If fees keep climbing that might eventually change the whole game of course… The worst outcome is if they stay super high and/or institutions outspend retail, leading to another fight around purity as during the blocksize war.

Will core devs also get under serious pressure in ways that are hard to foresee?

These are things to watch closely along with the mempool itself of course…

Not saying #Bitcoin will blow up inside of weeks/months, for it to end up stranded & practically owned by the usual suspects will take longer, and that need to be a topic of discussion & wargaming!