Bitcoin is entering a new era: times of difficult mining and the high possibility of growth in value. That is all due to one issue. There have been mined 8/10 out of all possible bitcoins.
One of the most known bitcoin-related features is the digital scarcity, implemented by Satoshi Nakamoto’s protocol. There will be produced only 21 million bitcoins – end of story. January 13 is a landmark for BTC as only 20% of the currency is left to be produced. And this is going to be the toughest 20%, mined in the frames of bitcoin’s history.
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Satoshi’s Progress
As News.Bitcoin.com reports, there is a probability that the creator of bitcoin resolved the Byzantine General’s problem, which is one of the most rigid computational equalizations. Such problem means that nets are simple to attack due to deficiencies. At the same time, protocols cannot affirm anything because of the insolubility in the space of a net.
Thanks to Satoshi (his proof-of-work), it is not easy to tread the network as economic measure turns such actions into pricey ones. Moreover, that would take too much time. The creator of bitcoin managed to establish goods which no one can replicate or spend two times or more. Meanwhile, digital scarcity marked historical finite supply of BTC.
Bitcoin’s Supply to Come to an End
Currently, according to the CoinMarketCap.com, there are 16,803,887 BTC on the market. Two days ago there were exactly 16,800,000 mined units of bitcoin, which make up 80% of total bitcoin supply which will ever be mined. The scope of 21 million BTC was presented nine years ago as Nakamoto implemented the codebase and BTC protocol.
Sure enough, pyrrhonists suggest it might be possible to raise the supply cap. For example, by attacking BTC network to control the largest part of its mining power, called hash rate or hash power. Nevertheless, no one has ever managed to enlarge it, so from now, there are only 4.2 million units of BTC left to be mined.
Miners Should Brace For Tough Times
Therefore, it will be getting more complicated to mine bitcoins. There is even a belief that because of this bitcoin will become more sumptuous as demand will be higher and resources will be limited.
Furthermore, approximately in two years, the premiums for miners will dimidiate. They will be acquiring 6.25 bitcoins instead of 12.5 bitcoins which they get today for each block that they mine. The reason is Nakamoto’s hash power. That is why it will be getting more difficult to produce every coin and miners will have to move forward in order to survive.
Like No One Else
Most of other over one thousand virtual coins on the market have huge supplies, compared to billions, and there are more to be mined. They use less credible mechanisms, for instance, Proof-of-Stake. However, no other will be able to substitute bitcoin in value due to its scarcity. Bitcoin cannot be replicated just like regular commodities that we use nowadays. Limited to 21 million units, bitcoin will create more demand just as rare jewels do as the more confined the product is, the more humans desire it.
Chart Source: blockchain.info
