The 18 millionth Bitcoin will be mined this week, but the remaining 3 million will take another 120 years

Bitcoin miners are set to mine the 18 millionth bitcoin this week, leaving just 3 million left to be released before mining ceases in the distant year 2140.

It will take 120 years to mine 3 million bitcoins

Data from monitoring resource Blockchain confirms that as of October 14, the total supply of Bitcoin has reached 17.92 million.

Based on block calculations, the remaining supply before the 18 millionth bitcoin should enter circulation before the start of next week.

Analyst Rhythm noted on social media on Monday:

“It will take about 120 years to mine the remaining 14.3% or about 3 million bitcoins.”

Source: blockchain.info

The competition among miners for Bitcoin rewards has never been so intense, and their hash rate (computing power) has hit record highs this year.

Bitcoin miners create new bitcoins every time they successfully verify a block of transactions, which happens about every ten minutes. Every four years, the block reward they receive is cut in half, meaning that it takes more work to "mint" the same amount of new bitcoins.

So while 85% (18 million) of the total 21 million BTC supply since 2009 is about to enter the market, the remaining 15% will take much longer.

As previously reported, even after the end of the Bitcoin mining phase (all 21 million Bitcoins are mined), it is unlikely that more than 75% of the Bitcoins will actually be in circulation, because some of them have become "dead coins" for various reasons (lost private keys, etc.) and can never be used again. According to different calculation methods, researchers believe that these lost coins account for about 20% of the supply.

Therefore, at most only 15 million people can own a complete Bitcoin. Given the existence of Bitcoin whales, the number of users who can own 1 Bitcoin in the future will be very small.

Hodlers are hoarding large amounts of Bitcoin

While the 18 million milestone is not considered a technical achievement for the bitcoin network, industry entities are excited about it, with storage startup Luno describing it as an “exciting week.”

Meanwhile, the composition of Bitcoin holders is changing. Data this week showed that addresses with balances of more than 1,000 BTC have become more numerous in 2019. Previously, due to the market downturn, investors showed less interest, and the trajectory of address balances this year has changed from the flat level that has remained for the past five years.

Prior to the Mt. Gox collapse in early 2014, wallet holders increased their balances to over 1,000 BTC at a similar rate.

Commentators said at the time that holders were motivated to hoard Bitcoin out of technical curiosity. Given the current price of BTC/USD, financial incentives have fueled the activity of holders hoarding Bitcoin in 2019.