There are two aspects. One is the hardware. Coin production is held nearly constant by adjusting the difficulty. Hardware evolves such that hardware from a few years ago is drastically less effective than current hardware, and the difficulty is similarly higher. This means it takes new hardware to mine effectively. With jumps in prices comes jumps in prices of the hardware. And difficulty acquiring it.
Also, the economics change with the price of btc (obviously). When btc is $50k, you can mine very profitably with $.12 kw/h domestic electricity (ie your house). When btc was $10k, you'd break even or lose money.
So if you can get the hardware, and get access to cheap power, yes you can print money. Neither of those are easy. That's the challenge and why it's so easily dismissed as you observe.
The really provocative question is imo, how high will the price of btc go? A lot of people speculate $100-300k. That kind of price justifies a lot of capital expenditure.
Also, the economics change with the price of btc (obviously). When btc is $50k, you can mine very profitably with $.12 kw/h domestic electricity (ie your house). When btc was $10k, you'd break even or lose money.
So if you can get the hardware, and get access to cheap power, yes you can print money. Neither of those are easy. That's the challenge and why it's so easily dismissed as you observe.
The really provocative question is imo, how high will the price of btc go? A lot of people speculate $100-300k. That kind of price justifies a lot of capital expenditure.