On April 27, CoinEx hosted an X Space AMA focused on $NAT and Bitcoin’s “second miner subsidy,” bringing together Alfred Ngai from CoinEx and William Gomez from The Block Runner to discuss a question that is becoming more important for Bitcoin’s future: how do miners stay economically incentivized as block subsidies keep falling? CoinEx also highlighted its recent support for the BTC-native version of $NAT, as well as the ongoing “Deposit $NAT on CoinEx” campaign and community giveaway.
Why the conversation matters
Bitcoin’s block subsidy was cut again after the 2024 halving, leaving miners with 3.125 BTC per block, while transaction fees continue to represent only a small portion of miner revenue in many periods. That makes the long-term security budget a central issue for anyone thinking seriously about Bitcoin’s durability over the next decade and beyond.
In the AMA, the discussion framed $NAT as a market-driven way to add an additional incentive layer for miners without changing Bitcoin’s consensus rules. The key idea is simple: if miners are responsible for securing the network, the market should continue to develop mechanisms that reward that work as block subsidies decline.
What $NAT is
$NAT was presented as a Bitcoin-native asset designed around the Digital Matter Theory framework, with issuance tied to Bitcoin block data rather than to arbitrary token design choices. In the AMA, William described it as a non-arbitrary asset that is discovered from Bitcoin’s own structure, not created through a conventional token launch process.
According to CoinEx’s listing information, NAT is generated with every Bitcoin block and distributed directly to Bitcoin miners as an additional subsidy reward. That makes it different from many other Bitcoin ecosystem assets, because its narrative is not centered only on speculation or collectibles, but on block production, miner incentives, and the economics of proof-of-work itself.
The security budget challenge
A major theme of the AMA was Bitcoin’s long-term security budget. As block subsidies continue to fall over time, the network becomes more dependent on transaction fees, but fee revenue does not always grow quickly enough to fully replace lost subsidy income.
William’s argument was that this creates a structural gap: miners still incur real costs for electricity, hardware, and infrastructure, but the revenue model becomes more fragile after each halving. In that context, $NAT was framed as a complementary subsidy layer that may help align miner incentives with the ongoing work of securing the network.
Why native exchange support matters
Another key topic in the AMA was CoinEx’s support for the BTC-native version of $NAT. Native exchange support matters because Bitcoin-native assets often require more specialized infrastructure than standard ERC-20 or bridged assets, including wallet education, indexing support, and careful handling of Bitcoin-layer mechanics.
By listing the native version, CoinEx helps lower the barrier for users who want access to $NAT without compromising its connection to Bitcoin’s base layer. For the broader ecosystem, this is an important signal that centralized exchanges can support Bitcoin-native assets in a more infrastructure-aware way, rather than only serving wrapped or synthetic versions.
What the AMA community asked
The audience questions showed that the community is already thinking beyond the narrative and into the mechanics. Questions covered whether a $NAT fee market would compete with Bitcoin’s base-layer fees, how the dual-earning model works for miners, how the system behaves during hash rate drops, how $NAT avoids becoming purely speculative, and what technical infrastructure supports issuance and tracking.
That mix of questions is important because it shows the conversation around Bitcoin-native assets is moving from “what is this?” to “how does it actually work?” and “what role can it play in the network’s future?”
Looking ahead
The AMA closed with a forward-looking view of what to watch over the next 6 to 12 months: broader mining pool adoption, deeper ecosystem support, better education around Bitcoin’s security economics, and more discussion around Bitcoin-native asset primitives. CoinEx also used the session to remind listeners about the active NAT campaign and the live NAT/USDT market on the exchange.
Whether someone approaches $NAT as a miner incentive experiment, a Bitcoin-native asset, or a new market narrative, the underlying question is the same: how can Bitcoin’s security model remain strong as subsidies decline? That question is likely to stay central to the next phase of Bitcoin ecosystem development.
