The 17 Millionth Bitcoin Is About to Be Mined: What It Means and Why It Matters
Bitcoin's limited supply just got a bit more limited.
Earlier today, the 17 millionth bitcoin was mined, data from Blockchain.info shows, a development that marks yet another milestone for the world's first cryptocurrency. That's because as per bitcoin's current rules, only 21 million bitcoin can ever be created.
Stepping back, the milestone, the first million-bitcoin marker to be crossed since mid-2016, is perhaps noteworthy as yet another reminder of the technology's core computer science achievement -– digital scarcity. In short, bitcoin's code, since cloned and adapted by scores of other upstart cryptocurrencies, ensures that only a set number of new bitcoins are introduced to its economy at intervals.
For example, sought to stress that another way to interpret the result is that 80 percent of all the bitcoin that will be ever created have now been mined. In other words, only about one-fifth of the eventual supply remains for miners and future buyers.
Others see the milestone as one that's ripe for appreciation of the technology and its achievements.
Article taken from CoinDesk