DeutschWhy are there exactly 21 million Bitcoin? What does this mean for supply, demand, and the value of the cryptocurrency? In this article, you will learn why this number is so crucial, what technical principles are behind it, and what newcomers need to know about Bitcoin mining.
📏 the Limitation: why 21 Million?
Bitcoin was deliberately designed by Satoshi Nakamoto as a deflationary currency. Unlike fiat money (such as the euro or US dollar), which can be printed indefinitely by central banks, the amount of Bitcoin is limited from the start.
The fixed upper limit of 21 million BTC is programmed into the Bitcoin protocol. It cannot be changed unless the entire network agrees to a change, which is highly unlikely.
Why is this Important?
- Inflation protection: Due to the limited supply, Bitcoin does not lose value due to “money supply expansion”.
- Trust in scarcity: Investors know that no Bitcoin will be “reprinted”.
- Digital scarcity: As with gold, value is also created through limitation – but purely digitally.
How Bitcoin Mining Works – Explained Simply
New Bitcoins are not created by central banks, but through a process called mining. Computers around the world solve complex mathematical problems to confirm new transactions and add new blocks to the blockchain.
The process:
- Transactions are collected and bundled into a block.
- Miners compete to “validate” this block by solving a cryptographic puzzle.
- The winner receives a reward in the form of newly generated Bitcoin – the so-called block reward.
Initially, this reward was 50 BTC per block, but every 210,000 blocks (approximately every 4 years) it is halved by an event called halving.
📉 Halvings: Fewer and Fewer New Bitcoin
Here lies the core of the 21 million limit: The regular halving continuously reduces the number of new Bitcoins:
- 2009: 50 BTC per block
- 2012: 25 BTC
- 2016: 12.5 BTC
- 2020: 6.25 BTC
- 2024: 3.125 BTC
- 2028: 1.5625 BTC
… and so on.
Through this principle, the total sum asymptotically approaches the 21 million mark – without ever exceeding it exactly. The last fractions of a Bitcoin are expected to be mined in the year 2140.
⛏️ how many Bitcoin are Left?
- Currently (as of August 2025): Approximately 19.7 million BTC are already in circulation.
- Still to be mined: Around 1.3 million BTC.
- Last Bitcoin: In approx. 115 years – greatly delayed by the halving principle.
However, not all of the stock is actually usable: Estimates assume that 3 to 4 million Bitcoin are permanently lost due to forgotten passwords or lost wallets. This significantly reduces the actually available supply.
💡 Advantages of the Fixed Bitcoin Amount
The limitation to 21 million has a massive impact on the value proposition of Bitcoin – especially compared to traditional currencies:
- Transparency: Anyone can check the money supply. There is no arbitrary increase.
- Long-term value stability: Bitcoin is considered a hedge against inflation (“digital gold”).
- Level playing field: No one – not even a state – can “print more Bitcoin”.
- Plannability: Investors and miners know the future supply development.
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💸 Fixed Money Supply as Protection against Inflation
A central problem of many fiat currencies is inflation, i.e. the creeping devaluation of money due to a growing money supply. Central banks such as the ECB or Fed often increase the money supply in times of crisis (“Quantitative Easing”) to finance economic stimulus programs.
This can help in the short term – but in the long term, consumers and savers lose purchasing power. Historically proven: The more money in circulation, the less it is worth.
Bitcoin deliberately sets an example here:
- No arbitrary expansion: The maximum amount is fixed. There is no Bitcoin printing.
- Expected scarcity: With each halving, the inflation rate of Bitcoin automatically decreases.
- Deflationary model: In the long term, Bitcoin can increase in value – simply due to limited supply with increasing demand.
For investors, this offers a clear alternative to fiat currencies, the value of which can be influenced by political decisions. Bitcoin is therefore a tool for preserving value in the digital age – especially in countries with high inflation such as Venezuela, Argentina or Turkey, this advantage is already evident in practice.
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Why not more than 21 Million?
Technically, the limit is based on the formula:
50 BTC × 210,000 blocks × (1 + ½ + ¼ + ⅛ + …) = 21 million BTC
This mathematical series converges towards the magic limit – a well thought-out principle based on scarce resource, plannable emission and fixed logic. The emission of new coins follows a clear, decentrally coordinated roadmap – completely without a central bank.
📈 What Does this Mean for the Bitcoin Price?
The relationship between supply and demand is a basic principle of economics:
- If the supply is fixed (as with Bitcoin) and demand is increasing,
- then the price per unit increases in the long term.
This is exactly what analysts are observing with Bitcoin: More and more institutional investors, ETFs, states and private investors are interested in BTC – while the supply stubbornly remains at 21 million. Scarcity is therefore not a restriction, but a value driver.
🧠 for Beginners: why should I Know this?
Especially for newcomers to the Bitcoin world, the “magic 21 million number” seems like a technical side note. But anyone who deals with crypto in the long term quickly realizes:
- The limitation is a central component of the Bitcoin value.
- It fundamentally distinguishes BTC from other forms of money.
- It is no coincidence, but a cornerstone of the technology.
Anyone who understands the limitation also understands why Bitcoin is so often compared to “digital gold” – scarce, secure, valuable.
🏁 Conclusion: 21 Million as a Promise to the Future
The number may seem mathematical, but it is deeply symbolic: 21 million Bitcoin is a promise of stability, predictability and fairness in the monetary system. No inflation, no central bank, no manipulation – but open, comprehensible mathematics.
In a world where trust in classic monetary systems is dwindling, this is exactly what many investors find to be a strong argument for engaging with Bitcoin.
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