In December 2021, Bitcoin’s market supply reached 90%. With a supply of 21 million, by all accounting, 18.89 million have already been mined and in circulation. This extraordinary milestone was reached 12 years after the first block was introduced and sold in January 2009.
Bitcoin is one cryptocurrency that has a limited supply because its inventor capped it at 21 million. Its scarcity was intended to control inflation due to unlimited supplies. Bitcoin can only be bought by people who can solve math puzzles to buy bitcoin blocks. After successful completion of transactions on the crypto network, miners are awarded blocks.
Here are the implications for bitcoin investors and the overall blockchain network.
Five things to watch for this week related to Bitcoin:
1. Bitcoin prices crashed and are at their lowest – under $37,000. Experts expect that it will rise, in the near future.
2. There is speculation that after the 21 million supply has been exhausted, Bitcoin miners will depend on transaction fees. They won’t have access to block rewards.
3. Bitcoin is not just a currency but a network that processes transactions. Its distributed framework technology can be used for more than mining a cryptocurrency asset.
4. Because of the inverse relationship between supply and demand, Bitcoin prices will go up.
5. Bitcoin’s current supply will last at least another 100 years and then become a scarce asset.
According to one analytics firm, around 3.7 million bitcoins have been lost for reasons like loss of access keys, owner deaths, and so on. The bitcoin network will transition to use as a distributed framework to buy other assets.
