A milestone has been reached in Bitcoin’s offering diagram – 94% of the total Bitcoin supply has now been issued via mining. Out of a hard-capped total of 21 million BTC, over 19.74 million have been mined to date.
Bitcoin supply is issued through mining, where computers validate transactions and receive Bitcoin as a reward. The original mining subsidy was 50 BTC per block, which halves every 210,000 blocks, or approximately every 4 years.
This event is called the Bitcoin Halvingprovides predictable, decreasing inflation as supply grows. There have been three halvings, where the subsidy was reduced from 50 to 25 to 12.5 to the current 6.25 BTC.
The Halvings combined with increasing difficulty and competition means that fewer and fewer new bitcoins will enter circulation over time. Of the maximum 21 million BTC, over 94% or 19,741,655 BTC have been mined since Bitcoin launched in 2009.
That leaves only about 1.26 million BTC left to spend. At the current block reward of 6.25 BTC, it will take over 100 years to fully mine the remaining supply. Experts estimate that 99.9% of all bitcoins will be mined by 2140, with miners earning primarily fees rather than subsidies at that time.
This controlled supply schedule is a key aspect of Bitcoin’s value proposition. As issuance slows and demand grows, Bitcoin is designed to become more scarce over time—an attractive feature for investors faced with unlimited fiat currency pressures and currency devaluation.