You Can Only Mine 10 Percent of the Total Bitcoin Supply. Here's Why

Only 2.1 million are left.

Bitcoin passed a major milestone on Monday by reaching 90 percent of the total mineable supply as 18.9 million Bitcoin, out of a maximum of 21 million, have been mined and are in circulation in various exchanges.

Recent data show that the remaining mineable Bitcoin amount is at 2.1 million or 10 percent of the total supply. 

Bitcoin mining is a process that consumes intensive energy for the computing power needed to generate new units.

Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, has programmed the mining algorithm to decrease the Bitcoin creating rate by half for every 210,000 blocks mined or approximately every four years. In short, halving means that Bitcoin’s mining speed to be decreased over time.

The total circulating supply of Bitcoin is capped at 21 million units by its creator.

Miners were paid 50 Bitcoins per block when the cryptocurrency was established in 2009, but the halving in 2016 reduced the incentive to 12.5 Bitcoins for each block, then to 6.25 Bitcoins in May 2020. The next halving, expected in 2024, is going to drop the incentive to 3.125 Bitcoins. 

18.9 million Bitcoin took 12 years to mine but the remaining 2.1 million will take until the year 2140 according to estimates based on mining activities and halving schedules. But the 119 years left to mine might not be enough to make your grandchildren rich like Scrooge McDuck, as one-third of all Bitcoin is already owned by 10,000 individuals.

“Bitcoin has reached a historical milestone, as 90 percent of the maximum 21 million bitcoin has been mined into supply. Bitcoin’s scarcity is one of its most attractive aspects as an investment, which is what many people, institutions, and governments are starting to catch on to. I think Bitcoin’s scarcity will lead to a supply shock for bitcoin to help it overtake gold’s market cap over the next 10 years, which is around 10 trillion dollars” Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at the U.K. digital asset broker GlobalBlock, told The Independent.

While Bitcoin struggles to return above 50,000 dollars after the third dip in 2021, Sotiriou’s forecast sees one Bitcoin at 500,000 dollars.

Bitcoin’s struggle to rise above 50,000 dollars due to various factors but long-term estimates still remain positive.

Bitcoin price is at 47,560 dollars, about 30 percent shy of its all-time high of 68,789.63 dollars.

Source: https://interestingengineering.com/you-can-only-mine-10-percent-of-the-total-bitcoin-supply-heres-why