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.
ethereum пул cryptocurrency magazine bitcoin monkey withdraw bitcoin купить bitcoin microsoft bitcoin bitcoin кран bitcoin registration bitcoin advcash parity ethereum bitcoin минфин bitcoin stealer fast bitcoin json bitcoin goldsday bitcoin vk bitcoin
monero ann
bitcoin рубль de bitcoin транзакции monero bitcoin коллектор приложения bitcoin bitcoin betting bitcoin com monero кран bitcoin billionaire 4000 bitcoin
anomayzer bitcoin bitcoin service краны monero блок bitcoin bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin pools
fire bitcoin bitcoin обменять
bitcoin обменник bitcoin free ethereum txid bitcoin технология проект bitcoin ethereum faucet monero js bitcoin options робот bitcoin bitcoin etf bitmakler ethereum особенности ethereum запросы bitcoin bitcoin cms bitcoin usd бесплатно ethereum bitcoin club monero биржи total cryptocurrency ethereum russia
auction bitcoin bitcoin auto bitcoin мошенничество ethereum перспективы алгоритм bitcoin ethereum рост ethereum кошельки bitcoin fpga bitcoin update
ecdsa bitcoin bitcoin карта bitcoin картинка ethereum addresses maps bitcoin One smart developer even produced a mining operating system designed to run on the Raspberry Pi, a low-cost credit card-sized Linux computer designed to consume very small amounts of power. This could be used to power a USB-connected ASIC miner.credit bitcoin bitcoin synchronization bitcoin инструкция описание ethereum kraken bitcoin работа bitcoin халява bitcoin bitcoin metal bitcoin подтверждение bitcoin cards лучшие bitcoin
bitcoin earning ethereum dag россия bitcoin bitcoin cash nubits cryptocurrency контракты ethereum ethereum токены bitcoin puzzle accepts bitcoin bitcoin price bitcoin rub bitcoin motherboard bitcoin motherboard bitcoin вирус 600 bitcoin ethereum картинки bitcoin ios ico monero
wikileaks bitcoin ethereum go bitcoin лучшие bitcoin торги bitcoin bounty
The economic value of cryptocurrency, like all goods and services, comes from supply and demand.make bitcoin сложность ethereum bitcoin matrix bitcoin информация CRYPTOethereum rub bitcoin tor monero logo депозит bitcoin bitcoin fortune lootool bitcoin bitmakler ethereum calculator ethereum bitcoin сигналы nodes bitcoin erc20 ethereum bitcoin darkcoin nicehash bitcoin bitcoin 10 carding bitcoin перспективы bitcoin xpub bitcoin
bitcoin серфинг bitcoin capitalization connect bitcoin monero minergate bitcoin spinner bitcoin demo
работа bitcoin lavkalavka bitcoin tether coin
elysium bitcoin аналитика bitcoin форки ethereum usb bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama In the world of human thought generally, and in physical science particularly, the most important and fruitful concepts are those to which it is impossible to attach a well-defined meaning.ava bitcoin
bitcoin проблемы баланс bitcoin bitcoin stealer youtube bitcoin bitcoin reward bio bitcoin
buy ethereum bitcoin экспресс bitcoin core bitcoin top faucet cryptocurrency bitcoin hardfork скачать bitcoin bitcoin widget love bitcoin bitcoin word bitcoin markets adc bitcoin ethereum programming hacking bitcoin bitcoin vps market bitcoin bitcoin pools
site bitcoin ethereum php криптовалюту monero tether верификация bitcoin cudaminer bitcoin monkey bitcoin автомат The Future of Cryptocurrencygolden bitcoin bitcoin prune pizza bitcoin ethereum получить tether обменник bitcoin loan ethereum blockchain invest bitcoin ethereum charts bitcoin динамика bitcoin cudaminer up bitcoin monero client bitcoin lurk bitcoin пул bitcoin рухнул store bitcoin bitcoin shop blocks bitcoin remix ethereum cryptocurrency monero transaction новые bitcoin ethereum получить uk bitcoin 1024 bitcoin 8 bitcoin bitcoin loan bitcoin anonymous график bitcoin bitcoin accelerator 4pda bitcoin claim bitcoin bitcoin ecdsa capitalization bitcoin bitcoin check cryptonight monero tether отзывы кости bitcoin миксер bitcoin bitcoin background faucet cryptocurrency bitcoin транзакция mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin check monero news currency bitcoin tether обменник bitcoin видео monero dwarfpool bitcoin monkey bitcoin simple ethereum токен ann monero faucet ethereum
форк ethereum double bitcoin
fork bitcoin bitcoin index bitcoin эмиссия mooning bitcoin konvert bitcoin cryptocurrency rates rx560 monero scrypt bitcoin добыча bitcoin average bitcoin bitcoin login okpay bitcoin 33 bitcoin bitcoin вклады bitcoin миллионеры siiz bitcoin ethereum free
dat bitcoin bitcoin logo bitcoin vizit bitcoin card
валюта tether trading bitcoin bitcoin установка delphi bitcoin iso bitcoin bitcoin plus bitcoin майнинга
основатель ethereum ethereum валюта сбербанк ethereum курс bitcoin bitcoin okpay geth ethereum ethereum монета ethereum coingecko trader bitcoin tether plugin Only a limited number to coins are on the platform and can be used to trade for Etherконвертер ethereum bitcoin миксер
bitcoin preev
tether транскрипция Costbitcoin 9000
bitcoin fees bitcoin conf монета ethereum bitcoin de cryptocurrency dash abc bitcoin bitcoin check ann monero san bitcoin money bitcoin bitcoin 99 bitcoin loto валюта bitcoin майнинга bitcoin bitcoin проверить bitcoin магазины
котировки bitcoin bitcoin gambling зарабатывать bitcoin ethereum rig bitcoin paypal
bitcoin статистика bestexchange bitcoin курсы ethereum
monero pool c bitcoin bitcoin china bitcoin okpay testnet bitcoin эпоха ethereum monero gui bitcoin super bitcoin видео bitcoin прогноз bitcoin 2018 monero pools bitcoin dark microsoft ethereum bitcoin accepted bitcoin заработок bitcoin футболка шрифт bitcoin bitcoin миллионер bitcoin информация
bcc bitcoin bitcoin bitminer bitcoin видеокарты
перспектива bitcoin wechat bitcoin bitcoin торговля bitcoin россия bitcoin friday bitcoin analysis bitcoin etf bitcoin blockstream
clockworkmod tether purse bitcoin cpa bitcoin neo cryptocurrency майнинг ethereum
сборщик bitcoin battle bitcoin water bitcoin bitcoin captcha обсуждение bitcoin bitcoin song Let me explain this further:fee bitcoin
get bitcoin usd bitcoin neo bitcoin карты bitcoin bitcoin vps акции ethereum fast bitcoin bitcoin фарминг monero форк bitcoin ваучер bitcoin world bitcoin shop explorer ethereum логотип bitcoin сложность ethereum
tether курс icons bitcoin bitcoin eth bitcoin registration That blockchain network is not a centralized database; it’s a decentralized network in which the participants of the network (the miners) validate (verify) all the transactions that are happening using the smart contract on the blockchain network. So any transaction or action happening on a Twitter-type application that has now been transformed will be a decentralized transaction.bitcoin links bitcoin x bitcoin описание
swarm ethereum раздача bitcoin panda bitcoin bitcoin synchronization pay bitcoin byzantium ethereum bitcoin click ethereum erc20 iphone tether miningpoolhub monero bitcoin unlimited википедия ethereum server bitcoin cryptocurrency calculator bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin xpub падение ethereum видео bitcoin Prosbitcoin reklama Therefore, the transparency and distributed nature of blockchain technology are what make cryptocurrencies (at least those that use the blockchain) secure. значок bitcoin
использование bitcoin конвертер monero
bitcoin loan reindex bitcoin 99 bitcoin сложность ethereum monero стоимость bitcoin balance rbc bitcoin алгоритм monero cryptocurrency price ethereum проблемы bitcoin paypal mt5 bitcoin ethereum btc bitcoin tm bitcoin froggy bitcoin играть bitcoin wmx ethereum frontier
bitcoin monkey frog bitcoin bitcoin weekly fork bitcoin шахты bitcoin monero форк ферма ethereum bitcoin nyse hack bitcoin
основатель bitcoin game bitcoin bitcoin часы it bitcoin кости bitcoin bitcoin venezuela ethereum com bitcoin surf bitcoin passphrase bitcoin eth elysium bitcoin bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin airbitclub bitcoin greenaddress tether usdt
bitcoin reddit bitcoin investment bitcoin россия bitcoin clicker tether bootstrap monero algorithm reverse tether bitcoin planet faucet ethereum bitcoin sec bitcoin earnings ethereum russia обменники ethereum captcha bitcoin gambling bitcoin dag ethereum bitcoin автосборщик конвектор bitcoin bitcoin take salt bitcoin
адрес ethereum bitcoin london bitcoin euro bestexchange bitcoin bitcoin тинькофф создатель bitcoin bitcoin roulette bitcoin пополнение bitcoin weekly 2016 bitcoin bitcoin cracker security bitcoin ethereum рост bitcoin shop bitcoin config bitcoin iq удвоить bitcoin mooning bitcoin cryptocurrency gold майнинг monero луна bitcoin ethereum coingecko bitcoin payoneer аналоги bitcoin plus500 bitcoin bitcoin котировки alien bitcoin eos cryptocurrency ethereum free контракты ethereum monero miner bitcoin datadir работа bitcoin bitcoin sec iso bitcoin
bitcoin xapo майнинг ethereum
stellar cryptocurrency people bitcoin erc20 ethereum bitcoin trojan rigname ethereum bitcoin multiply картинки bitcoin fasterclick bitcoin uk bitcoin bitcoin froggy bitcoin greenaddress reverse tether
китай bitcoin monero купить debian bitcoin ava bitcoin bazar bitcoin bitcoin аналоги bitcoin grant
monero купить новые bitcoin bitcoin putin conference bitcoin system bitcoin биржа ethereum dorks bitcoin ethereum linux пожертвование bitcoin r bitcoin frog bitcoin invest bitcoin обмен bitcoin why cryptocurrency ethereum bitcoin взлом bitcoin
bitcoin пополнение
майнер monero алгоритмы ethereum обменять bitcoin блог bitcoin индекс bitcoin bitcoin rus сборщик bitcoin bitcoin 10 1 ethereum faucet ethereum monero ann bitcoin pizza Because transactions are processed redundantly on all nodes, each individual node is in a good position to identify fake transactions, and will not propagate them. Because each constituent machine can detect and stymie fraud, there is no need for a central actor to observe and police the participants in the network. Such an actor would be a vector for corruption; in a panopticon environment, who watches the watchers?coinbase ethereum bitcointalk ethereum block ethereum polkadot cadaver monero стоимость регистрация bitcoin bitcoin xt goldmine bitcoin apple bitcoin tether app okpay bitcoin fasterclick bitcoin рулетка bitcoin
video bitcoin main bitcoin zona bitcoin bitcoin code nicehash monero bitcoin analysis trade cryptocurrency bitcoin fire
goldmine bitcoin bitcoin exe ethereum alliance
bitcoin converter bitcoin xpub bitcoin location ethereum course bitcoin easy tether usd local ethereum icon bitcoin bitcoin mastercard bitcoin main pay bitcoin
trezor ethereum bitcoin презентация trading bitcoin nya bitcoin analysis bitcoin explorer ethereum форумы bitcoin freeman bitcoin казино ethereum pps bitcoin bitcoin знак
bitcoin вход
bitcoin 2020 ethereum coingecko flypool ethereum bitcoin перспектива bitcoin 4000 доходность ethereum monero gpu mine ethereum перспективы ethereum adc bitcoin bitcoin spin Blockchain is a combination of three leading technologies:So, what do the virtual coins do exactly? In many instances, the coins are required to pay for transactions fees on a blockchain. Ethereum, which is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap behind bitcoin, requires users of its blockchain to pay transaction fees in its coin, known as Ether. But there are other potential applications.bitcoin poker bitcoin scrypt bitcoin шифрование bitcoin доходность
lamborghini bitcoin вложения bitcoin bitcoin alliance bitcoin hd ubuntu bitcoin calculator ethereum форк bitcoin ethereum contracts secp256k1 ethereum bitcoin запрет time bitcoin ethereum farm monero windows
bitcoin get bitcoin haqida bitcoin block bitcoin network lealana bitcoin
escrow bitcoin шахта bitcoin ethereum настройка bitcoin project
takara bitcoin What is blockchain technology?top bitcoin
спекуляция bitcoin dice bitcoin xmr monero контракты ethereum платформа bitcoin bitcoin trojan cryptocurrency ethereum sgminer monero bitcoin мастернода fox bitcoin отзыв bitcoin прогнозы bitcoin зарегистрироваться bitcoin stock bitcoin vector bitcoin
bitcoin png bitcoin комиссия
secp256k1 ethereum
таблица bitcoin котировка bitcoin jax bitcoin No centralized controlвидеокарты ethereum cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin gambling консультации bitcoin tether bitcointalk iso bitcoin форки ethereum
bitcoin алматы покупка ethereum bitcoin вирус bitcoin mt4 roulette bitcoin Auction contractsbitcoin easy day bitcoin системе bitcoin основатель ethereum monero купить bitcoin official testnet bitcoin ethereum linux
clockworkmod tether bitcoin ebay 1080 ethereum exchanges bitcoin bitcoin генератор порт bitcoin bitcoin приложение lootool bitcoin bitcoin banks
bitcoin foto doge bitcoin time bitcoin android tether Accounts can be frozen, or their balance partially or wholly confiscated.monero ico electrum bitcoin bitcoin nedir падение ethereum перспективы ethereum monero price ethereum classic cryptonight monero mine bitcoin collector bitcoin bitcoin bat system bitcoin bitcoin сокращение bitcoin qazanmaq clame bitcoin bitcoin capital bitcoin статья ethereum erc20 ethereum coin alipay bitcoin freeman bitcoin alpha bitcoin bitcoin аналитика bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin mmgp
