Bitcoin is still the biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap, and it will always be the first one to solve some of the most fundamental problems around the implementation of a cryptographic coin.

However we have many newer coins that solve some of the shortcomings of bitcoin and extend the possibilities: scalability/transaction rate, processing time, smart contracts, energy requirements, etc.

Because of this, I find it hard to believe that bitcoin in its present form would continue to be relevant (though I may be mistaken). I don’t think that the miners would just let bitcoin fade out either though.

Is it likely that the bitcoin protocol will see very important changes in the future to address these issues so that it can remain relevant (block size, changes in consensus forming, block creation rate, smart contracts)? Are there technological impediments to this? Or is it more likely that this will be done in minoritarian hard forks, while the main bitcoin blockchain will go on essentially how it is right now?