Bitcoin is one of the most talked about things in today’s world. But have you ever thought what will happen if all the bitcoin is mined? The following article discusses the following topic.
Introduction
In the continuously evolving digital currency world, Bitcoin is the pioneer of the decentralized financial network, with no intermediate authority, impacting the traditional financial system tremendously. The recent developments in blockchain technology have been an essential factor for people to use Bitcoin in everyday transactions. However, the popularity came with a price, which is that there are a limited number of bitcoins. The creator(s) of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, had put a cap of 21 million bitcoins to make the cryptocurrency limited and counter inflation, which might occur from the unlimited supply of the digital currency. So far, over 19 million bitcoins have already been mined, leaving around 2 million bitcoins yet to be mined. Once the limit is achieved, there will be no further generation of the digital currency. However, the easement will have higher consequences. In this article, we will discuss them.
Exhaustion of bitcoin
As a part of the mining process, bitcoin miners get rewarded a block of Bitcoin for a set of successful transactions. The reward gets halved every 4 years. Therefore, by the end of 2024, the reward will be around 1.56 BTC. The process shall continue until the last bitcoin is mined. According to experts, the last bitcoin will be mined by 2140. Undoubtedly, the price of digital currency will increase every year with the increase in demand among crypto market participants. Although it is incredibly challenging to predict the reaction of the crypto market once each bitcoin is mined because the market is relatively young, one thing is sure: miners will earn their income through fees charged for each transaction, forcing the bitcoin network to become a regulated economy, relying heavily on the current bitcoin holders.
As of now, about 2 million bitcoins are yet to be mined, and about 4 million bitcoins, equivalent to $140 million, have gone out of circulation, i.e., they have been lost forever due to human errors like losing access to the digital wallet, misplacement or loss of hard drives, death of the owner(s), or other reasons, reducing the value of the digital currency.
Conclusion
When all bitcoins are mined, the crypto market will undergo a significant transformation, with the high transaction fee being a key factor for reshaping the network altogether. The transformation might challenge the pillars of a decentralized financial network with no middle-man, transparency, security, and reliability of each transaction made using bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general, heavily affecting the crypto market. However, from an investor’s point of view who wishes to invest in the crypto market, particularly in bitcoin, the depleting supply and increasing demand in the crypto market will result in enhancing its status, not unlike digital gold, regarding as a cushion against the heavy inflation and economic instability, thus increasing its value.
In conclusion, the inevitable exhaustion of bitcoin mining brings forth a puzzling picture with a financial system very different from ours at present, symbolizing the never-ending evolution of the financial system in the world with some remarkable benchmarks and critical moments. The ending of Bitcoin mining brings forth an exciting chapter in the book of cryptocurrency.
Would you like to explore more such informative articles and blogs? We provide a range of informative articles across different domains. Subscribe today to be part of our community!
