RATE Group | The 17 Millionth Bitcoin Is About to Be Mined: What It Means and Why It Matters
24397
post-template-default,single,single-post,postid-24397,single-format-standard,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,qode_grid_1300,side_area_uncovered_from_content,footer_responsive_adv,qode-content-sidebar-responsive,qode-child-theme-ver-1.0.0,qode-theme-ver-13.3,qode-theme-bridge,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-7.9,vc_responsive
 

The 17 Millionth Bitcoin Is About to Be Mined: What It Means and Why It Matters

The 17 Millionth Bitcoin Is About to Be Mined: What It Means and Why It Matters

[ad_1]

Bitcoin’s limited supply is about to get a bit more limited.

Barring an unforeseen event, the 17 millionth bitcoin is likely to be mined in the coming days, a development that would mark 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 created and enabled by shared software.

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. Miners, or those who operate the hardware necessary to track bitcoin’s transaction set, are rewarded with this scarce data every time they add new entries to the official record.

Still, there’s a lot of variability…

[ad_2]

Article Source