How much bitcoin is left to mine? (2024)

FAQs

How much bitcoin is left to mine? ›

Limited Supply: Bitcoin has a maximum supply of 21 million coins, and as of March 2023, more than 19 million have been mined. Remaining bitcoins: There are approximately 1.5 million bitcoins left to be mined. Impact on Value: Knowing this matters because it affects Bitcoin's value and future price.

According to the Bitcoin protocol, the maximum number of bitcoins that can be created is 21 million. As of March 2023, approximately 18.9 million bitcoins have been mined, meaning there are around 2.1 million bitcoins left to be mined.

Only 21 million bitcoins can ever be mined — but projections say the last won't be mined until around 2140. A major constraint on how many bitcoins there are is the block reward halving process — and a halving event is expected in April 2024.

Bitcoin mining is a process by which computers can generate new Bitcoins by doing work that validates transactions and keeps the network secure. The current Bitcoin mining reward is 3.125 BTC per block, and it shrinks by half roughly every four years.

The End of Bitcoin Mining Rewards

However, once the maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins is reached, these block rewards will cease​​. Miners will then solely rely on transaction fees as their compensation for validating transactions and securing the network​​.

The supply of bitcoins is replenished at a set rate of one block every ten minutes. The system design reduces the number of new bitcoins in each block by half every four years. There are only about 1.5 million bitcoins left. Experts predict that the last bitcoins will be mined by 2140.

The block subsidy will go to zero but miners will continue to receive transaction fees, which will make up an ever greater portion of the block reward. Miner revenue and thus, Bitcoin security will become entirely reliant on these transaction fees.

As of March 2023, the top 1% of Bitcoin addresses hold over 90% of the total Bitcoin supply, according to Bitinfocharts.

It takes around 10 minutes to mine just one Bitcoin, though this is with ideal hardware and software, which isn't always affordable and only a few users can boast the luxury of. More commonly and reasonably, most users can mine a Bitcoin in 30 days.

Yes. Crypto mining can be profitable - but there are factors miners need to consider including electricity costs, mining difficulty, and market conditions.

What will Bitcoin be worth in 2030? ›

Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, is believed to own the most bitcoins, with estimates suggesting over 1 million BTC mined in the early days of the network.

If miners stop mining Bitcoin, the network will eventually grind to a halt. For each block to be produced, there must be a consensus among the miners. That means no new transactions will be confirmed or added to the blockchain—they'll simply remain stuck in the mempool.

The shortest amount of time it can take to mine at least 1 bitcoin is about 10 minutes. However, the actual time it can take you depends on several factors such as the hashing power of your mining hardware, the overall network hash rate, and the Bitcoin mining difficulty.

A 2020 report from Chainalysis, a forensics company, estimated that about 3.7 million bitcoins have been lost. That's out of a total of about 19.6 million in existence today, and a maximum supply of 21 million tokens when Bitcoin is fully mined.

Bitcoin's Price History

Notably, Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, predicted that bitcoin could reach an astounding $1.48 million by 2030. Obviously, the world's oldest cryptocurrency has come a long way since its first recorded price of less than a cent.