Is 21million BTC really enough for the wole world?

[yishak]

I mean its only 21million btcand there are 6billion people in the world , how can it be enough

[NeuroticFish]

You are getting it wrong. Let me explain.
There's some 170k-180k tons of gold mined. Let's say 170 000 000 kg. Your question is like asking why can't everybody have 1kg of gold.

Not everybody wants Bitcoin and also Bitcoin has subunits (in the same way 1kg has grams). People can get 0.1 BTC. Or 0.0001 BTC. Some day even that may be pricey.

So the answer is yes, there's enough Bitcoin.

[GXHPP]

Yup, if you think about it, even when including the bitcoins that will never be used again "lost, owned by satoshi "probably won't be used" and the like".

Bitcoin pricing depends on the demand and the available number, so if it's just 1 BTC "not 21 millions", That one can cover the need IMO and can be used in units as small as a single satoshi.

[Jelly0621]

21 million btc would be more than enough for 6 billion people in the whole world especially if all of us would do the work to multiply and to have another million folds of bitcoin.

But I guess 1/10000 knows the single thing about bitcoin now.

[crazyivan]

It enough for what BTC should be, store of value.

What price should it reach with people interested, that s a different story. I think $10k per BTC are not impossible as early as next year, just because of that ratio. Many people, few BTC.

[bering]

If all people in this world using bitcoin maybe yes 21 millions is not enough for all of them but i think the current bitcoin users in the whole of world even less than 5% from total of populations human in the world so 21 millions is enough because not everybody want and interested using and hold bitcoin

[vnvizow]

I mean its only 21million btcand there are 6billion people in the world , how can it be enough

Well its smallest denominations aren't 1 bitcoin, it's one satoshi which if I'm not wrong is 0.0000001 bitcoin. The core team could move that a few decimals back too if needed but as of now 21 million is more than enough

[Ayers]

yes because you can divide bitcoin into 100M esatoshi each this si more than enough for everyone, bitcoin is divisible because otherwise you can't pay a whole bitcoin for everything like fee or small commissions

[JanpriX]

On my point of view, 21 million BTC is definitely enough for all the people around the globe. We must consider that some people are still not using BTC and some of them didn't even know that BTC exists. The supply will always be enough.

We can also look it at a different angle. If the BTC's supply is unlimited, we can say that its value will be zilch in the long run. So, it is a good thing that BTC has a limited supply. This will add more value to each part of it (satoshi, mBTC, etc).

[mrcash02]

Surely it is. Each BTC has 100.000.000 of satoshis. 21.000.000 x 100.000.000 = 2.100.000.000.000.000 of satoshis, enough for all the world use it well. 1 Satoshi can values more than 1 currently cent. Probably the difficult would be to buy cheap things with BTCs, as 1 satoshi could value more than the price of cheap things like one fuit, one candy...

[eddie13]

1 Satoshi can values more than 1 currently cent. Probably the difficult would be to buy cheap things with BTCs, as 1 satoshi could value more than the price of cheap things like one fuit, one candy...

If that happens you sure won't see me complaining

We would all be ridiculous rich..

[olubams]

I mean its only 21million btcand there are 6billion people in the world , how can it be enough

How on earth will that be enough and that is the concern to be raised when discussion gets to a high level and there is need for massive adoption of bitcoin. This limitation to 21 million coins will serve as an impediment. Firstly, it will make the price to go beyond the reach of an average individual because will becomes so high to afford and secondly, when the maximum is eventually reached, miners fee will continue to skyrocket and by that it will discourage a lot of users.

[mastermold]

Yes. The number of Bitcoins is not as important as the scarcity of Bitcoins.  Since each Bitcoin can be divided into one million bits (1,000,000) or one hundred million Satoshi (100,000,000) I often try to compare bits against fiat currencies instead of entire bitcoins.

1 bit can be divided into 100 Satoshi and 1 Dollar, Euro, Pound, etc. can also only be divided into 100 cents/pence etc. so if we are to compare "equal units" against each other, I think it is better to view 21 million Bitcoins (21,000,000 BTC)  as 2.1 billion bits (2,100,000,000 b) or even as 2.1 trillion Satoshi (2,100,000,000,000 s).

But what I think is most important to realize about Bitcoin is that it is the driving force behind what people are calling "currency competition" and we as people around the world are now far more able to choose what we believe provides us with the best utility

[BADecker]

At the time of this writing, 1 satoshi is worth about USD $0.0000125028 according to https://99bitcoins.com/satoshi-usd-converter/.

One bitcoin = 100,000,000 satoshis - http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/114/what-is-a-satoshi.

When all 21 million bitcoins have been mined, there will be 2,100,000,000,000,000 satoshis. If the earth has 8 billion people at that time, this would give every person 262,500 satoshis on average.

We can work with that amount. There will always be the rich and the poor.

[Sled]

I don't think 21 million bitcoins is really enough for the whole world because now we can't make sure that there is exactly 21 million of bitcoins that are circulating in the market because most of the early miners and investors already got a lot of bitcoin and limited supply for a currency is a down side because we don't have the same mindset so i think if 21 million will be on the market then there is still few people who will hoard and just keep their coins for a very long time and it will affect the market in terms of price but in then end it is a bad habit because that is how people will take advantage of manipulating the market because there is only limited supply.

[Snorek]

This is a recurring topic. Usually bitcoin newbies can't grasp the idea that we are not using only 1 BTC as an unit.
Bitcoins are divisible down to 8 decimal places: 1 satoshi = 0.00000001 BTC
This is more than enough to provide 7 billions (or more people if necessary) with fracture of Bitcoin.

[Iranus]

I mean its only 21million btcand there are 6billion people in the world , how can it be enough

To elaborate on previous posts, it's not just about the denominations into satoshi either.  When people talk about owning Bitcoin, they don't refer to it as "how many Bitcoin do you have".  They say "how much Bitcoin do you have".

When a government has fiat currency, it tries to keep the value similar and gradually inflate, despite an increase in productivity.  The difference with Bitcoin is that it is a deflationary currency and the number of Bitcoins produced is set beforehand.  This keeps it safe from government interference with money.  With Bitcoin, the smallest denomination used can change as the price rises - all it would need is a rebranding, to bits for example.  The great thing is that the value of the currency can actually be directly related to the productivity of the world economy.  The number of Bitcoins is irrelevant just as how the UK pound used to have halfpenny and quarterpenny coins whereas the pound is now denominated into pennies.

[Assman]

Of course it is.  It's divisible 100m times and the value is relative. 

Would be easy to add zeroes and continue fractional representation without any impact on value, too.

[rajasumi3]

It is enough for it .it was planned very well and executes too .there are 8 units for satoshi .it is more than enough for some people .by the time the price of bitcoins would reach up to a maximum height .

[mining1]

It is NOT enought. It's all about perception, and bitcoin is perceived to be extremely expensive. In somewhat developed countries, the average joe might spend his whole wage to buy one bitcoin. In poor countries, people might need to save one year to buy one bitcoin. I know it can be divided, but so can be fiat. All about perception, and bitcoin is expensive. Given the curent amount of adoption, 21mil isn't nearly enough. I'd say atm ~100mil tokens are okay, in the future if adoption goes mainstream 1bil might be the next "okay-ish" amount. Because it's ALL about perception. People don't care tehy can buy 0.001 bitcoin. If they can't easily buy atleast 1, it'll be hard to convince them;  
" 1. Hey, nice, you saved 300euros. Why don't you buy a a quarter of a bitcoin ?
2. What is bitcoin and why would i do that ?
1. Bitcoin is a digital currency, because it's cool.
2. But why does it cost so much ?
1. Because people believe it to be worth that much !
2. Well, it seems wayyy to expensive, i'll pass.