We all know Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency around, but just how many Bitcoins are there in the world today? The availability of any commodity helps to influence how valuable it is by creating a ratio of supply to demand.
Read on to learn all about the number of Bitcoins in circulation, and the total Bitcoin supply investors can take advantage of in 2023.
Who Owns The Most Bitcoin?
The top BTC holder in 2024 is purportedly Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic figure behind Bitcoin's creation. Reportedly, Nakamoto possesses approximately 1.1 million BTC tokens spread across roughly 22,000 distinct addresses, as outlined by the company.
How Many Bitcoins Are There in 2023?
There are 19,426,087 Bitcoins in circulation at the time of publishing this article. Around 900 new Bitcoins are mined per day, and there are approximately 1,573,913 Bitcoins left to be mined. The total amount of Bitcoin left to be mined changes around once every ten minutes. Right now, each new block mined adds 6.25 Bitcoins into circulation.
Exploring the Total Supply of Bitcoin
Bitcoin has a finite supply. This means when we hit the Bitcoin supply limit, the only way to get hold of this currency will be to trade with someone else.
The maximum amount of Bitcoins that can exist is 21 million
According to experts, the number of total Bitcoins issued will likely never reach this cap. This is because there are rounding operators in the Bitcoin code base. Block rewards are often divided over time to impose a Bitcoin cap limit.
When we reach the last Bitcoin mined of the 21 million possible, no additional coins will be created. This means Bitcoin miners will only earn money from selling their coins and, from transaction fees.
How is Bitcoin Mined?
Bitcoin operates on a decentralized computer network or distributed ledger, which records cryptocurrency transactions. When computers on the network verify and process transactions, new bitcoins are created or mined. These networked computers, referred to as miners, facilitate transactions in exchange for Bitcoin payments.
There are 1,573,913 Bitcoins left to be mined
The real-time tracker of the total number of Bitcoins in the world reveals there are 1,573,913 Bitcoins left to be mined. This means that over 92.5% of the total Bitcoins available in the world are already in circulation.
It takes around 10 minutes to mine a block of Bitcoin
Each block comes with a Bitcoin mining limit, which determines the amount of Bitcoin released into circulation. With each block taking around ten minutes to mine, there are around 144 blocks mined each day.
At the current rate, following the Bitcoin limit and Bitcoin halving, around 900 BTC are entered into circulation every day.
(Scholar.SMU)
There are more Bitcoin miners in the USA than anywhere else.
Available stats say that there are around a million Bitcoin miners today. They come from all over the world, however, the US seems to be contributing the most. Estimates for the amount of Bitcoin in circulation coming from each country are partially based on electricity and energy prices worldwide.
(Statista; World Population Review)
Experts predict the last Bitcoin will be mined in 2140.
Although more than 19 out of 21 million Bitcoins have already been mined, there’s still a lot of time before we reach the Bitcoin mining end date. Every four years, the total Bitcoins mined in a day reduces. This is because the rewards, or the number of Bitcoins mined with each block, are halved.
In 2012, the block award was 25 Bitcoins. Today, the lower number of Bitcoins left to mine means we can only access 6.25 Bitcoins from each block.
(CNBC)
Around 20% of the total Bitcoins in circulation are lost.
Though it’s difficult to know for certain the total number of Bitcoins lost each day, experts believe that around 3.7 million coins are gone forever. This means about 20% of the total Bitcoins today are inaccessible and cannot be retrieved.
They are lost, burned, or simply forgotten, which reduces the number of Bitcoins in circulation. This also adds to the coin's overall value.
(Decrypt)
Why is Bitcoin So Expensive?
As the supply of unrewarded coins diminishes, demand increases. The total number of Bitcoins that will ever exist is capped at 21 million. Divisibility is a key feature of Bitcoin, surpassing that of fiat currencies. One Bitcoin can be subdivided into up to eight decimal places, with each unit referred to as a satoshi.
What Will Happen to Bitcoin 2024?
The upcoming halving is scheduled for 2024, when the number of blocks reaches 840,000. Then, the reward per block will decrease from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. This will potentially drive up bitcoin's price as the rate of new bitcoin entering circulation declines.
How High Can Bitcoin Go in 2030?
The price trajectory of Bitcoin has been a topic of numerous predictions, ranging from moderate to extreme. One notable forecast comes from Cathie Wood, the CEO of Ark Invest, who suggested that Bitcoin might surge to an extraordinary $1.48 million by 2030.
Conclusion
There is a finite supply of Bitcoin available in the world. While there is less than 9% left of it to be mined, it will take more than a century for us to run out of new BTC entirely. The question is, what will happen to Bitcoin’s value when we run out of mineable blocks?
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