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Bitcoin mining is very similar to gold mining. Similar to the extraction of gold from the ore. Bitcoins also require to be mined with the help of different computer programs. Bitcoin’s source code is crucial to the mining process, and most importantly, there is a limited supply of Bitcoins. It is possible only ever to produce 21 million bitcoins.
The Bitcoin supply chain is responsible for producing only one block every ten minutes. After every four years as per the schedule, the number of bitcoins that are released by these blocks is halved. Now the question arises: what will happen if all the Bitcoins are mined?
Let’s consider a situation when the miners have successfully mined all the 21 million Bitcoins. It essentially means that the Bitcoin supply chain will be completely exhausted. On the other hand, it is also possible that Bitcoin’s supply chain will expand beyond 21 million. According to the Bitcoin experts, as there is only a fixed supply of Bitcoins. The banks do not randomly issue fiduciary media. It is, in fact, a matter of international debate as to what will happen if indeed the entire supply of Bitcoin is exhausted.
Bitcoins Mined So Far
To date, 18 million bitcoins have already been mined, and Bitcoin launched just a decade ago. With only 3 million more Bitcoins left to be mined, we are essentially at the last stage of Bitcoin mining. But the reality is possibly a tad more complicated as the rewarding process of bitcoin mining adapts over time. Initially, the reward was 50 BTC and was later changed to 25 BTC in 2012. It halved again in 2016 to 12.5. As of 2020, the bitcoin mining reward is 6.25 BTC. IT means that the rewards will continue to split every four years, which impacts the timeline by which all the 21 million Bitcoins might have been mined.
It is expected that miners will continue to participate in and validate newer transactions even if all the Bitcoins are getting mined. It is because every bitcoin transaction is rewarded with a transaction fee. These transaction fees can rise from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars per block. In the end, when all the Bitcoins have been mined, it will continue to function as a closed economy.
