What's the incentive when all bitcoins have been mined?

[mbobak]

Hi all,

I'm very much a newbie to bitcoins.  I've been reading up on various descriptions of bitcoins and bitcoin mining.  But one question I haven't been able to answer is, how do I earn bitcoin from mining, once the 21 million bitcoin limit is reached?

At that point, there will still be transactions that people want to make, right?  But, if all bitcoins have been discovered, then what's the incentive to keep mining?  And without miners, how will the system continue to encrypt/secure/validate the blockchain?

Thanks,

-Mark

[beetcoin]

every time a transaction is made, you still need miners to confirm them.. which is why people have to pay fees when they send their BTC to another wallet.

[odolvlobo]

Miners also receive the transaction fees.