The supply of bitcoin is limited to a final cap of 21 million. This is determined by bitcoin's source code which was programmed by its creator(s), Satoshi Nakamoto, and cannot be changed. Once all bitcoin is mined, the amount of coins in circulation will remain fixed at that level permanently.
The Bitcoin ecosystem is still developing, making it possible that Bitcoin itself will continue to evolve over the coming decades. But however Bitcoin evolves, no new bitcoins will be released after the 21-million coin limit is reached.
The maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins will be reached around the year 2140, after which no new bitcoins can be mined.
Why Is There a Supply Limit for Bitcoin? Bitcoin's pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, determined in 2008 that the total Bitcoin supply cap would always be pegged at 21 million, ensuring a virtual currency without inflation.
When Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin, he installed a strict limit on the number of Bitcoin that could ever exist. There will never be more than 21 million bitcoin. This limit, known as the hard cap, is encoded in Bitcoin's source code and enforced by nodes on the network.
Once all bitcoin is mined, the amount of coins in circulation will remain fixed at that level permanently. The main implication of approaching and ultimately reaching bitcoin's supply cap will be that mining will become far less profitable. But the process will be drawn out over more than a century.
Once the Bitcoin network's supply runs out, miners will still be incentivized to support it. Miners already get paid in transaction fees and Bitcoins. Transaction fees comprise only about 6% of a miner's income. Transaction fee returns are expected to increase exponentially before Bitcoin's supply limit is reached.
The largest holder of Bitcoin is believed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin. Nakamoto is estimated to own approximately 1,000,000 BTC, worth around $27.13 billion.
As things stand now, the very last bitcoin is estimated to be mined sometime in 2140. There are no guarantees bitcoin will survive this long, so to answer Jamie Dimon's question: we don't really know.
Ethereum, however, has an infinite supply. In January 2021, there were 113.5 million tokens in circulation. As of April 2022, there are roughly 120 million. There are some predictions that after shifting the Ethereum process from PoW to PoS, the supply of Ethereum may be reduced.
Since Bitcoin is a digital asset, it is more common for investors to misplace or forget what they have purchased. As a matter of fact, research reveals that, until 2022, 4 million Bitcoins, or the equivalent of USD140 billion based on current pricing, had been irreversibly lost.
Bitcoin mining: an overview
So far, over 19 million bitcoins are in existence - with the last one being mined in 2140. Once all 21 million have been mined, there will be no more new Bitcoins created. Miners are rewarded with a certain number of bitcoins for each block they successfully mine.
As of June 2022, there are about 2 million bitcoins (BTC) left to be mined, which means that there are nearly 19 million currently in existence. Bitcoin has gained popularity as an investment in recent years, because of its unique design and underlying technology.
When all bitcoin have been mined, miner revenue will depend entirely on transaction fees. The price and purchasing power of bitcoin will adjust to the lack of new supply. The scarcity of Bitcoin will make it more attractive to investors and users.
The bitcoin halving is an event that happens roughly every four years where rewards to miners are cut in halve, effectively limiting supply of the token. Bitcoin is nearly a year away from a key technical event — which might be the catalyst for a prolonged climb in the cryptocurrency's value.
According to Satoshi, his choice for the number of coins was an “educated guess” with practicality in mind. He aimed for a number that would produce price tags similar to other, already existing currencies. But without knowing Bitcoin's future value this proved to be an impossible task.
Answer: Bitcoin could be worth between $800,000 and $1 million in 10 years based on analysts' predictions. The $1 million price target is anticipated in 2030.
By 2030, the crypto trading landscape is believed to become massively bullish owing to which it won't surprise analysts if the price spikes up to reach an average of $798,474.
Tesla announced in an SEC filing Monday that it has bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. The company also said it would start accepting bitcoin as a payment method for its products. CEO Elon Musk has been credited for raising the prices of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, through his messages on Twitter.
Forbes releases its billionaire list annually and this time there are 19 people out of the list who have made their fortunes out of crypto. Cryptocurrencies have had a wild year in 2021. Popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, etc. reached their all-time high in 2021.
But where does the reward come from then? The reward comes from Bitcoin users. Whenever a miner validates your Bitcoin transaction, then the blockchain will use part of the Bitcoin to reward the miner. With millions of transactions occurring daily on the blockchain, there is enough Bitcoin to reward the miners.
While the United States remains by far the world's largest crypto miner, boasting 3-4 gigawatts of mining capacity, Russia's generating capacity reached 1 gigawatt in January-March 2023.
Their confidence in Bitcoin is so strong that analysts at Ark Invest released a report claiming that its price could be worth more than $1 million by 2030. But for Bitcoin to get to that level, it would need to increase by more than 4,000% in just seven years.