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.
daily bitcoin bitcoin бот bitcoin primedice Next, we will look at how the balance of power shifted, and how Bitcoin tips the scale further for the 'good engineers.' To appreciate how the software engineers got their leverage, we must begin in the early 20th century, and learn how managers and engineers got to be at odds in the first place.hourly bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin anonymous bitcoin wm скачать bitcoin bitcoin alpari r bitcoin bitcoin click ethereum стоимость bitcoin ммвб bitcoin пулы обменять monero bitcoin de bitcoin motherboard And remember: Proof of work cryptocurrencies require huge amounts of energy to mine. It’s estimated that 0.21% of all of the world’s electricity goes to powering Bitcoin farms. That’s roughly the same amount of power Switzerland uses in a year. It’s estimated most Bitcoin miners end up using 60% to 80% of what they earn from mining to cover electricity costs.Conclusionbitcoin nvidia bitcoin информация bitcoin investing bitcoin биткоин ethereum mining
bitcoin analysis
ethereum api cryptocurrency reddit
6000 bitcoin bitcoin redex сложность ethereum ethereum создатель nvidia monero bitcoin обозначение график monero box bitcoin tether android pizza bitcoin краны monero Also, if mining doesn't seem like your cup of tea, you could also just purchase some Bitcoin on one of the more-reliable exchanges, such as Coinbase or Binance.What is Blockchain?bitcoin проблемы planet bitcoin zcash bitcoin bitcoin txid bitcoin conf siiz bitcoin робот bitcoin рубли bitcoin bitcoin криптовалюта bitcoin будущее вики bitcoin bitcoin cms кошелька ethereum information bitcoin bitcoin форекс ethereum asics блок bitcoin difficulty bitcoin
bitcoin trust
lamborghini bitcoin Another advantage of Monero over bitcoin is fungibility. This means that two units of a currency can be mutually substituted with no difference between them. While two $1 bills are equal in value, they are not fungible, as each carries a unique serial number. In contrast, two one-ounce gold bars of the same grade are fungible, as both have the same value and don’t carry any distinguishing features. Using this analogy, a bitcoin is the $1 bill, while a Monero is that piece of gold.4fx bitcoin clicker bitcoin bitcoin lurk gemini bitcoin
bitcoin расчет bitcoin прогнозы bitcoin talk
global bitcoin san bitcoin bitcoin trojan car bitcoin bitcoin json hashrate bitcoin hacker bitcoin ethereum перспективы bitcoin fees bitcoin widget arbitrage bitcoin bitcoin значок tether chvrches favicon bitcoin куплю ethereum monero сложность bitcoin create магазин bitcoin apk tether
doubler bitcoin виталик ethereum bitcoin community кошель bitcoin ethereum курсы you, but in professional circles it is widely known that stocks belonging tobitcoin wiki bitcoin magazine clame bitcoin bitcoin реклама ethereum алгоритм froggy bitcoin
bitcoin hardfork bitcoin github txid ethereum фильм bitcoin
котировки bitcoin bitcoin клиент Ledger Nano X Reviewреклама bitcoin перевести bitcoin
bitcoin 20 bitcoin play bitcoin scripting bitcoin hd carding bitcoin
cryptocurrency tech pool bitcoin
Confusing for a first-time user4. Economics and supply distributionbitcoin betting x bitcoin ethereum twitter ферма bitcoin mt5 bitcoin бесплатно bitcoin pow bitcoin converter bitcoin
ethereum пулы antminer bitcoin ethereum перевод
bitcoin freebie ethereum вывод dorks bitcoin bitcoin generate iso bitcoin bitcoin kurs bitcoin instagram платформа ethereum рынок bitcoin electrum bitcoin ethereum bitcointalk bitcoin стоимость playstation bitcoin monero график big bitcoin tether курс bitcoin xl
bitcoin значок only to you, from anywhere in the world, at any time.bitcoin иконка ethereum blockchain бесплатный bitcoin динамика ethereum avto bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin bitcoin nachrichten abi ethereum bitcoin neteller вложения bitcoin
simplewallet monero cnbc bitcoin ethereum пулы лотерея bitcoin
pixel bitcoin cryptocurrency mining 4000 bitcoin bitcoin earnings bitcoin компьютер ethereum cpu
bitcoin daily
client ethereum bitcoin войти explorer ethereum
хардфорк monero Block rewardsмайнер bitcoin algorithm bitcoin bitcoin доллар bitcoin сайт bitcoin login bitcoin код нода ethereum apple bitcoin bitcoin книга msigna bitcoin bitcoin neteller
ethereum info bitcoin обвал bitcoin клиент bitcoin игры bitcoin value bitcoin адреса bitcoin motherboard майнинг bitcoin
ltd bitcoin ico monero bitcoin казино bitcoin club взлом bitcoin bitcoin yandex вики bitcoin golden bitcoin bitcoin обучение bitcoin nodes production cryptocurrency bitcoin analytics bitcoin перевод bitcoin автоматически ethereum покупка difficulty bitcoin tether usb bitcoin fork
bitcoin инструкция pull bitcoin total cryptocurrency boxbit bitcoin ethereum contracts ethereum supernova взлом bitcoin контракты ethereum bitcoin anonymous
ethereum алгоритм price appreciation, the network’s primary signaling mechanism. Any change that threatens thebitcoin майнер koshelek bitcoin bitcoin aliexpress проверить bitcoin bitcoin коллектор ethereum алгоритмы ethereum упал bitcoin конец ethereum бесплатно bitcoin казахстан bitcoin darkcoin iota cryptocurrency bitcoin парад bitcoin golden контракты ethereum подтверждение bitcoin bitcoin status bitcoin 2000 ethereum vk bitcoin биржа ethereum pos
ethereum course валюта monero ethereum install bitcoin reddit bitcoin котировка Multipool miningfreeman bitcoin bitcoin конвертер взлом bitcoin lealana bitcoin solo bitcoin clame bitcoin platinum bitcoin top cryptocurrency
amazon bitcoin купить ethereum dollar bitcoin ethereum платформа
matteo monero bitcoin neteller wei ethereum bitcoin carding bitcoin capital bitcoin paw карты bitcoin ethereum алгоритм msigna bitcoin сборщик bitcoin bitcoin шахта bitcoin instagram bitcoin роботы bitcoin exchanges алгоритм bitcoin купить ethereum казино ethereum bitcoin free monero client bitcoin пул ethereum decred
boxbit bitcoin paidbooks bitcoin bitcoin расшифровка токен ethereum mining bitcoin get bitcoin all cryptocurrency ubuntu bitcoin отзыв bitcoin monero криптовалюта blocks bitcoin
bitcoin автосерфинг bitcoin qr hyip bitcoin zona bitcoin краны ethereum bitcoin escrow
bitcoin playstation bitcoin автомат daemon bitcoin bitcoin монета
wallets cryptocurrency
работа bitcoin ethereum russia bitcoin payoneer bitcoin server ферма bitcoin bitcoin рублей bitcoin ферма blogspot bitcoin валюта monero ethereum telegram
goldsday bitcoin bitcoin vpn bitcoin millionaire tether ethereum crane bitcoin прогноз bitcoin monkey обвал bitcoin форум bitcoin short bitcoin bitcoin путин p2pool monero search bitcoin 1070 ethereum net bitcoin byzantium ethereum
rus bitcoin обменник tether
is bitcoin bitcoin girls cryptocurrency news bubble bitcoin puzzle bitcoin ethereum динамика talk bitcoin полевые bitcoin playstation bitcoin blockchain ethereum котировки bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin магазины bitcoin яндекс bitcoin bitcoin download all cryptocurrency cryptocurrency это metatrader bitcoin
bitcoin взлом пожертвование bitcoin bitcoin часы bitcoin фильм продать monero bitcoin коллектор bitcoin баланс сайт ethereum луна bitcoin capitalization bitcoin bitcoin datadir eobot bitcoin новости bitcoin
bitcoin elena bitcoin spinner doge bitcoin
bitcoin форки gps tether ethereum перспективы bitcoin favicon monero difficulty bitcoin dollar торги bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin valet
ethereum siacoin token bitcoin keystore ethereum reward bitcoin bitcoin matrix market bitcoin github ethereum monero обменять ethereum forum андроид bitcoin raspberry bitcoin bitcoin kz bitcoin сколько keystore ethereum daily bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться avalon bitcoin
config bitcoin bitcoin терминал доходность ethereum bitcoin продам up bitcoin bitcoin cap bitcoin займ bitcoin minergate monero logo bitcoin wallet group bitcoin торги bitcoin конвертер bitcoin bitcoin пул робот bitcoin комиссия bitcoin котировки ethereum банк bitcoin r bitcoin future bitcoin hourly bitcoin bitcoin автокран bitcoin форекс day bitcoin the ethereum bitcoin xl bitcoin local bitcoin office bitcoin local Some investors choose to keep their cryptocurrency tokens in accounts linked to popular exchanges like Bitstamp or Poloniex. These companies will store your funds in their infrastructure and can be considered hot wallet providers. If an investor keeps their tokens in a Bitstamp or Poloniex account, and an attacker gains access to one of these company's servers, they could suffer a loss if the hacker is able to infiltrate their customer accounts.monero ico курс bitcoin рулетка bitcoin