A milestone has been reached in Bitcoin's supply schedule - 94% of the total Bitcoin supply has now been issued through mining. Out of a hard-capped total of 21 million BTC, over 19.74 million have been mined so far.
Bitcoin's supply is issued through mining, where computers validate transactions and receive Bitcoin as a reward. The initial mining subsidy was 50 BTC per block, which halves every 210,000 blocks or roughly every 4 years.
This event called the Bitcoin halving, ensures a predictable, diminishing inflation rate as the supply grows. There have been three halvings, cutting the subsidy from 50 to 25 to 12.5 to the current 6.25 BTC.
The halvings combined with increasing difficulty and competition mean fewer and fewer new bitcoin enters circulation over time. Out of the maximum 21 million BTC, over 94% or 19,741,655 BTC have been mined since Bitcoin's launch in 2009.
That leaves only around 1.26 million BTC to be issued. With the current 6.25 BTC block reward, the remaining supply will take over 100 more years to fully mint. Experts estimate 99.9% of all bitcoin will be mined by 2140, with miners mostly earning fees rather than subsidies by then.
This controlled supply schedule is a key aspect of Bitcoin's value proposition. As the issuance slows and demand grows, Bitcoin is designed to become scarcer over time - an attractive attribute for investors facing unlimited fiat money printing and currency debasement.