An important milestone has been reached in the Bitcoin supply schedule – 94% of the total supply of Bitcoin It is now issued through mining. Of the total 21 million BTC, more than 19.74 million have been mined so far.
The supply of Bitcoin is generated through mining, where computers validate transactions and receive Bitcoin as a reward. The initial mining subsidy was 50 Bitcoin per block, which is split in half every 210,000 blocks or roughly every 4 years.
This event, called a Bitcoin halving, ensures an expected and decreasing rate of inflation as the supply grows. Three halvings have occurred, reducing the supply from 50 to 25 to 12.5 to the current 6.25 Bitcoin.
The halvings, combined with increased difficulty and competition, mean that the number of new bitcoins entering circulation will decrease over time. Of the 21 million bitcoins in circulation, more than 94%, or 19,741,655 bitcoins, have been mined since Bitcoin launched in 2009.
This means that only about 1.26 million bitcoins will ever be issued. With the current reward of 6.25 bitcoins, the remaining supply will take more than another 100 years to be fully minted. Experts estimate that 99.9% of all bitcoins will have been mined by 2140, with miners earning mostly fees rather than subsidies by then.
This controlled supply schedule is a key aspect of Bitcoin’s value proposition. As issuance slows and demand grows, Bitcoin is designed to become scarcer over time—an attractive trait for investors faced with unlimited paper money printing and depreciation.
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