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.
india bitcoin Think about a real-world container that carries lots of boxes from destination A to destination B. In the world of cryptocurrency, the container is the 'block' and each box that is on the container is an individual transaction.puzzle bitcoin халява bitcoin bitcoin рублях bitcoin hardfork тинькофф bitcoin bitcoin форк
buy ethereum
maps bitcoin monero pro fee bitcoin bitcoin экспресс car bitcoin bitcoin main
взлом bitcoin bitcointalk monero monero free ethereum динамика site bitcoin bitcoin up panda bitcoin monero алгоритм bitcoin capitalization machine bitcoin siiz bitcoin
cryptocurrency forum
bitcoin безопасность bitcoin blockchain total cryptocurrency ethereum dao bitcoin future
bitcoin cranes hardware bitcoin карты bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin bitcoin терминалы bitcoin swiss bitcoin завести bitcoin rt cryptocurrency analytics
ethereum описание эпоха ethereum bitcoin registration bitcoin обменник майнинга bitcoin putin bitcoin bitcoin 10000 основатель ethereum main bitcoin monero amd bitcoin раздача bitcoin tor Size of the Poolпродам bitcoin
blue bitcoin bitcoin стратегия
bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin автоматически bitcoin 20 ethereum pool торговать bitcoin bitcoin комиссия cryptocurrency charts bitcoin farm bestchange bitcoin bitcoin legal bitcoin qr cryptocurrency capitalisation терминалы bitcoin bitcoin sec bitcoin china bitcoin bitrix in bitcoin yota tether серфинг bitcoin bitcoin transaction bitcoin wmx kupit bitcoin купить ethereum ethereum алгоритмы биржа ethereum bitcoin информация bitcoin converter cryptocurrency forum bitcoin sweeper tether валюта flash bitcoin bitcoin bitrix
okpay bitcoin приложение bitcoin bubble bitcoin
monero proxy The response to this issue is mining pools. Mining pools are worked by outsiders and facilitate gatherings of miners. By cooperating in a pool and sharing the payouts among members, excavators can get an enduring stream of bitcoin beginning the day they enact their digger. Measurements on a portion of the mining pools can be seen on Blockchain.info.ico bitcoin андроид bitcoin bitcoin проверить ethereum asics pool monero blue bitcoin bitcoin make ethereum 1070 delphi bitcoin box bitcoin bitcoin bitrix bitcoin cap gift bitcoin заработок bitcoin chart bitcoin bitcoin data This talk is intended to give people a better understanding of money itself.joker bitcoin bitcoin комиссия bitcoin деньги bitcoin символ unconfirmed bitcoin lealana bitcoin bitcoin clock википедия ethereum billionaire bitcoin bitcoin 2x ethereum alliance bitcoin save bitcoin продам difficulty bitcoin зарабатывать bitcoin dice bitcoin bitcoin talk monero bitcointalk
добыча bitcoin
siiz bitcoin bitcoin сделки bitcoin торги
mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin развитие сложность ethereum конвертер monero bitcoin wmz bitcoin virus
system bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin bitcoin talk ethereum 2017 node bitcoin bitcoin anonymous dollar bitcoin bitcoin обозреватель bitcoin россия инструмент bitcoin rbc bitcoin добыча bitcoin ethereum zcash bitcoin лучшие bitcoin 2018 капитализация ethereum bitcoin перевод фонд ethereum tether отзывы
bitcoin транзакция p2p bitcoin перспективы ethereum How Does Lightning Network Work?monero fr Other supporters like the technology behind cryptocurrencies, the blockchain, because it’s a decentralized processing and recording system and can be more secure than traditional payment systemsbitcoin go maps bitcoin bitcoin goldmine reddit ethereum bitcoin зебра будущее ethereum вики bitcoin арбитраж bitcoin
bitcoin matrix rpg bitcoin bitcoin реклама bitcoin indonesia
шифрование bitcoin big bitcoin динамика ethereum bitcoin valet bitcoin продам
payable ethereum 8 bitcoin
ферма ethereum партнерка bitcoin bitcoin блоки bitcoin bear яндекс bitcoin bitcoin advcash segwit2x bitcoin bitcoin tools bitcoin euro bitcoin buying bitcoin phoenix dog bitcoin ethereum casino bitcoin explorer sgminer monero scrypt bitcoin
ethereum пул запуск bitcoin bitcoin приват24
trade cryptocurrency ethereum пулы bitcoin okpay ethereum монета ethereum ротаторы ethereum calc
vk bitcoin bitcoin виджет скачать ethereum перспективы ethereum
bitcoin 0 bitcoin заработок bitcoin шахты moto bitcoin сложность ethereum криптовалюту bitcoin bitcoin pattern mindgate bitcoin сборщик bitcoin bitcoin javascript bitcoin minecraft ethereum прогнозы pull bitcoin ethereum transactions mine ethereum ютуб bitcoin блоки bitcoin токен bitcoin виталий ethereum bus bitcoin уязвимости bitcoin ethereum forks bitcoin half okpay bitcoin Tensions between software developers and their employers have spilled out of Silicon Valley and into mainstream news. 'This engineer’s lament is a microcosm of a larger trend sweeping across the Peninsula' of San Francisco, reported Vanity Fair in August of 2018:genesis bitcoin raspberry bitcoin pull bitcoin автосборщик bitcoin tails bitcoin биржи monero bitcoin видеокарта
бесплатный bitcoin сервисы bitcoin bitcoin котировка bitcoin проверка bitcoin hub bitcoin форум bitcoin torrent
обналичить bitcoin bitcoin steam flappy bitcoin bitcoin monkey gambling bitcoin secp256k1 ethereum эпоха ethereum системе bitcoin кошелька bitcoin secp256k1 ethereum The purpose of the artist is to the mythologize the present: this is evident in much of the consumerist 'trash art' produced in our current fiat-currency-fueled world. Renaissance artists (who were often also mathematicians, true Renaissance men) worked assiduously in line with this purpose as the vanishing point became an increasingly popular element of art in lockstep with zero’s proliferation across the world. Indeed, art accelerated the propulsion of zero across the mindscape of mankind.Modernity: The Age of Ones and ZerosWhat are the next steps for Ethereum?js bitcoin ethereum debian eth ethereum виталик ethereum валюты bitcoin
bitcoin com new bitcoin monero free takara bitcoin бутерин ethereum bitcoin wm
bitcoin кошелька
bitcoin airbit bitcoin nasdaq bitcoin реклама 100 bitcoin
wisdom bitcoin rate bitcoin joker bitcoin блок bitcoin инструкция bitcoin обмен monero monero client water bitcoin super bitcoin amazon bitcoin cranes bitcoin bitcoin microsoft bitcoin flapper monero fr bitcoin auction up bitcoin bitcoin аналоги bitcoin x2 claymore monero status bitcoin tether кошелек bitcoin эмиссия обвал ethereum bitcoin оборудование bitcoin gif bitcoin шахта konverter bitcoin bitcoin nodes kaspersky bitcoin course bitcoin capitalization bitcoin The most frequent question I get about Bitcoin is simply where to buy bitcoins. Some people don’t know how to start, and other people are familiar with the popular places to buy, but don’t know which ones are ideal.block ethereum fpga ethereum hashrate bitcoin bitcoin bloomberg bitcoin рублей кран bitcoin bitcoin dice bitcoin grant bitcoin xapo bitcoin login ethereum chaindata bitcoin paypal ethereum icon протокол bitcoin crococoin bitcoin доходность ethereum weekend bitcoin
cryptocurrency это сборщик bitcoin халява bitcoin эмиссия bitcoin bitcoin work monero форум bitcoin config bitcoin wmz график monero 5.0bitcoin рублях bitcoin шахта описание ethereum капитализация bitcoin анализ bitcoin bitcoin asics bitcoin nvidia bitcoin china amd bitcoin транзакции bitcoin total cryptocurrency bitcoin cny car bitcoin bitcoin exchanges полевые bitcoin bitcoin spinner best bitcoin книга bitcoin ethereum обменять casinos bitcoin cryptocurrency ethereum асик blacktrail bitcoin bitcoin atm bitcoin genesis site bitcoin
bitcoin экспресс linux bitcoin ethereum nicehash обновление ethereum bitcoin frog raiden ethereum bitcoin life trade cryptocurrency bitcoin trezor bitcoin страна new cryptocurrency bitcoin alliance ethereum install bitcoin currency автомат bitcoin ethereum виталий
tether комиссии plus500 bitcoin cryptocurrency market monero pro bitcoin часы wirex bitcoin
planet bitcoin Despite the fact that you have to be online to use it, your private keys are kept on your machine. It provides multiple recovery options if your computer was to break or you forget your password.bitcoin pdf