TechFlow News, March 3: According to CoinDesk, 19,997,001.16 bitcoins have been mined as of today—just approximately 3,000 coins short of the 20-million milestone. At the current block reward rate, this milestone is expected to be reached within seven days. This means 95% of Bitcoin’s fixed total supply of 21 million coins has already entered circulation, with the remaining 1 million coins scheduled to be gradually mined over the next century-plus.
Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, hardcoded a hard cap of 21 million coins into the protocol. Thanks to the quadrennial halving mechanism, Bitcoin’s inflation rate has fallen below 1%, and roughly 450 new bitcoins are currently minted daily. At this pace, 99% of the total supply will be mined by January 2035; the final whole bitcoin is projected to be mined in 2105, and mining is expected to continue until approximately 2140.
