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Bitcoin's circulating supply is currently 20.05 million BTC, according to CoinMarketCap data. This represents 95.47% of the fixed maximum supply of 21 million BTC. Thus, there remains only 950,000 BTC to be issued in the coming years.
The last Bitcoin is expected to be mined around the year 2140. This is based on the current halving schedule, which slashes the block reward by half every four years. Because the issuance rate decreases with each halving, the final fraction of a Bitcoin might take several decades to be issued.
Currently, new Bitcoins are issued at about 3.125 BTC every 10 minutes; this rate will decrease by the year 2028 when the next halving event is anticipated to happen.
What happens after the final Bitcoin is mined
In a recent tweet and an academy post, Binance discussed a potential aftermath of the last Bitcoin being mined. The remaining 950,000 BTC will be released gradually over more than 100 years due to the halving schedule.
After the final Bitcoin is mined, which is anticipated around the year 2140, miners will depend entirely on transaction fees rather than new coin issuance to fund their operations. Currently, miners earn revenue from two sources: newly issued Bitcoin (the block rewards) and transaction fees paid by users sending BTC.
Once the last Bitcoin is mined around 2140, there will no longer be any block rewards. Miners will then rely on transaction fees to cover their operating costs and make profits.
Next Bitcoin halving anticipated in 2028
As reported, the next Bitcoin halving is less than 100,000 blocks away. According to the OKLink explorer, there are 90,995 Bitcoin blocks remaining until the next halving event.
This suggests that Bitcoin is now more than halfway to its next halving event, with a potential date of April 13, 2028, according to OKLink. The current countdown to the halving event, which will slash the block reward to 1.5625 BTC, is given as 631 days.
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
