How much bitcoin can exist in the world?

[fernandoaleixo]

If we take all the servers that exists and completely fill them with cryptocurrency data, how much can we have at once?  Nothing infinite after all... Right? 

[AdolfinWolf]

If we take all the servers that exists and completely fill them with cryptocurrency data, how much can we have at once?   Nothing infinite after all... Right?  

No. There is a maximum of 21 million bitcoin that can be generated. But due to the genesis block (not having a private key) & some other stuff, it is actually a bit less then 21 million..

See https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/38998 for a more detailed answer.


Also, if you would mine with all the efficient hardware existing in the current world, it would still take years to get to the 21 million coins, ( due to the difficulty being adjusted to the hashpower of the network).

[fernandoaleixo]

If we take all the servers that exists and completely fill them with cryptocurrency data, how much can we have at once?   Nothing infinite after all... Right?  

No. There is a maximum of 21 million bitcoin that can be generated. But due to the genesis block (not having a private key) & some other stuff, it is actually a bit less then 21 million..

See https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/38998 for a more detailed answer.


Also, if you would mine with all the efficient hardware existing in the current world, it would still take years to get to the 21 million coins, ( due to the difficulty being adjusted to the hashpower of the network).

And considering 1 BTC = 10895.8 USD, that would make possible 228.795 billion USD?  Can we go even deeper?

[Crytptohack]

If we take all the servers that exists and completely fill them with cryptocurrency data, how much can we have at once?   Nothing infinite after all... Right?  

No. There is a maximum of 21 million bitcoin that can be generated. But due to the genesis block (not having a private key) & some other stuff, it is actually a bit less then 21 million..

See https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/38998 for a more detailed answer.


Also, if you would mine with all the efficient hardware existing in the current world, it would still take years to get to the 21 million coins, ( due to the difficulty being adjusted to the hashpower of the network).

And considering 1 BTC = 10895.8 USD, that would make possible 228.795 billion USD?  Can we go even deeper?

There is a maximum amount of BTC as mentioned, but there is no cap on the price of BTC. The more fiat that purchases BTC, the higher the price will go.

This morning BTC has a market cap of 196 billion with a price of 11.6k USD's.  By comparison, Apple computer has a market cap of 850 billion or so.

BTC has a lot of price appreciation potential going forward IMO. There is Metcalfe's law which was initially made of networking where the value of the asset is equivalent to the user base. As BTC continues to be adopted worldwide, the price should also follow.

[MintDice]

correct, unlike fiat, there is a finite supply of btc which is calculated to be just under 21 million. And it's the fact that there is a finite supply that makes many believe that the price of btc will only continue to rise...over the long run.

[HabBear]

If we take all the servers that exists and completely fill them with cryptocurrency data, how much can we have at once?  Nothing infinite after all... Right? 

I think you're talking about mining, really. So let's talk about what's possible.

Today, in the last 24 hours there were 1,850 Bitcoin mined (148 blocks) (https://blockchain.info/stats). So, that's what's possible if you controlled 100% of the mining power, which you don't.

Here's a breakdown of the biggest mining operations running and what percent of the network they control (https://blockchain.info/pools). The largest percentage one entity controls is 24.7% by BTC.com. So if you were the guy that could run control more than anyone else on the network - 25% - you'd be earning 462.5 Bitcoin in 24 hours. But to do that would require quite the operation!

Does this help you understand what's possible?

[Kakmakr]

If we take all the servers that exists and completely fill them with cryptocurrency data, how much can we have at once?  Nothing infinite after all... Right? 

We do not speak of nodes as servers.  These nodes can be your desktop computer or even a Raspberry Pi for that matter. The Blockchain that holds the data are growing day by day, but it can be pruned to take up less space. Some developers are also constantly working on ways to reduce the data that are stored on the Blockchain. <Stripping unnecessary data from transactions>

We have recently seen the introduction of the Lightning Network, which will shift most of the micro payments off-chain, thus reducing the growth of the Blockchain even more over time.

[fernandoaleixo]

If we take all the servers that exists and completely fill them with cryptocurrency data, how much can we have at once?  Nothing infinite after all... Right? 

I think you're talking about mining, really. So let's talk about what's possible.

Today, in the last 24 hours there were 1,850 Bitcoin mined (148 blocks) (https://blockchain.info/stats). So, that's what's possible if you controlled 100% of the mining power, which you don't.

Here's a breakdown of the biggest mining operations running and what percent of the network they control (https://blockchain.info/pools). The largest percentage one entity controls is 24.7% by BTC.com. So if you were the guy that could run control more than anyone else on the network - 25% - you'd be earning 462.5 Bitcoin in 24 hours. But to do that would require quite the operation!

Does this help you understand what's possible?

Yes these are quite the numbers, thanks for the info! Makes me wonder how big of an operation this entity has... Must be HUGE.