Bitcoin’s absolute scarcity was preserved by BIP-42, a critical proposal introduced on April 1, 2014, by Bitcoin Core contributor Pieter Wuille. This proposal addressed a potential supply crisis that could occur 240 years into the future, due to a bug in Satoshi Nakamoto's original code. Satoshi had programmed halving intervals into Bitcoin's logic correctly; however, the coding determined mining rewards based on current block heights. If left uncorrected, the bug could have allowed the block reward to reset to 50 BTC every few centuries, ultimately leading to an inflated total supply of 126 million BTC by the year 3417. BIP-42 not only prevented this unintended consequence, which could have arisen as early as 2265 but also raised important questions about software governance and coding standards in Bitcoin's development history. It reflects the complexities in defining and addressing bugs when they contradict initial expectations set by Satoshi. This anomaly highlights both safety concerns related to Bitcoin's fundamental economic model and the principles of community governance in handling technological issues.

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