More than 85% of the total supply of Bitcoin has now been mined, according to CoinMarketCap. The crypto data provider says 17,851,300 BTC is now in circulation, with 3,148,700 left to go at time of publishing.
Right now, the Bitcoin network produces 1,800 BTC per day, a number that will be cut in half in May of 2020. The rate of production will continue to be cut in half about every four years, which means the last of Bitcoin’s total supply of 21 million coins will be mined in 2140.
Bitcoin’s dwindling and limited supply is part of the coin’s anti-inflationary nature and is touted as one of the main reasons the coin is a desirable digital store of value.
In addition, a sizeable, but unknown amount of Bitcoin will never be accessed and is essentially gone. That’s because many people have lost their private keys.
According to a report from Chainalysis, as many as four million coins are lost, which is nearly 20% of the total supply.
Bitcoin’s hash rate has soared to new all-time highs this year. The hash rate measures the amount of computing power currently being used to secure the network.
The number reflects a resurgence of interest in mining that began in January of 2019.
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