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- Mining of Bitcoin block #714,032 resulted in 90% of the total Bitcoin being mined, with a max supply of 21 million and a circulating supply of 18.9 million. Also, it is estimated that more than 3.5 million BTC have been lost.
- The remaining 10% Bitcoin will be mined in over 100 years, the last block being mined in February 2140 which might leave the miner’s only source of income to be fees and eliminate block rewards.
- A different level of FOMO might be seen and the supply shock might become unavoidable.
- Bitcoin is currently trading at $47,385.50 (at the time of writing) after facing a downtrend of 3.30% in the past 24 hours with an all-time high of $68,789.63 and an all-time low of $65.53.
Today, almost everyone is aware of Bitcoin, a major cryptocurrency that revolutionized currency. But still, individuals do not understand the value of Bitcoin and how scanty it is. And 90% of all the Bitcoins have already been mined, of all the Bitcoins that can ever exist. Bitcoin has a max supply cap of 21 million, of which 18.9 million Bitcoins have been mined and only about 2.1 million are left to be mined.
The last Bitcoin block of the 90% of the Bitcoin that has been mined, #714,032, was mined on 13 Dec 2021 at 23:26 UTC and the miner received 6.25 BTC as the reward. The mining of this block resulted in the mining of 90% of Bitcoin and brought the circulating supply to 18.9 million. Even though only 10% of 21 million Bitcoins are left to be mined, over 100 years is required to mine this remaining Bitcoin. The last Bitcoin block is estimated to be mined in February 2140. Since there isn’t much Bitcoin left to be mined, many believe that it could be the best time ever to increase the hardening of Bitcoin.
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The mining of 90% Bitcoin could have been accomplished in 32 blocks less mined, at 714,000. But, since the miners involved in the early stages did not claim all their rewards, complete reward of a block, the spare Bitcoins were added to the circulating supply.
Although Bitcoin’s max supply cap is set to 21 million, it might never reach that exact value. The fact that the prerequisite of 50 Bitcoins in the Genesis block, which was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, cannot be spent, some bugs face in early stages, and early miners not claiming complete rewards are the reasons for never reaching an exact 21 million value. Also, it has been estimated that over 3.5 million BTC has been lost, but since these aren’t completely inaccessible, if viewed technically, these will be a part of the circulating supply.
As it has been considered by many that Bitcoin might not reach its cap of 21 million, it brings in the possibility of the network staying functional long after 2140. Although no new Bitcoins will come into circulation, the blocks will still be validated or confirmed and if the Bitcoin mining stops, the Bitcoin rewards that miners receive will fade away and fees will become the major source of income.
If the Bitcoin network becomes the future medium of exchange, the number of transactions will spike and the network might become slow due to the speed that it abandons for accuracy. If this happens, technologies like lightning networks may be introduced.
A different level of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) will surely be seen when the majority of individuals, governments, and organizations, will acknowledge the value and limited supply of Bitcoin. When the majority realizes the value of Bitcoin, there will not be enough Bitcoins to meet the sudden increase in demand, and a supply shock might become unavoidable. But as always, there are innumerable possibilities that events might take place in, nothing is a guarantee and everything is an assumption.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while pursuing his post-graduation major in blockchain development. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing, along with coding. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing skills, and a reliable craft at explaining the concepts such as blockchain programming, languages and token minting. He also frequently shares technical details and performance indicators of ICOs and IDOs.
