Bitcoin Hits 20 Million Mark, Enters Final Stretch

Bitcoin has reached another milestone in its scarcity model, with over 20 million coins now mined. This represents more than 95% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist, leaving fewer than 1 million coins to be mined over the next century-plus thanks to the protocol's built-in halving mechanism.

The 20th million coin was minted on approximately March 9 by the Foundry USA mining pool, marking a significant milestone for the network. It took less than two decades to produce 95% of all Bitcoin, and the final 5% will take until approximately 2140 to fully mine.

As more coins are mined, the balance between block rewards and transaction fees shifts in favor of the latter. Miners currently earn revenue from both sources, but with each successive halving, they will increasingly rely on transaction fees to justify their energy and hardware costs.