Correct me if I dont fully understand the concept of bitcoin. If miners currently work for new bitcoin, then once all bitcoin has been mined, I assume that the only incentive for them to continue running is to collect transaction fees. In order to offset the cost of their rig and electricity, wouldnt their fees need to increase in order for them to make it worth their effort? Isnt that bad for anyone who wants to use bitcoin as currency instead of investment?
By then Bitcoin will be either dead, or worth enough to pay for electricity and hardware even with minuscule transaction fees.
The worst case that could happen is that miners drop off the network until mining BTC becomes profitable again, making the BTC network consume less electricity.
Either way miners have decades to adjust themselves to these futures changes. In this regard the Bitcoin protocol is more reliable than legal, social and economical circumstances that often give traditional businesses only months or years to adjust (or die).