So people mine bitcoin, which is really just validating the transactions on the network, and they get paid in bitcoin for doing so. However, they will receive fewer and fewer bitcoin over time because of the fixed supply. At some point doesn't mining become unprofitable, causing the network to crash. And if the price drops doesn't this exacerbate this problem? Would love some clarity here.
This would actually cause the price of Bitcoin to increase, so that it keeps up with the cost of mining it. The miners won't sell their Bitcoin for less than the cost of electricity.
At some point, large mining operations will run their own power stations, and they'll just run on solar / hydro / geothermal power. They might even sell any surplus energy. Other miners might start paying for their electricity with Bitcoin, so the price of electricity might become directly related to the cost of mining Bitcoin.
Probably won't be profitable to have a whole warehouse full of nodes but I'm sure there will still be folks willing to make a couple bucks to keep the network up and running.