Bitcoin, the world’s top cryptocurrency, hit a significant milestone yesterday as the number of mined coins reached 19 million. What this means is there are only two million coins left for anyone who wants to acquire a piece of the asset.
The Bitcoin community was quick to celebrate the achievement while also emphasising its importance.
Kryptovault’s CEO, Kjetil Hove Pettersen, went on to say that, while many may think this is a tiny quantity, he believes the remaining units may represent the best of the mining times to come.
As the community is having a monumental moment in the mining industry, one can’t help but wonder what comes next for the coin following this great achievement.
While Bitcoin took 13 years to mine 19 million units, the remaining 2 million units will take at least another 100 years to be mined, indicating how scarce the coin will become.
By 2024, the current block reward of £221,000 is likely to shrink to less than £141,000. This halving will continue until the payout is merely £0.00035 per block, which is expected to happen in less than a century.
However, it is important to note that, despite the diminishing mining payouts, the coin was created with the intention of keeping miners motivated to keep mining in order to keep the network secure.
The crypto community has also predicted that the resulting scarcity will help drive up the price, with some estimating a base price of £0.76 million. Many feel that Bitcoin has the potential to become a global reserve asset, propelling its adoption to unprecedented heights.
Interestingly, knowing that there are less than 2 million units of the coin, whales will face increased scarcity amongst themselves.
Bitcoin is more than just the most popular cryptocurrency. It’s also been labelled as one of the most polluting aspects of the cryptocurrency industry.
Because miners must solve complicated math to validate transactions and create new coins, Bitcoin mining demands a lot of computing power. “Proof-of-work” is the term for this procedure.
Major climate activist groups announced recently that they are attempting to move Bitcoin away from such a mining process, arguing that switching to a new model, such as “proof-of-stake,” could make Bitcoin 99% greener.
This campaign, according to the Bitcoin community, is not only dubious, but also impossible. The community members opine that not only is the campaign unlikely to succeed for a variety of reasons, but the proof-of-work concept is a major reason for their devotion to Bitcoin.