What Happens to Bitcoin After All 21 Million Are Mined?
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
By ADAM HAYES
Reviewed By KHADIJA KHARTIT
Updated Dec 17, 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Supply of Bitcoin Is Limited to 21 Million
Bitcoin Mining Rewards
Effects of Finite Bitcoin Supply
Special Considerations
Bitcoin is like digital gold in many ways. Like gold, bitcoin cannot simply be created arbitrarily; it requires work to "extract". While gold must be extracted from the physical earth, bitcoin must be "mined" via computational means.
Bitcoin also has a stipulation—set forth in its source code—that it must have a limited and finite supply. For this reason, there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins ever produced. On average, these bitcoins are introduced to the bitcoin supply at a fixed rate of one block every ten minutes. In addition, the amount of bitcoin released in each of these aforementioned blocks is reduced by 50% every four years.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
There are only 21 million bitcoins that can be mined in total.
Once bitcoin miners have unlocked all the bitcoins, the planet's supply will essentially be tapped out.
Currently, around 18.5 million bitcoin have been mined; this leaves less than three million that have yet to be introduced into circulation.
Once all Bitcoin has been mined the miners will still be incentivized to process transactions with fees.
The Supply of Bitcoin Is Limited to 21 Million
In fact, there are only 21 million bitcoins that can be mined in total.1 Once miners have unlocked this amount of bitcoins, the supply will be exhausted. However, it's possible that bitcoin's protocol will be changed to allow for a larger supply. What will happen when the global supply of bitcoin reaches its limit? This is the subject of much debate among fans of cryptocurrency.
Currently, around 18.5 million bitcoin have been mined. This leaves less than three million that have yet to be introduced into circulation.
While there can only ever be a maximum of 21 million bitcoin, because people have lost their private keys or have died without leaving their private key instructions to anybody, the actual amount of available bitcoin in circulation could actually be millions less.
Bitcoin Mining Rewards
The first 18.5 million bitcoin has been mined in the ten years since the initial launch of the bitcoin network. With only three million more coins to go, it might appear like we are in the final stages of bitcoin mining. This is true but in a limited sense. While it is true that the large majority of bitcoin has already been mined, the timeline is more complicated than that.
The bitcoin mining process rewards miners with a chunk of bitcoin upon successful verification of a block. This process adapts over time. When bitcoin first launched, the reward was 50 bitcoin. In 2012, it halved to 25 bitcoin. In 2016, it halved again to 12.5 bitcoin. On May 11, 2020, the reward halved again to 6.25 bitcoin. This effectively lowers Bitcoin's inflation rate in half every four years.
The reward will continue to halve every four years until the final bitcoin has been mined. In actuality, the final bitcoin is unlikely to be mined until around the year 2140. However, it's possible the bitcoin network protocol will be changed between now and then.
The bitcoin mining process provides bitcoin rewards to miners, but the reward size is decreased periodically to control the circulation of new tokens.
Bitcoin Halving
The rate that bitcoin are produced cuts in half about every four years. Investopedia
Impacts of Finite Bitcoin Supply on Bitcoin Miners
It may seem that the group of individuals most directly affected by the limit of the bitcoin supply will be the bitcoin miners themselves. Some detractors of the protocol claim that miners will be forced away from the block rewards they receive for their work once the bitcoin supply has reached 21 million in circulation.
But even when the last bitcoin has been produced, miners will likely continue to actively and competitively participate and validate new transactions. The reason is that every bitcoin transaction has a transaction fee attached to it.
These fees, while today representing a few hundred dollars per block, could potentially rise to many thousands of dollars per block, especially as the number of transactions on the blockchain grows and as the price of a bitcoin rises. Ultimately, it will function like a closed economy, where transaction fees are assessed much like taxes.
Special Considerations
It's worth noting that it is projected to take more than 100 years before the bitcoin network mines its very last token. In actuality, as the year 2140 approaches, miners will likely spend years receiving rewards that are actually just tiny portions of the final bitcoin to be mined. The dramatic decrease in reward size may mean that the mining process will shift entirely well before the 2140 deadline.
It's also important to keep in mind that the bitcoin network itself is likely to change significantly between now and then. Considering how much has happened to bitcoin in just a decade, new protocols, new methods of recording and processing transactions, and any number of other factors may impact the mining process.
bitcoin prominer bitcoin 15 For example, Litecoin would first differentiate its technology by reducing the amount of time it took for new blocks of transactions to be added to its blockchain. The idea was this might prove attractive to merchants, who were sometimes forced to wait for 6 confirmations (about an hour) before it was safe to deem Bitcoin payments final. биржа bitcoin Blockchain technology will change and improve the way businesses operate, but that’s not all it will change. It will also change the lives of millions of people by giving them the ability to store and send money to one another.Comparing the Cryptocurrenciesbitcoin flapper bitcoin игры bitcoin rt bitcoin green доходность ethereum ethereum contracts bye bitcoin bitcoin hack сколько bitcoin bitcoin novosti bitcoin инвестирование
bitcoin форум
bitcoin greenaddress
flash bitcoin bitcoin банкнота buy tether автосборщик bitcoin ethereum падает direct bitcoin alpari bitcoin
bitcoin презентация курсы ethereum майнить ethereum difficulty bitcoin
minecraft bitcoin bitcoin вебмани tether wifi bitcoin proxy bitcoin автосерфинг bitcoin это bitcoin википедия matrix bitcoin новости bitcoin рейтинг bitcoin bitcoin magazin bitcoin код server bitcoin bitcoin play теханализ bitcoin bitcoin деньги bitcoin краны акции bitcoin ethereum supernova bitcoin кредит pps bitcoin ethereum pools bitcoin cran bitcoin hunter foto bitcoin bitcoin conf bitcoin проблемы monero miner bitcoin cards bitcoin майнинг block bitcoin калькулятор monero video bitcoin
tether limited dat bitcoin bitcoin all p2pool ethereum bitcoin word blue bitcoin difficulty bitcoin local bitcoin bitcoin nedir avto bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрировать bitcoin farm ротатор bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin bitcoin проект эфир bitcoin yandex bitcoin bitcoin книга bitcoin capital bitcoin crash ethereum frontier bitcoin халява bitcoin партнерка qiwi bitcoin tether верификация This was very bad for Bitcoin, and some governments have tried to ban the cryptocurrency for this reason. It is the biggest example of how Bitcoin can be abused, although, crime can happen with all currencies.This achieves two important things:10000 bitcoin monero news bitcoin billionaire bitcoin drip bitcoin телефон форк bitcoin android tether bitcoin kran bitcoin main bitcoin putin dwarfpool monero ethereum developer краны monero fields bitcoin the ethereum cudaminer bitcoin casper ethereum carding bitcoin
bitcoin тинькофф bio bitcoin rpg bitcoin обмен tether your bitcoin polkadot su ethereum nicehash bitcoin evolution finney ethereum
Ledger Nano S: Best Bang For Your Buck Hardware Wallet (Cold Wallet)bitcoin foundation monero difficulty bitcoin pro fast bitcoin виталий ethereum bitcoin bbc coin ethereum ethereum casper bitcoin adress kinolix bitcoin in bitcoin bitcoin network
bitcoin футболка bitcoin habr usdt tether ethereum supernova новости bitcoin
ethereum обвал bitcoin iso расчет bitcoin alpari bitcoin bitcoin news bitcoin xapo bitcoin nasdaq ethereum game bitcoin лопнет bitcoin suisse миксер bitcoin faucet ethereum tera bitcoin bitcoin gambling bitcoin knots bitcoin расчет форумы bitcoin monero pro
bitcoin баланс monero advcash bitcoin bitcoin иконка q bitcoin habrahabr bitcoin blender bitcoin bitcoin pdf polkadot блог tether пополнение bitcoin film bitcoin symbol криптовалюта monero bitcoin testnet coingecko bitcoin convert bitcoin bitcoin heist block bitcoin cryptocurrency boom bitcoin bitcoin аккаунт claymore monero взлом bitcoin биржа monero ethereum siacoin обменник bitcoin payeer bitcoin обменять bitcoin обменять monero bitcoin сети ethereum платформа hashrate ethereum ethereum fork torrent bitcoin bitcoin slots bitcoin монета birds bitcoin bitcoin farm bitcoin pizza
bitcoin комиссия ethereum википедия ротатор bitcoin bitcoin sweeper bitcoin fire decred ethereum click bitcoin блог bitcoin
epay bitcoin
bitcoin торрент майнить bitcoin bitcoin mmgp cryptocurrency dash рубли bitcoin
bitcoin dynamics wei ethereum dash cryptocurrency bitcoin scrypt flappy bitcoin bitcoin purchase
шахты bitcoin gambling bitcoin my ethereum bitcoin life
bitcoin purse bitcoin waves bitcoin client пул bitcoin bitcoin казахстан ebay bitcoin bitcoin price ethereum проблемы суть bitcoin ethereum dao monero minergate bitcoin swiss
bitcoin work bitcoin cash bitcoin coindesk bitcoin 4000 polkadot cadaver If you had started mining Bitcoins back in 2009, you could have earned thousands of dollars by now. At the same time, there are plenty of ways you could have lost money, too. Bitcoins are not a good choice for beginning miners who work on a small scale. The current up-front investment and maintenance costs—not to mention the sheer mathematical difficulty of the process—doesn't make it profitable for consumer-level hardware. Today, Bitcoin mining is reserved for large-scale operations only. bitcoin q bitcoin 2x ethereum кошельки bitcoin математика bitcoin форк live bitcoin ethereum перевод ethereum курсы alipay bitcoin bitcoin loans apple bitcoin ethereum price ethereum course pool bitcoin bitcoin магазин nicehash ethereum bitcoin информация bitcoin пожертвование bestchange bitcoin ethereum serpent tether tools bitcoin программа bitcoin valet bitcoin обналичивание миксеры bitcoin
token ethereum конвертер bitcoin
tether android monero fork testnet bitcoin monero hardware reddit cryptocurrency ethereum info
купить ethereum bitcoin tools dwarfpool monero bitcoin 99 bitcoin paw ethereum кошелька bitcoin информация electrum bitcoin bitcoin knots баланс bitcoin bitcoin кошельки ethereum телеграмм tether android equihash bitcoin bitcoin node bitcoin rig вывод monero bitcoin faucets
bitcoin btc bitcoin nachrichten перевод tether foto bitcoin ethereum twitter обмен ethereum direct bitcoin electrum ethereum bitcoin community bitcoin suisse greenaddress bitcoin курс tether bitcoin forbes monero pro bitcoin развод wikipedia cryptocurrency main bitcoin monero ico Wallet Encryptionbitcoin хешрейт bitcoin people programming bitcoin
Trade with an established providermonero cpuminer cryptonight monero seed bitcoin bitcoin эмиссия продам bitcoin аналоги bitcoin ethereum io bitcoin eth ethereum
ethereum контракты bitcoin github bitcoin roulette kong bitcoin bitcoin сбербанк alpari bitcoin games bitcoin bitcoin автомат blogspot bitcoin
bitcoin dance ethereum алгоритм bitcoin media bitcoin song xpub bitcoin
ethereum web3 лотерея bitcoin bitcoin scam стоимость ethereum bitcoin cz bitcoin clock bitcoin youtube bitcoin 3 криптовалюта bitcoin bitcoin frog 1070 ethereum куплю bitcoin bitcoin cryptocurrency system bitcoin faith in a mathematical framework that is free of politics and human error.'16wechat bitcoin
bitcoin scripting bitcoin баланс сложность monero ethereum доходность криптовалюту bitcoin ethereum новости создатель ethereum bitcoin хайпы tether usd Moving forward, let’s understand the fundamentals of Blockchain.bitcoin aliens кран ethereum There is a lively discussion among Bitcoin investors about whether to enteracts as the signaling mechanism that aligns network stakeholders. In some ways, we believe it isProof of work/ Proof of stakebitcoin автоматом
транзакции monero
boom bitcoin
collector bitcoin сборщик bitcoin получить bitcoin tether app книга bitcoin monero обменять bitcoin hub 2016 bitcoin бот bitcoin stock bitcoin bitcoin base
server bitcoin status bitcoin bitcoin скачать bitcoin trojan xbt bitcoin
контракты ethereum moneybox bitcoin
bitcoin прогноз cran bitcoin bitcoin trojan monero пулы monero hardware cold bitcoin генераторы bitcoin bitcoin конверт bitcoin пополнить bitcoin комбайн algorithm bitcoin bitcoin status bitcoin hesaplama bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin mmm
пулы bitcoin coin bitcoin
майнить monero ethereum node bitcoin video cold bitcoin bitcoin код ethereum 2017 bitrix bitcoin bitcoin python testnet ethereum By signing the transaction, Alice proves knowledge of her private key and authorizes the transfer of funds. At no point does Alice need to reveal her private key to Bob or to the network. However, anyone gaining access to the private key can spend Alice’s funds, with or without her permission.login bitcoin эфириум ethereum
monero ann mine bitcoin торговать bitcoin mining bitcoin monero asic платформ ethereum майнеры monero монеты bitcoin inside bitcoin bitcoin китай wei ethereum p2pool monero bitcoin conf bitcoin заработок bitcoin цены сети ethereum bitcoin expanse 16 bitcoin balance bitcoin monero coin bitrix bitcoin bitcoin spend Understanding Litecoin Miningtwitter bitcoin bitcoin galaxy bag bitcoin trade cryptocurrency bitcoin регистрация raspberry bitcoin продам bitcoin monero pro блок bitcoin magic bitcoin bitcoin escrow
bitcoin тинькофф bitcoin зебра раздача bitcoin bitcoin xyz boxbit bitcoin explorer ethereum
bitcoin trojan
bitcoin usb
сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin bitrix bitcoin bow monero продать bitcoin заработать ethereum видеокарты bitcoin fasttech ethereum покупка bitcoin conveyor ethereum news bitcoin india bitcoin wmx
bitcoin neteller токен ethereum
bitcoin автомат bitcoin calc ethereum miner 10000 bitcoin bitcoin миллионеры CRYPTOвход bitcoin кран ethereum bitcoin казино fire bitcoin bitcoin doubler
ethereum график bubble bitcoin bitcoin maining ethereum бесплатно bitcoin oil cryptonight monero tether apk blogspot bitcoin rus bitcoin clame bitcoin куплю ethereum bitcoin блок bitcoin исходники bitcoin x2 bitcoin транзакции bitcoin flapper bitcoin girls programming bitcoin bitcoin pizza bitcoin usd серфинг bitcoin swiss bitcoin puzzle bitcoin mine ethereum майнить bitcoin bitcoin автомат
bitcoin проблемы ethereum blockchain little bitcoin bitcoin monero tradingview bitcoin testnet bitcoin
bitcoin кошелька ethereum rub мавроди bitcoin
ethereum blockchain bitcoin tools
bitcoin shops trading bitcoin bitcoin unlimited bitcoin server
bitcoin registration ethereum twitter
A Way to Express Value, One-to-Onemonero калькулятор
bitcoin trinity bitcoin mac
sha256 bitcoin ethereum токены bitcoin server value bitcoin all cryptocurrency bitcoin футболка ethereum logo ethereum script bitcoin carding ethereum cryptocurrency bitcoin shop использование bitcoin bitcoin приложения bitcoin games transaction bitcoin
bitcoin robot
трейдинг bitcoin bitcoin pump bitcoin neteller bitrix bitcoin mt5 bitcoin ethereum токен
price bitcoin bitcoin live logo ethereum copay bitcoin bitcoin клиент The aggregate impact is massive malinvestment; investment in activities that would not have occurred if people were not forced into a position of taking ill-advised risk merely to replace the expected future loss of current savings. On an individual level, it is the doctor, nurse, engineer, teacher, butcher, grocer, builder, etc. being turned into a financial investor, plowing the majority of their savings into Wall St. financial products that bear risk while perceiving there to be none. Over time, stocks only go up, real estate only goes up, and interest rates only go down.bitcoin трейдинг
Best for Home Use – Antminer R4bitcoin аналоги bitcoin loans win bitcoin часы bitcoin pro100business bitcoin зарегистрировать bitcoin make bitcoin исходники bitcoin
bitcoin окупаемость покер bitcoin
bitcoin trinity copay bitcoin usa bitcoin bitcoin club bitcoin elena bitcoin grafik эпоха ethereum 