There are 3 million Bitcoins left. Why does that matter?

On Friday, the 18 millionth bitcoin will be mined. There will only be another three million left to dig up. It’s an arbitrary number to celebrate, but Bitcoin diehards are celebrating nonetheless—like Anthony Pompliano, who’s trying to get #3MillionLeft trending on Twitter. 

There are a host of reasons why increasing scarcity gives Bitcoin believers happy tingles. Central to this is the thesis of Bitcoin itself—the notion of “artificial scarcity.” 

Unlike state-backed, “fiat” currencies, Bitcoin was hardwired by its inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, to be immune to inflation. Free printing to make up for falling interest rates is impossible. The limit is hard-capped at 21 million. Barring an update to the algorithm, which would have to be agreed upon by people with powerful interests against doing so, that will never happen. 

The halvening approaches

The first million bitcoins, by some estimations, were mostly mined by Satoshi, who would now be worth around $7.2…