To date, 94% of the total Bitcoin supply has been mined

To date, 94% of the total Bitcoin supply, or 21 million units, has been mined. This means that the remaining supply is becoming scarce.

Bitcoin is supplied through mining, where computers verify transactions and receive bitcoins as a reward. The initial mining subsidy was 50 Bitcoins per block, which is halved every 210,000 blocks, or approximately every 4 years.

This event, known as the “Bitcoin halving,” ensures a predictable and decreasing inflation rate as the supply increases. So far, Bitcoin has been halved three times, reducing the subsidy from 50 to 25, then to 12.5, and finally to 6.25 Bitcoins.

Halvings, along with increased difficulty and competition, cause the number of new Bitcoins released into circulation to decrease over time. Of the maximum 21 million Bitcoins, over 94%, or 19,741,655 Bitcoins, have been mined since its launch in 2009.

This means that there are only about 1.26 million Bitcoins left to mine. With the current block reward of 6.25 Bitcoins, it will take over 100 years to fully mine the remaining supply. Experts estimate that 99.9% of all Bitcoins will have been mined by 2140, and by then, miners will primarily make money from fees rather than rewards.

This controlled delivery schedule is a key aspect in determining the price of Bitcoin. As circulation slows and demand increases, Bitcoin is expected to become scarcer over time. A nice feature for investors facing unlimited fiat money printing and currency devaluation.