How Many Bitcoins Are There and How Many Are Left to Mine?

Table of Contents:

• How Many Bitcoins Are There and How Many Are Left to Mine?
  • Bitcoin Mining
  • How Many Bitcoins Are There In Circulation?
  • How Many Bitcoins Are Left to Mine?
  • When Will the Last Bitcoin be Minted?
  • What Happens Next When Bitcoin Hits Its Capped Number?
  • Conclusion

How Many Bitcoins Are There and How Many Are Left to Mine?

The birth of Bitcoin is traceable to Satoshi Nakamoto who launched the crypto project in 2009. While his identity remains unknown, he played a major role in the development of Bitcoin. 

During the early days of Bitcoin, most financial analysts didn’t see it as a potential investment that could yield massive returns on investment. However, after the launch of Bitcoin, other crypto projects, like Ethereum, Ripple, and many other cryptocurrencies, began to emerge.

Digital currencies experienced a rapid surge over the years. Tesla’s press release about buying $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in February 2021 fueled mass interest in cryptocurrency. Further institutional interest propelled Bitcoin to an all-time high of $68,52 on November 5, 2021.

Bitcoin has a limited supply, unlike fiat currencies like the U.S dollar that can be printed at will by banks. 

So how many Bitcoins are there in the world and how many are left to mine? Here’s what you need to know.

Bitcoin Mining

There are three ways in which one can get bitcoin.

• Buying bitcoin from an exchange
• Accepting crypto as payment for goods and services 
• Mining

Among these three, mining is perhaps the most interesting way to get Bitcoin.

Bitcoin mining involves validating transactions on a network and adding it to a blockchain ledger. It also refers to using computers to solve complex cryptographic puzzles and to verify blocks of transactions on the blockchain ledger.

Once a miner successfully solves the hash puzzle, a new block is created and validated in the Bitcoin network. The architecture of Bitcoin is such that a new block evolves every 10 minutes.

Many miners are trying to solve the hash puzzle, but the first miner to successfully solve it receives Bitcoin as a reward. This process increases the number of Bitcoin in circulation.

Although Bitcoin mining is a profitable business, the amount of profit made is dependent on the amount of input invested into it. To mine bitcoin, you would need a network base, electricity, and mining system. The cost of these inputs shouldn’t be more than the price of the bitcoin mined to maximize profits. 

You might be thinking about what will happen to Bitcoin mining after discovering the last block since its supply is finite, right? 

Well, keep reading to find out.

How Many Bitcoins Are There In Circulation?

Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin, capped the number of bitcoin at 21 million. What this means is that the totality of bitcoin in circulation will not exceed 21 million.

With about 900 bitcoins mined daily, the amount released by each block reduces by 50% every four years. As of December 2021, there were 18.899 million in circulation. The limited supply of bitcoin makes it scarce, and it also controls possible inflation that may occur due to the limited supply of the cryptocurrency.

According to experts, the economy of bitcoin will change when it hits its capped number. Beyond the rewards for creating blocks, miners receive incentives from transaction fees. But there might be a reduction in the mining rewards, and trading activities might take a new leaf. 

The transaction fee to validate a transaction varies according to the network congestion and the size of the transaction. Most miners tend to prioritize transactions by the highest transaction fee. 

For example, miners might have to rely less on the rewards from block discovery and rely more on transaction fees to earn revenue. So once there is no more bitcoin to mine, the transaction fee should be enough for the miner to continue running the network.

The entire cryptocurrency ecosystem might also experience a new shift and spark interest from more participants different from the current retail traders.   

However, it is difficult to predict the effect of bitcoin when it reaches its capped supply considering that cryptocurrency is still at its development stage. 

How Many Bitcoins Are Left to Mine?

Currently, there are about 2.134 million Bitcoins that are not yet in circulation. These unminted bitcoins which are not in circulation are in a pool and serve as rewards to miners for validating transactions in the network.  

The Bitcoin source code outlines the reward distribution process to miners for creating new blocks.

Since the creation of the Genesis block by Satoshi Nakamoto in January 2009, the rewards for creating a new block started at 50 Bitcoins. In 2012, the reward was fractionalized by 50%, and miners got 12.5 bitcoins per block. In May 2020, the value went down to 6.25 per new block. 

It is worth noting that the block rewards for bitcoin miners will be “halved” every four years until Bitcoin reaches its capped supply. 

When Will the Last Bitcoin be Minted? 

Most miners believe that the last mining of Bitcoin will be in 2140 and there might be no coins left to reward miners when Bitcoin hits its planned cap of 21 million.

But according to Andreas Antonopoulos, author of Mastering Bitcoin, the 21 million caps is an asymptotic cap. Simply put, Bitcoin can get close to this number but it might not hit the exact figures because blockchain rewards by design are expressed in the smallest-closest integer.

Probably, the total supply when Bitcoin hits its capped value will be around 20,999,999.9769 satoshis. 

You might be thinking, what if Bitcoin does not reach the planned cap? No one knows for sure what the consequences will be but, it could leave open the functionality of the cryptocurrency network beyond 2140.

What Happens Next When Bitcoin Hits Its Capped Number?

The year 2140 is still a long way for us to see Bitcoin hit the threshold of 21 million caps. The total units of bitcoins in circulation are a fraction away from the 18.5 million that is currently in circulation. This is because most owners have lost the private keys to their holdings.

Many Bitcoin coin owners threw their holding positions during the early days when the price was low.

There is, however, no accurate prediction of what will happen when all the 21million bitcoins are in circulation. Speculations reveal that miners won’t have any coins to generate and they will eventually stop receiving block rewards. 

Further development of the Lightning network may result in Blockchain restricting itself to confirming significant Bitcoin transactions on its network. By then, the value of Bitcoin as a store value might be clearly defined.  

But none of these predictions are imprinted in a stone. The rapid increase in the development and acceptance of digital currency makes it difficult for anyone to predict accurately the future of Bitcoin. 

The only way to have more than the proposed number of bitcoin is by amending the planned cap, thereby creating more supply of bitcoin.

But who knows? Cryptocurrency protocol might change to accommodate more than 21 million Bitcoin or, it might even fall short of reaching the planned cap.

Conclusion 

Looking at the aims and objectives of cryptocurrency, it is almost certain that bitcoin will serve many generations to come. Between now and when bitcoin reaches its supply market cap is a long time for any wise investor to take advantage of. 

Bitcoin has transformed the lives of so many and will continue to do so, as most investors are more than willing to maximize profit from the industry. You can either mine or trade bitcoin. Whichever method of getting bitcoin you choose, ensure you make use of the right platforms.