*i understand that in this case, transfer fees will just get higher till the point mining makes sense, but if it gets too high btc will lose market to fiat or whatever other system we will be using in the future
As mining becomes more expensive, some miners will no longer be profitable and will shut down their equipment. This will reduce the total hash power on the network. Blocks will be solved a bit slower. At the end of the difficulty adjustment period (every 2,016 blocks) the difficulty will decrease to speed up block solving. The remaining miners will become a bit more profitable since they will be able to solve blocks more often with the same amount of equipment and energy.
If energy costs continue to increase, more miners will no longer be profitable and will shut down their equipment. This will reduce the total hash power on the network. Blocks will be solved a bit slower. At the end of the difficulty adjustment period (every 2,016 blocks) the difficulty will decrease to speed up block solving. The remaining miners will become a bit more profitable since they will be able to solve blocks more often with the same amount of equipment and energy.
This process repeats until the remaining miners are able to be profitable at the current energy costs and an equilibrium is reached.