Key points to remember
- 19 million out of a maximum of 21 million Bitcoin have been mined to date.
- The rate at which new bitcoins can be mined is slowing down over time, with the last bitcoin due to be mined in 2140.
- This milestone took place just days before Bitcoin Miami, the world’s largest Bitcoin conference, which will take place next week.
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To date, 19 million of the 21 million bitcoins that will one day exist have been mined.
two million more
There are only two million Bitcoins left to mine.
Today the 19 millionth Bitcoin was mined, according to CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap. This means that less than two million new Bitcoins can be added to the circulating supply from now on.
The rate at which new Bitcoins are issued to miners – as a reward for solving complex mathematical equations via computing power – is slowing down over time, and the last Bitcoin is expected to be mined in 2140.
Also today, Kraken, a virtual currency exchange that exceeds $1 billion in daily trading volume, has integrated the Lightning Network. The Lightning Network is a Bitcoin Layer 2 scaling solution that attempts to establish Bitcoin as a more viable peer-to-peer digital currency for everyday use, in addition to its value storage properties, by making faster and cheaper transactions. The Lightning Network feature reportedly existed for Kraken users before the exchange officially made the announcement.
In other Bitcoin news this week, Silvergate loaned MacroStrategy (a subsidiary of Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy) $215 million in order to buy Bitcoin. MicroStrategy already owns about 0.5% of all Bitcoins in existence.
Also this week, Bitcoin saw some mild bullish price action, fueled in part by increased network activity.
However, not all bitcoin-related endeavors have been successful today. Previously, the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected Ark Invest’s Bitcoin cash exchange-traded fund application.
The 19 millionth Bitcoin was also mined just days before the annual Bitcoin Miami conference, which kicks off next week. Bitcoin Miami is the world’s largest gathering of Bitcoin enthusiasts, and major developments are often announced there. For example, it was at the same conference last year that the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, first announced that he would send a bill to make Bitcoin legal tender to that country’s congress. . Although some have speculated that the nation of Honduras could follow suit, recent reports suggest that is unlikely.
Disclosure: At the time of writing this article, the author of this article owned BTC, ETH, and several other cryptocurrencies.
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