Data shows almost 90% of Bitcoin has been mined, here’s how long it will take to mine the rest

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Bitcoin mining is still one of the most controversial parts of blockchain. Miners are undoubtedly making a good sum for the mined blocks given the current price of BTC. But the difficulty of mining has also increased as more and more BTC is mined.

In its ten year history, more than 18.6 million bitcoins 21 million total supply have been mined. This constitutes almost 90% of the total BTC supply. This leaves just over 10% BTC to be mined. Currently, there are approximately 2.250 million coins to be mined.

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At the current rate, it is estimated that the last bitcoin will be mined in around 120 years. This is due to the halving of events that will occur every four years, thereby reducing the supply of BTC released into circulation every four years.

Bitcoin mining in 2009 vs. mining in 2021

The cryptocurrency that first came out in 2009 rewarded miners with 50 bitcoins for every block mined. This was back when a user could mine bitcoin using an old laptop with a crappy graphics card. At this point, bitcoin was worth next to nothing. Thus, many miners forgot their parts or sold them at a very low price. The evolution of the price of Bitcoins through this point is an interesting period.

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In 2021, three halving events since the launch of the digital currency have seen the reward for the mined block significantly reduced. The first halving took place in 2012. At this point, the reward for a block was 25, which reduced it to half. The next halving was in 2016, which reduced the reward to 12.5. The most recent halving took place in 2020, which reduced the number of bitcoins received per block mined to 6.25.

The reward will continue to halve every four years until the 21 million BTC is mined. Each halving will halve the rewards of mined blocks each time. Decrease rewards for mining blocks, while simultaneously increasing mining difficulty as miners claim rewards for mined blocks.

Growth of BTC over the years

The pioneering cryptocurrency didn’t get too much attention until the Silk Road bust happened. Prior to the launch of the Silk Road, BTC was only used by people who were part of it for technology. Yields weren’t really significant at this point. Those BTCs on Silk Road as a way to buy literally anything from drugs to guns are what really made law enforcement focus on the coin.

BTC started to experience significant growth in 2017 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

The price of BTC has remained broadly stable around this time, despite its growing popularity, thanks to the bust of Silk Road. The most notable running of the bulls took place in 2017-18. This was when many investors heard about bitcoin. The bull market has brought BTC to the fore as a major asset to face.

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In 2021, it is estimated that around 10% of the current global population is invested in BTC or altcoins. Current figures are estimated between 51 and 52.4 million crypto investors worldwide. Compared to an estimate of 2.9-5.8 million in 2017, this is huge growth.

Featured image from OptinMonster, chart from TradingView.com

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