest part of the network agrees on the new version. At that point there is no confusion.
6) We need to maintain a group of scientists which reach a consensus, not just centralize Bitcoin under a couple of developers.
If you don't want to centralize bitcoin under a couple of developers, allow for its extension.
Please stop the fud.
People: if you love bitcoin, install XT. I already did.