According to Blockchain.com, 17,850,000th Bitcoin was released this Thursday. As a result, there are still 3.15 million Bitcoins left to be produced by miners in the next 120 years, until 2140.
Thus, only 17,850,000 people can now own whole Bitcoin. In fact, however, some Bitcoin is considered lost forever, making the amount of available cryptocurrency much lower. Thus, in 2017, Chainalysis estimated that the number of lost Bitcoins could reach 4 million.
The restriction on bitcoin emissions set out in the protocol by the creator of Satoshi Nakamoto's cryptocurrency is generally considered a positive factor, as it leads to a shortage of bitcoins.
"The coins need to be distributed from the beginning, and the constant production ratio seems to be the right formula," Nakamoto wrote in a 2008 newsletter.
In May 2020, there will be another halving of Bitcoin or a reduction of the award for adding blocks to its blockchain from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. Until then, miners will receive an average of 1,800 BTC per day for their work on blockchain addition and security.