Bitcoin has a built-in limit: exactly 21 million coins, making it a currency with a limited supply, similar to gold. New bitcoins are created through a process called mining, where miners (computers in the network) receive rewards for verifying transactions and adding them to the blockchain.
However, these rewards are halved every four years, which means fewer and fewer new bitcoins enter circulation. As of September 2025, about 93-94% of all bitcoins have already been mined, that's over 19.6 million, with around 1.4 million left to mine.
The last bitcoin will be mined around the year 2140, when the rewards drop completely to zero. After that, no new coins will be created, and the total supply will remain at 21 million (minus those that have been lost or destroyed, estimated at several million).
Key Changes and Potential Scenarios
🛡️ Network Security
The biggest question is whether transaction fees alone will be enough to keep the network secure.
Optimistic Scenario: Bitcoin's value will be high enough, and the number of transactions so large, that the fee market will provide miners with sufficient revenue to protect the network from attacks (e.g., a 51% attack).
Pessimistic Scenario: Low fees could lead to a drop in computing power (hashrate), which could theoretically make the network more vulnerable to attacks.
📈 Impact on Price and Bitcoin's Role
The end of mining will permanently cement Bitcoin's position as an asset with an absolutely limited supply, strengthening the "digital gold" narrative.
Deflationary Pressure: The lack of new supply, combined with permanently lost coins (e.g., through the loss of private keys), will make Bitcoin a deflationary asset. According to the basic laws of economics, if demand for such an asset grows or remains constant, its price should rise in the long term.
What will happen to the Bitcoin network?
Miners and network maintenance: Today, miners earn mainly from rewards for new blocks (currently 3.125 BTC per block, after the halving in 2024). After 2140, those rewards will disappear, and their only income will come from transaction fees paid by users.
The network will continue to operate, but miners will need higher fees to make it worthwhile to maintain their equipment and electricity. If fees are too low, some might quit, reducing the network's power and potentially exposing it to attacks (for example, one where someone takes over more than half of the computing power).
Transactions and users: Transactions will still be verified and added to the blockchain, but fees might increase to incentivize miners. This means Bitcoin could become better suited for large transactions, while small payments might shift to additional solutions like the Lightning Network, which allow for faster and cheaper operations.
Impact on value: Without new bitcoins, the currency will become even rarer, which could raise its price in the long term, assuming demand doesn't drop. However, it all depends on how people use it, legal regulations, and competition from other cryptocurrencies. Some say the price will rise, while others worry about issues with miner motivation and security.
Summary:
In summary: Bitcoin will not stop working even when the last bitcoin is mined. It will simply enter a phase where the number of coins is fixed, and everything will revolve around fees and everyday usage, like in a gold-based system. This is an intentional design to avoid inflation.
