Bitcoin has rewarded miners every 10 minutes a Bitcoin block reward. In the beginning of Bitcoin, the first block reward in 2009 was 50 Bitcoins every 10 minutes. Every 4 years, the block reward gets halved in half. In 2012, the first splitting of the block reward started. The block reward went from 50 to 25 Bitcoins. In the following 4 years in 2016, the splitting of the block reward went from 25 to 12.5 which we are currently in right now. In the year 2020, the next splitting will lower the block reward to 6.25. Every 4 years the block reward gets chopped in half all the way to the year 2140. After the last block reward is given out in the year 2140, we will have around 21 million Bitcoins in existence. Here is a list of the remaining splitting of block rewards for all the years.
Year Block Rewards
2009- 50
2012- 25
2016- 12.5* Current Block Reward Every 10 Minutes
2020- 6.25
2024- 3.125
2028- 1.5625
2032- 0.78125
2036- 0.390625
2040- 0.1953125
2044- 0.09765625
2048- 0.04882812
2052- 0.02441406
2056- 0.01220703
2060- 0.00610352
2064- 0.00305176
2068- 0.00152588
2072- 0.00076294
2076- 0.00038147
2080- 0.00019073
2084- 0.00009573
2088- 0.00004768
2092- 0.00002384
2096- 0.00001192
2100- 0.00000596
2104- 0.00000298
2108- 0.00000149
2112- 0.00000075
2116- 0.00000037
2120- 0.00000019
2124- 0.00000009
2128- 0.00000005
2132- 0.00000002
2136- 0.00000001
2140- The End Of Block Rewards
The block rewards will end around the year 2140. With this in mind, this is the approximate block rewards every 4 years. I wonder how much buying power that last Satoshi will garner. During these last years, the miners will be mostly paid from mining fees and almost minimally by block rewards.
My summary is this. It is impossible to figure out how much value you will have in the last years of Bitcoin. It is for future generations to figure out. What we can see is how we started with 50 Bitcoins every 10 minutes starting in 2009 and how it goes to 1 Satoshi during the last years. Amazing feat in thinking and technology. I hope it survives until the end so the world will have a good understanding how this new currency, stock and commodity works in a real world experiment.
