Bitcoin investors are overjoyed as recent data revealed that 88.8% of the total available Bitcoin (BTC) had been mined already. Out of the 21 million stated bitcoin supply, 18,648,000 bitcoins have already been mined, leaving about 2,352,000 BTC, 11.2%, left to be mined.
The fact that Bitcoin has a limited supply and can never be recreated is generally regarded as a good thing since it cannot suffer inflation like other currencies that are printed on whims.
Moreso, Bitcoin’s finite supply gives it scarcity and value, preventing it from experiencing devaluation by a limitless supply.
With such a finite supply in place, the more bitcoins are mined, the more scarce it becomes in the market, increasing demand and sequentially making the coins more valuable.
On the BTC White Paper, Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous personality behind the creation of the cryptocurrency, mentioned that Bitcoin has a 21 million limit built into its protocol.
These Bitcoins are acquired during mining. Bitcoin mining occurs when a sufficient number of mining nodes have verified a block of transactions. After mining, the miners are rewarded with new Bitcoins units for each block mined, putting more Bitcoin into circulation.
Every four years, after 210,000 blocks are added to the blockchain, the mining reward is divided into two halves to ensure a steady Bitcoin supply. The current mining reward is 6.25 bitcoins, reducing the initial12.5 during the last halving on May 11, 2020.
Increasing Demand For Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s 21 million coins limit is estimated to happen in the year 2140, whereby miners would probably be rewarded with transaction fees instead. Since that is still a long time to come, investors have a chance of piling up more Bitcoins like bullish MicroStrategy.
Since the creation of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency, even with its high volatility, has been yielding great returns for strong-minded and patient investors who choose to hold onto the cryptocurrency despite opposing forces around it.
One of the major stumbling blocks of Bitcoin to gaining mainstream adoption is the opposition from Central banks and governmental authorities. However, such opposition has not undermined the currency’s value since it is not controlled by any central body.
These authorities, like the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, claim that criminals use Bitcoin for money laundering and other cybercrime. So the digital currency should be regulated globally as a precautionary action to stop future occurrences.
But the influx from both individuals and institutions points to the fact that BItcoin has more to offer than its cons.
