80% of the 21 Million Bitcoins Have Been Mined Into Existence

80.9% of All Bitcoins Have Been Mined
According to blockchain data, today both BTC and BCH miners mined the 17 millionth coin per network, and there are only 4 million left to mine. Now individuals may say that only 4 million coins is not much of a supply since 17 million were mined in less than ten years, so they might expect the last coins to be mined shortly. However, that’s not the case for both networks as mining difficulty continues to increase on both chains, and every four years the mining block reward is cut in half. Right now both BTC and BCH networks produce 12.5 coins after every block found, and when the halving takes place the reward will only be 6.25 newly minted coins. The BTC chain is expected to halve its mining reward in roughly 763 days or May 29, 2020, depending on the hashrate. If the networks hashrate grows slower or faster the halving date could change.
BTC and BCH Halvings and the Last Coin Found Will Likely Be Different Time Frames


Satoshi’s Vision Has Come a Long Way — Giving the World the Genius of Proof-of-Work and Digital Scarcity
Even though it’s going to take more than a century for all of the coins to be found, finding more than 80 percent of them is quite the feat. Over the last six months, both chains have seen a phenomenal increase in hashpower, and if this keeps up it will likely lead to much faster halvings and difficulty changes. Additionally, the 21 million cap created by Satoshi Nakamoto cements the power of digital scarcity, which theoretically will keep demand going strong for ages. The cryptocurrencies are divisible by eight decimals and this means that even though there are not enough ‘whole’ coins to go around for every individual on the planet, people will transact with smaller fractions over time. Unlike quantitative easing and the central banking system bailing out the banks by printing mass quantities of fiat — cryptocurrencies are and will always be scarce. 17 million coins found by a network of incentivized miners is a landmark occasion, and we should all celebrate this feat as it shows how far this technology has come in less than a decade. What do you think about the fact that 80 percent of all BCH and BTC have been mined so far? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below.Images via Pixabay, and Shutterstock.
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$17 million 2020 2140 BCH bitcoin cash Bitcoin Core Bitcoin Scarcity Block reward Blocks BTC DAA difficulty Digital Scarcity Halving Hashpower Hashrate May 29 Mining Mining Operations Mining Pools N-Technology speed