Quote from: f430 on March 21, 2014, 05:55:25 PM

So when the miners are no longer rewarded coins, why would the miners keep paying for hardware, labour electricity, internet, rent, cooling, etc.?

Will they then be paid with only transaction fees?
There is not enough ROI in fees alone now, so what is going to happen?
Increased transaction fees?
Will that cause everyone to drop bitcoin and move on to a cheaper coin?

Can someone explain the end to me. I do not understand it after all coins are mined - how the system will continue on.

Will they then be paid with only transaction fees? / There is not enough ROI in fees alone now, so what is going to happen?

As the Bitcoin network grows and the block reward drops, transaction fees will become the primary source of income for miners. Theoretically, this shouldn't be a problem because the amount of accumulated fees will continue to grow along with the network. The more people using Bitcoin for everyday purchases, the more miners will collect in fees for processing those transactions. In a few decades, it may not be unreasonable to see transaction fees at BTC25, while the block reward itself dwindles will below BTC1.0...sort of a reverse to what we're seeing now.

Increased transaction fees?

An increase in transaction fees could also happen, and would seem likely as the network grows.

Will that cause everyone to drop bitcoin and move on to a cheaper coin?

I suppose it's possible, but it also comes down to how you view a "cheaper coin". At current prices, I can purchase a little over 172,000 satoshis for just $1!

I do not understand it after all coins are mined - how the system will continue on.

With the coins all mined, the system continues based on transactions throughout the Bitcoin economy, with miners processing those transactions. Those earned fees should still be able to marginally cover a miner's expenses (if they do, the network/difficulty slowly grows...if they don't, the network/difficulty slowly falls). The price per BTC (or mBTC, or Satoshi) will also adjust based on this.