The Bitcoin network has reached a major milestone: more than 20 million BTC have now been mined. This means that over 95% of Bitcoin’s total supply is already in circulation. Since the cryptocurrency has a strict maximum supply of 21 million coins, the remaining 4.8% will take more than a century to be fully mined.
Bitcoin with fixed supply of 21 milion coins
Bitcoin was designed as the opposite of traditional fiat currencies issued by central banks. Its code includes a hard cap that guarantees no more than 21 million coins will ever exist. In reality, the amount of Bitcoin available on the market is even smaller.
Experts estimate that around 3 to 4 million BTC have been permanently lost due to forgotten private keys, damaged hard drives, or coins sent to unusable addresses.
Halving and the decline in bitcoin supply
A key mechanism controlling Bitcoin’s supply is the halving, a programmed event that occurs roughly every four years and cuts the mining reward in half. When Bitcoin first launched, miners earned 50 BTC for each block they mined.
Today, the reward has dropped to 3.125 BTC. With every halving, new Bitcoin enters circulation more slowly, and the final fraction of a coin is expected to be mined around the year 2140.
Crossing the 20-million milestone strengthens Bitcoin’s narrative as “digital gold.” With a limited supply and increasing interest from institutions buying Bitcoin through spot ETFs or adding it to corporate balance sheets, the available supply on the market continues to shrink, reinforcing the asset’s long-term scarcity.