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04-04-2022 icon

Bitcoin hit 19 million milestone with only 2 million left to be mined 

By Lucy Adegbe
Fees

Bitcoin, on April 1, 2022, hit a 19 million mining milestone, leaving only 2 million coins to be mined over the next 100 years. Bitcoin was created with a circulating supply of 21 million and 12 years after the first block (comprising 50 coins) was mined, the 19millionth Bitcoin (block 730002) was mined by SBI Crypto.

For mining the 19 millionth BTC, SBI Crypto was rewarded with 6.25 BTC (approximately $293K) as transaction fees and block reward.

Commenting on the development, Bert de Groot, the founder of Bitcoin Bloem, a mining company, told Cointelegraph that mining the 19 millionth Bitcoin was historical, adding that it makes us realise once more how important the work of Satoshi Nakamoto was.

In the last 13 year, 19 million Bitcoins have been mined and the remaining 2 million BTC is expected to be mined in the year 2140. While the current reward rate stands at 6.25 BTCs per block, this value will be split in two when the next Bitcoin halving happens in 2024.

Invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin remains one of the few cryptocurrencies developed with a limited supply, making the currency scarce and preventing inflation that might arise from an unlimited supply. 

Mining Bitcoin involves miners competing to solve complex mathematical puzzles to verify blocks of transactions in the blockchain network and successful miners are rewarded with Bitcoins. The reward is halved every four years in a process called halving.