When people talk about passive income, they usually mean something that pays you regularly without touching the main asset, like rent from property, dividends from stocks, or interest from bonds. Bitcoin is different because it does not pay yield or dividends. By design, the only real way to generate income from Bitcoin today is to sell parts of your holdings, which makes it function more as a store of value than an income producing asset.
Some people turn to lending platforms or so called Bitcoin interest accounts to earn yield, but those come with serious risks. History has shown how many of those services collapse, get hacked, or misuse customer funds. In most cases, the moment you hand over your Bitcoin for yield, you are giving up custody, and once that happens it is no longer truly your Bitcoin.
This leads to a bigger question. Should Bitcoin be expected to serve as a passive income tool, or would that go against its very nature? Perhaps its real power lies in preserving value over decades, while investors generate income from other sources. Others believe that future innovations on Layer 2 or new financial instruments might make it possible to earn from Bitcoin without giving up security.
So what do you think? Will Bitcoin always remain a pure store of value, or can it evolve into a genuine source of passive income in the future?
I think your question is incorrect from the start, and I will explain why. I agree with you that Bitcoin cannot generate income as staking does, for example, on DCR, since the main amount of the asset is not fixed, but can decrease (if the price falls). But this applies to any asset. There is no system that can generate income and remain at its original price in addition to this. Even the example with real estate falls under this property, since the apartment can become cheaper.