Bitcoin’s mined supply has surpassed 20 million coins, marking a major milestone in the network’s programmed issuance schedule.
Onchain data shows the threshold was crossed at block height 939,999. Miners received the current 3.125 BTC block subsidy for producing that block. The block was mined by the Foundry USA mining pool on Monday, according to Mempool data.
The achievement arrives roughly seventeen years, two months and about one week after the blockchain launched in January 2009. Consequently, fewer than one million bitcoins now remain to be mined before the protocol reaches its final cap.
Bitcoin’s software limits total supply to 21 million coins. The network distributes new coins to miners who validate transactions and add blocks to the blockchain. Satoshi Nakamoto designed this issuance schedule when releasing the software in 2009. Furthermore, the system automatically reduces new supply through a programmed event known as a halving.
Each halving occurs every 210,000 blocks, which takes about four years. The event cuts the block subsidy paid to miners in half.
Bitcoin began with a reward of 50 BTC per block in 2009. Subsequent halvings gradually reduced the payout as the network matured. The fourth halving occurred on April 20, 2024. Consequently, the subsidy fell from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. Miners now produce roughly 450 BTC per day on average. Previously, the network issued about 900 BTC daily before the most recent halving.
The next halving is currently projected for April 11, 2028. However, the exact date depends on how quickly miners produce new blocks. Bitcoin’s protocol targets a new block roughly every ten minutes.
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Not all mined coins are spendable
Meanwhile, transaction fees provide additional income for miners alongside the subsidy reward. Miners collect those fees from users who pay to include transactions in a block.
Bitcoin’s issuance schedule releases most coins early in the network’s history. It took about seventeen years to mine the first 20 million coins. However, the final one million will emerge far more slowly. Each halving reduces the pace of issuance and stretches the remaining supply across decades. Analysts estimate the last fractions of bitcoin will appear around the year 2140. Consequently, the final satoshis will take more than a century to enter circulation.
Not all mined bitcoins remain spendable today. The genesis block reward alone contains 50 BTC that cannot be spent. Additionally, several early outputs used scripts that permanently prevent spending. Onchain estimates place the unspendable total at about 230.09 BTC. Meanwhile, the circulating supply metric does not account for coins lost by users. Many early participants misplaced private keys or discarded old hardware wallets.
Market observers often point to Bitcoin’s predictable issuance as a defining design feature. Kraken global economist Thomas Perfumo previously described the system as a form of programmable scarcity.
He explained that the network combines declining issuance with decentralized access. Furthermore, he said those characteristics distinguish Bitcoin from traditional monetary systems. Perfumo also noted that short-term prices still react to global liquidity and investor sentiment. However, he argued that long-term value depends on adoption and the network’s fixed supply.
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Multiple industries emerged around Bitcoin infrastructure
Early developer Hal Finney discussed similar ideas shortly after Bitcoin’s launch. He wrote about the difficulty of valuing a new digital currency that few people initially accepted. However, he considered a theoretical scenario where Bitcoin became the dominant global payment network.
Consequently, he suggested the currency’s value might reflect global household wealth. Finney cited estimates ranging from USD$100 trillion to USD$300 trillion in worldwide wealth. With roughly 20 million coins, that calculation implied a possible value near USD$10 million per coin.
Several industries have emerged around Bitcoin’s blockchain infrastructure.
Cryptocurrency exchanges facilitate trading between bitcoin and traditional currencies for retail and institutional investors. Meanwhile, custodial firms provide secure storage services for large holders and investment funds.
Mining equipment manufacturers also supply specialized hardware used to validate transactions and secure the network. Furthermore, payment processors integrate bitcoin into merchant checkout systems and cross-border transfer platforms.
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