Bitcoin Total Supply: How Many Bitcoins are Left to Mine

Today Bitcoin, which is known for its limited emissions and high value per coin, is considered the most popular cryptocurrency on the market. There are 19,732,151 BTC in existence today and the maximum price of Bitcoin reached an all-time high on March 14, with a value of $73,700 per coin. But how many Bitcoins do already exist and how many more are left to be mined? In the article, we discuss the total amount of revolutionary digital coins, the nuances of the mining process and the importance of Bitcoin for the future of the entire market.

Bitcoin‘s nature

First, look at the definition: Bitcoin is a digital currency that allows transactions between users without intermediaries. Bitcoins banknotes as a physical equivalent don’t exist. Each coin has its own cryptographic key that is available only to the owner. Since the process is built on cryptography codes, anyone can send and receive digital money securely and confidentially.

The first Bitcoin was developed in 2009 by an unknown person or even an entire anonymous organization named Satoshi Nakamoto. While writing the origin code, Satoshi used a method to impose a hard limit on mining 21 million coins.

The main advantage of Bitcoin over coins with unlimited issuance is that Bitcoin is more valuable and has the potential to increase in value as fewer coins remain to be mined.

How Does Bitcoin Mining Work?

Bitcoins are created through a process called mining. In order to validate and add transactions to the blockchain network, complex mathematical algorithms must be solved. Miners compete against each other, trying to find the correct answer to cryptographic puzzles. There are currently about 1 million Bitcoin miners in the world and they usually use powerful computers and technologies. A new block is added to the blockchain, and a certain amount of Bitcoins is awarded to the first miner who solves the puzzle.

As the “proof of work” algorithm is the foundation of the coin’s security, the 21 million number of coins is also crucial. When the amount of Bitcoins is limited, mining and network security are encouraged as rewards are guaranteed.

The supply of Bitcoins is controlled by a mechanism known as “halving”. Approximately every four years the reward for mining a new block is halved, which slows down the creation of new Bitcoins. When Bitcoin first appeared, 50 BTC was created per block found; after four years it was 25 BTC, then 12.5 and later 6.25. In April 2024, the fourth halving occurred, after which the value of Bitcoin halved to 3.125 BTC. So, the issuance is uneven, and the mining of the coin is slower and slower.

We recently took a detailed look at the last Bitcoin halving process. You can read the article about it, clicking here.

How Many Bitcoins Are There In The World?

About 19.44 million Bitcoins have been mined in the world now. This shows the total amount of Bitcoins mined since the coin was launched in 2009, but 2,488,817 BTC are left on exchanges. However, not all of these crypto coins are in active use or on the market.

As we wrote earlier, one of the main advantages of Bitcoin is its limited supply, due to the coin being a deflationary asset. It means that as demand increases and supply decreases, Bitcoins value will rise over time. In contrast to fiat currencies, which are usually exposed to inflation, the limited supply ensures that the cryptocurrency remains deflationary. This advantage directly affects the value of Bitcoin, attracting investors in search of protection from inflation and economic instability.

Economic principles based on the concept of deficit underlie the 21 million Bitcoin limit. By restricting the supply of the currency, the value of each coin theoretically increases. This process can be described by the formula in economics: “The price of Bitcoin will rise in tandem with an increase in demand and a constant supply”.

Approximately 92.5% of the Bitcoin supply has been mined right now. So, there are about 1.56 million coins left to be mined. As we’ve mentioned earlier, the rate of new Bitcoin creation decreases by about four years, which is known as halving. This procedure will continue until the 21 million restriction maximum supply is reached. By 2140, when the last block reward is given out, all Bitcoins ought to have been mined.

History Of Bitcoins Total Supply

The first Bitcoin block, known as Genesis, was mined by Satoshi Nakamoto on January 3, 2009. The total supply of Bitcoin is 21 million coins. This block marked the birth of the global Bitcoin network and contained a reward of 50 coins. The possibility that Satoshi Nakamoto was a computer collective in the European finance sector has also been discussed. In the first year of mining, 1.1 million Bitcoins were mined in 2009. By 2010, this number had increased to 3,396,000 BTC.

In the early years, mining was relatively common and the rewards were high. The first 210,000 blocks brought 50 Bitcoins per block. In order to establish the Bitcoin network and draw in the first base of users, this initial distribution phase was essential. The concept of limited supply isn’t new to the world of finance, and the Bitcoin network is designed in such a way that new coins are released less and less frequently over time until all coins are mined. For example, gold has a limited suggestion and it’s often used as a store of value. Bitcoin has a limited supply too, which is hard-coded into its origin protocol. This means that Bitcoin's suggestion is predictable and transparent, in stark contrast to the policies of central banks.

How Many Bitcoins Are Lost?

Lost Bitcoins are cryptocurrencies that can’t be obtained or spent for certain reasons. The BBC estimates that 4 million BTC (approximately $68 billion at current exchange rates) were irrecoverably lost in 2024. This huge number clearly illustrates how insecure investments can be if you don’t understand the basic rules of crypto-asset storage.

As lost Bitcoins are no longer available on the market, the price rises due to the decreasing supply. Though this case seems beneficial for investors, it actually has a negative impact on market dynamics. When prices are artificially inflated, it leads to manipulation, which in turn leads to a sharp drop in prices.

The main reasons why lost coins occur are:

• Loss of the private key, password or seed phrase, with which you can restore access, for example, after buying a new gadget, deleting an account or wallet, installing the operating system, etc.
• Thief. When fraudsters have stolen cryptocurrency, it cannot be returned. Transactions in the blockchain are irreversible, and tracking is complicated by the fact that hackers often use special cryptomixers.
• Crypto exchange bankruptcy. In this case, all users usually lose access to their funds.
• Inactive wallets. There are also wallets that store a significant amount of Bitcoins but haven’t shown any activity for several years. This suggests that the Bitcoins in these wallets are lost or forgotten.

How Many Bitcoins Are Mined Per Day?

Miners produce about 450 BTC per day and it is very easy to calculate:

• In the blockchain, a new block is mined approximately every ten minutes.
• This indicates that each day, 144 additional blocks are mined.
• The reward of one block is 3.125 BTC.
• Multiply 3.125 by 144, and you get exactly 450.

This number will decrease after each halving event, further reducing the creation rate of new Bitcoins. About every two weeks, the difficulty of Bitcoin mining changes to keep the rate of block production constant. If more miners join the network, the complexity increases, making it more challenging to mine new blocks. And conversely, if the miners leave the network, the difficulty decreases.

What Happens When All The Bitcoins Are Mined?

Researchers predict that by 2140, when all the Bitcoins are mined, Bitcoin will remain primarily a means of saving, as it is now, rather than a tool for everyday purchases. Thus, miners will continue to make profits.

However, there are more dangerous variants of the situation, where Bitcoin mining will no longer be a reliable source of profit. Then events can develop in unpleasant ways:

• Miners will organize and form cartels to control resources and demand higher transaction fees.
• “Selfish mining”. Participants will conspire to hide new original blocks instead of releasing them as lost blocks not confirmed by the network. This will slow down the processing time and increase fees.

In conclusion, Bitcoin has attracted interest from investors and enthusiasts around the world due to its deflationary nature and its 21 million coin limit that they reach in 2041. We can also conclude that Bitcoin’s role as a saving tool is likely to increase as the value of its rarity grows.

Thank you for your attention! Let us know what you think about the total supply of Bitcoins. Give your opinion in the comments.