what will be the date of last bitcoin mined?

[TryNinja]

I found this on stack exchange:

The estimate is 2140 based on the block reward halving frequency of four years. According to math and knowledge that there are 32 halving events, in 2136, the block reward will yield 0.00000168 BTC per day, which is 0.00000042 BTC per block. That's 42 satoshis.

It's arguable that there could be one additional halving, to a block reward of 0.00000021 BTC, but that would require a major protocol modification since the number of Bitcoin would then exceed 21 million. Additionally, to go past that, there'd have to be a protocol modification to extend divisibility past eight decimal places. It is far, far to early to worry about either of these, because we're more than a century away from this problem.

https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/10486/when-will-the-last-bitcoin-be-mined
https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/8823/how-many-bitcoin-are-mined-per-day

Very far from our friend's date "June 24 2020".

[1715041772]

1715041772

[Dabs]

That statement is wrong, because no matter how many halvings there are, the supply will never exceed 21 million. The block reward goes down to zero eventually, but we're all dead by then, that's 140+ years from now.

2032 is the most realistic date of consideration that for all practical purposes almost all the bitcoins have been mined. The next one hundred years will produce less than a million, so miners are probably going for transaction fees by then. They are already going for it right now.

I'd say by 2036 or 2037 we will see the true value or at least the perceived value of bitcoins, and it will only go up from there as there is no more supply but that depends on how much demand there would be (the rest of the world?)

So 15 years from now ...

[DannyHamilton]

That statement is wrong, because no matter how many halvings there are, the supply will never exceed 21 million. The block reward goes down to zero eventually, but we're all dead by then, that's 140+ years from now.

Actually, it's rather likely that it will be less than 130 years from now.  I'd guess it to be close to 125 years.

2032 is the most realistic date of consideration that for all practical purposes almost all the bitcoins have been mined.

"Almost all" is not a very specific number.  I'd say that for all practical purposes almost all the bitcoins have already been mined, since the annualized rate of inflation of the supply is already less than 4% per year.

The next one hundred years will produce less than a million,

That's true before 2032.  We should hit that point as soon as 2026.

So 15 years from now ...

Maybe sooner?

[Dabs]

Yeah, considering that the maximum is almost 21 million but will never reach it, 20 million is a good "almost all". I guess 2020 is also close enough. So between 2020 and 2026 is "almost everything". Or 90%.

[Amph]

Yeah, considering that the maximum is almost 21 million but will never reach it, 20 million is a good "almost all". I guess 2020 is also close enough. So between 2020 and 2026 is "almost everything". Or 90%.

which is the same estimate of satoshi about no volume or big volume he was referring to this by any chance

however there are chance that in the future some hard fork change this, it's  unlikely but possible

still the miners  from 2020 already will mine more because of the fee than the block reward

[HabBear]

We are already past the half way mark (11mil+ already mined). This means that we can only mine 10 million in the next 128 years.

Am I missing something? That doesn't sound right.

It is right. It's because the amount of bitcoin created from each block reward earned reduces in size, by half, every four years. It's this reduction in the supply that produces the long tail in bitcoin production.

Someone commented earlier that block reward halving is conducted at an exponential rate, this is incorrect. The rate is constant...50% reduction every 4 years. Exponential implies there's some increase or decrease to the rate.

While the rate of the halving is constant, the number of bitcoins produced (the supply) is slowly reducing due to the halving. This gradual slow down in supply, with a demand that just remains the same as it is today, will generate an increase in price. It's quite an incredible thing to think about!

"Almost all" is not a very specific number.  I'd say that for all practical purposes almost all the bitcoins have already been mined, since the annualized rate of inflation of the supply is already less than 4% per year.

If only 11 million Bitcoin has been mined out of a total 21 million possible, how can you (in "practical terms") consider almost all the bitcoins have been mined. That's literally not true. Are you being sarcastic?

[DannyHamilton]

"Almost all" is not a very specific number.  I'd say that for all practical purposes almost all the bitcoins have already been mined, since the annualized rate of inflation of the supply is already less than 4% per year.

If only 11 million Bitcoin has been mined out of a total 21 million possible, how can you (in "practical terms") consider almost all the bitcoins have been mined. That's literally not true. Are you being sarcastic?

11 million?  Where did you get that number?

Check your math.

Bitcoin has existed for almost 9 years.

During the first 4 years a total of:
210000 blocks * 50 BTC per block = 10500000 BTC

That's 10.5 Million bitcoins already mined before the end of 2012

During the next 4 years a total of:
210000 blocks * 25 BTC per block = 5250000 BTC

That's another 5.25 Million bitcoins mined before August of 2016

Add those together and we find that 10.5 + 5.25 = 15.75 Million bitcoins were already mined before August last year.

As of the time I am posting this, another 53264 blocks have been mined since the reward was cut down to 12.5 BTC per block last year.

53264 blocks * 12.5 BTC per block = 665800 BTC

So...

• For the first ~4 years there were 10.5 Million BTC mined at a rate of 50 BTC per block
• For the second ~4 years there were 5.25 Million BTC mined at a rate of 25 BTC per block
• For the most recent ~1 year have been 0.6658 Million BTC mined at a rate of 12.5 BTC per block

That's:

10.5 Million BTC + 5.25 Million BTC + 0.6658 Million BTC = 16.416 Million BTC mined.

Due to a bug in the early days of mining, the actual number of bitcoins that will be mined will be a bit less than 20999999.9769, but I'll use the theoretical 20999999.9769 maximum since I can't remember exactly how many less it will be.

16.416 million already created / 20.9999999769 maximum ever created = ~78.17% of all bitcoins have already been mined.

I'd say 78.17% is "almost all".

Here's another thought...

Approximately 52500 blocks are created per year.  Since the block reward is currently only 12.5 BTC, this means that in the next 365.25 days there will be ONLY:
52500 blocks per year * 12.5 BTC = 656250 new BTC created

That's only 0.65625 Million BTC.  Since there are already 16.416 Million BTC in existence the inflation rate (inflation of supply) over the next year will be:

0.65625 Million new BTC  /  16.416 Million BTC in existence = 3.998%

That inflation rate will decrease every time a new block is created until it eventually reaches 0% somewhere around the year 2140.  In otherwords, the inflation of BTC supply will NEVER again be more than 4%.  How many countries can confidently say that about their currencies?

[HabBear]

"Almost all" is not a very specific number.  I'd say that for all practical purposes almost all the bitcoins have already been mined, since the annualized rate of inflation of the supply is already less than 4% per year.

If only 11 million Bitcoin has been mined out of a total 21 million possible, how can you (in "practical terms") consider almost all the bitcoins have been mined. That's literally not true. Are you being sarcastic?

11 million?  Where did you get that number?

Check your math.

You're right. I relied on a number that someone else posted in this thread and did not verify that it was accurate before my original post.

I just checked https://blockchain.info/charts/total-bitcoins and verified their estimate of 16.4M Bitcoin in existence.

And with that number I agree with you - 78% of the total have been mined.

I suppose we can agree to disagree on what exact percentage is fair to call it "almost all". For me, it's not "almost all" until we exceed 90% mined. But I don't want to get into semantics here.

Additionally, I never questioned your supply inflation rate of 4% (current) and declining in the future. I'm well aware of the math.

Thanks for calling me out!

[Dabs]

His "almost all" was 78%, or maybe 80%.

My intention for "almost all" was 90%, and a couple more halving eras and we are close to 99%.

2024 is the year we hit 90%.
2036 is the year we hit 99%.

2028 we have 19 million mined, the last million is the one that will take "forever".

[DannyHamilton]

If only 11 million Bitcoin has been mined out of a total 21 million possible

11 million?  Where did you get that number?

Check your math.

You're right. I relied on a number that someone else posted in this thread and did not verify that it was accurate before my original post.

Someone else?  I just looked through the thread and I don't see any reference to 11 million bitcoins prior to your post?

Did I over look it?  Had I seen it, I would have corrected them before you ever got a chance to rely on their number.

"Almost all" is not a very specific number.  I'd say that for all practical purposes almost all the bitcoins have already been mined, since the annualized rate of inflation of the supply is already less than 4% per year.

I agree with you - 78% of the total have been mined.

I suppose we can agree to disagree on what exact percentage is fair to call it "almost all".

Which is EXACTLY the point I was trying to make when I said:

"Almost all" is not a very specific number.

Dabs gave an example arguing that they will be "almost all" mined when it reaches 99%.
I gave an example of why it could be argued that they are already "almost all" mined.
An equally valid argument could be made that "almost all" were mined when the first halving happened at 10.5 Million.
Or perhaps it isn't really "almost all" until the transaction fees per block exceed the block subsidy?

For me, it's not "almost all" until we exceed 90% mined.

Yep.  That works too.  Should hit that in less than 5 years.

But I don't want to get into semantics here.

Too late.

Additionally, I never questioned your supply inflation rate of 4% (current) and declining in the future. I'm well aware of the math.

My point was that an inflation rate of less than 4% could be used as a "almost all" threshold just as easily as 90% or 99%, or 80%, or any other arbitrary number.

His "almost all" was 78%, or maybe 80%.

Specifically, my "almost all" was when the inflation rate dropped below 4%.

My intention for "almost all" was 90%,

Like I said above... Less than 5 years to reach that point.

and a couple more halving eras and we are close to 99%.

Correct. Specifically it should be approximately 18 years.  That would be a bit less than 5 more halving eras.

2024 is the year we hit 90%.

More like 2021, maybe 2022.

2036 is the year we hit 99%.

It should take a bit less than 18 years. So, while 2036 is possible, I wouldn't be surprised to see it in 2035.

2028 we have 19 million mined,

Nope.  Should hit 19 million by 2022.

the last million is the one that will take "forever".

Correct.  We will hit 19999999.9769 in 2026.  Then that last million to get from 19999999.9769 to the final 20999999.9769 will take from 2026 until approximately 2140.

[Dabs]

2027 is when we start going to the moon, mars, another galaxy, or whatever the speculators like to picture. I'm betting (no money, just saying) the media is going to publish an article about the 20th million bitcoin, and it will get coverage by the major networks, maybe CNBC and CNN, a bunch of finance and investing websites and blogs and podcasts ...

So about 9 or 10 years from now ...

I'm going to "save" one bitcoin a year and stuff it in some tungsten wallet (or paper wallet).