Bitcoin is often compared to gold, as both share similar characteristics, such as the difficulty of obtaining them and the costs of network mining equipment. However, unlike gold, the cryptocurrency’s scarce supply is not determined by natural circumstances, but rather by a premeditated production limit by its creator Satoshi Nakamoto which establishes how many bitcoins exist and how many will be created in total.
Below, we’ll review what this Bitcoin limit means for your platform and user group.
How many Bitcoins are there?
When asked about the current total number of bitcoins, it is important to know that it is determined by an event called “halving” which consists of dividing coin production in half after mining 210,000 blocks. When that number of mined blocks is reached, there is a change in the Bitcoin rewards given to miners for recording each user transaction in the blockchain, since its value is divided by two.
This influences the number of cryptocurrencies that will exist, about 21 million bitcoins in total, and the number of bitcoins currently in circulation, which can be known by considering how many halvings have occurred so far and how they have affected the production of the currency.
After three halvings have passed in the entire life of Bitcoin, the news in this regard indicates that the number of Bitcoins mined as of 2022 is around 19 million. Currently,
a reward for mining a block is 6.25 BTCs, plus the commissions the user pays to have their transaction recorded. It is considered that the next halving will take place in 2024 and will bring with it a large increase in the price of the currency.
What happens when the supply runs out?
The process of dividing Bitcoin rewards by two seeks to ensure an increase in its value. Establishing a limit of millions of Bitcoins to be produced, that is, reducing its supply, can cause its cost to increase, as happens with gold and any scarce product.
If this periodic cut in Bitcoin rewards had not been stipulated, there was a risk that the 21 million coins would be completely mined in a very short time, which would not have been favorable for its investors.
Now, what will happen when the last Bitcoin is mined? We will try to answer this question in this section.
Impact on miners
Given the doubt of what will happen to the miners once all the halvings have occurred and the production of Bitcoins reaches 0, the answer is that the network of miners will receive a reward that consists of the cost of each transaction recorded in the mining.
Although this form seems to continue to present a good outlook for the team that supports the blockchain, some consider that one of its problems is that the value of the transactions is quite low in relation to what it means to currently earn in bitcoins, which would imply a model of business that is not profitable for the miners.
However, one possibility is that the more halvings occur, the greater the difficulty of mining, so the value of transactions will increase and it will be just as profitable for miners to spend time on the blockchain.
Impact on Bitcoin mining and its network
Bitcoin’s automated protocol is designed so that mining expands over time, even after the reward has been changed from new cryptocurrencies to transaction fees.
Everything that will happen with Bitcoin and its mining network is determined within the blockchain itself and is unalterable, however, external factors such as possible government regulations and other historical situations also play an important role and could change things in the future. regarding the future of the platform.
Regarding the internal behavior of the Bitcoin software, it is possible that many of its procedures for managing cryptocurrency exchanges will begin to occur in its source code under a second-layer system, which means that it will rely on other networks linked to Bitcoin to maintain its security and other functions.
Impact on market price and investment
It is somewhat difficult to specify what may happen to the price of Bitcoin once the mining of the 21 million coins by the network of miners occurs, but given the behavior that the cryptocurrency has had so far after a halving and considering that these aim to control its issuance and value, it could be assumed that BTC will increase.
According to the news of the Bitcoin halvings that have occurred so far, it is known that these have been followed by the cryptocurrency’s historical highs, so some people consider that the final halving would imply that BTC reached the highest capitalization in its history, even more so when, as happens with gold and commercial products, reducing its supply could increase its demand and with this its value. However, these are just some hypotheses from experts in the crypto market.
When will the last Bitcoin be mined?
Knowing exactly when the last bitcoin will be mined is also difficult to pin down. However, considering factors such as the time it takes to mine a block (about ten minutes), the 21 million limit, and how many bitcoins have been mined so far, a hypothesis can be formulated as to what year the last bitcoin will be mined.
Once such data is considered, part of the group of cryptocurrency experts assures that Bitcoin’s limit will reach the year 2140, if the influencing factors remain constant, something that cannot be stated.
If, for example, we pay attention to the Bitcoin transaction registration process we will find that it is slow and that it could well slow down more or accelerate as the optimization of its platform progresses, which would change the prediction of the year in which the final block of Bitcoin is mined. bitcoin that gives coins as a reward to the miner.
In any case, it will be as time passes that events inside and outside the blockchain give a definitive answer to the date and consequences of the final block mined in Bitcoin.
