Mike Smith
10 days ago
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On Christmas Eve 2024, the cryptocurrency community celebrated a landmark event - the number of bitcoins mined reached 19.8 million units. Only 1.2 million coins remain to the maximum value of 21 million, the mining of which will last for more than a century - until 2140.
According to the algorithm, the rate of emergence of new bitcoins is halved every four years in a process known as "halving". After the halving in 2024, miners will receive a reward of 3.25 BTC for each block mined. By 2140, the reward will decrease so much that it will become less than one satoshi - the smallest unit of measurement of bitcoin, after which the emission will effectively cease.
One of the key advantages of the first cryptocurrency is its limited supply, which protects against inflation, unlike traditional fiat money. However, BlackRock recently released an educational video discussing the possibility of removing the emission limit. Despite the technical possibility of such a change through a hard fork, many experts believe that such a decision would radically change the nature of Bitcoin.
The professional community has come up with the concept of "pure bitcoins" - coins that have never participated in transactions. As the emission decreases, such virgin coins are becoming increasingly rare and valuable assets, since they can only be obtained directly from miners through peer-to-peer transactions.
Currently, the value of Bitcoin is $95,614.67 with a market capitalization of over $1.8 trillion. It is important to note that the actual number of coins in circulation will always be less than the maximum supply due to lost or unavailable crypto assets. The unique model of limited supply, combined with regular reductions in mining speed, continues to attract the attention of investors who see the first cryptocurrency as an effective tool for preserving and increasing capital.
