Around 450 bitcoins are created each day. That comes from the current block reward of 3.125 BTC multiplied by roughly 144 blocks a day. A built-in rule called halving cuts this number in half about every four years.
Where new bitcoins come from
Bitcoin has no central bank. New supply enters the system through mining: miners race to solve a cryptographic puzzle with specialized hardware, and the first one to find a valid solution broadcasts the next block to the network. In return, the protocol grants a block reward made of newly created bitcoin. This reward is the only mechanism that creates new coins.
Blocks arrive about every 10 minutes. A day contains 1,440 minutes, which works out to roughly 144 blocks. Multiply 144 by the reward per block and you get the day's issuance. The actual block count drifts, so the daily total is never exact.
New issuance does not run forever. The protocol caps total supply at 21 million coins. Once every coin has been mined, block rewards drop to zero and miners will earn transaction fees alone.
A halving timeline: how daily issuance shrank
Halving is a fixed rule inside the protocol. Every 210,000 blocks, or roughly four years, the block reward is cut in half. Four halvings have already happened.
| Period | Reward per block | New coins per day (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 2009–2012 | 50 BTC | 7,200 |
| 2012–2016 | 25 BTC | 3,600 |
| 2016–2020 | 12.5 BTC | 1,800 |
| 2020–2024 | 6.25 BTC | 900 |
| 2024–2028 | 3.125 BTC | 450 |
The chain started in January 2009, when Satoshi Nakamoto mined the genesis block. In that first era, each block paid 50 bitcoin. Halvings followed in 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024, pushing daily issuance from 7,200 down to 450 — one sixteenth of the original pace.
Why the supply schedule was designed to shrink
The design goes back to the 2008 whitepaper, "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," which described electronic cash that works without a trusted third party. Capping the total supply and slowing new issuance over time is central to that idea. Generous early rewards gave miners a reason to join when the network was small; later halvings keep the inflation rate falling instead of letting it run away.
People often call bitcoin deflationary. In strict terms, that label is misleading until the 21 million cap is reached. Supply is still growing, though far more slowly than it did in the early years, and each halving slows it further.
Why the daily figure is not exactly 450
The ten-minute block time is an average, not a guarantee. A difficulty adjustment every two weeks or so re-aims the network at that cadence, but any single day can still produce a few more or fewer blocks. The real daily output can sit several dozen coins above or below 450. To check the exact number, open any block explorer and look at the block height for that day.
If you want to verify this yourself, pick a block height, note the reward at that height, and count how many blocks were added over the next 24 hours. The result is the day's actual new supply.
FAQ
Do miners get half the reward right after a halving?
Yes. The halving triggers automatically when the block height reaches a multiple of 210,000; no miner vote or manual step is required. From that block onward, the reward is exactly half of what it used to be.
Who ends up with the new bitcoin created each day?
The miner who publishes the winning block keeps it. Because miners typically sell most of their reward to cover electricity and hardware costs, daily issuance becomes a steady source of sell pressure in the market.
Will new bitcoin still appear after the 21 million cap is reached?
No. Block rewards fall to zero and supply freezes. Miners will depend on transaction fees, and the relevant question shifts from daily issuance to daily fee revenue.
What will daily issuance be after the next halving?
The next halving is expected around 2028. The reward will drop to 1.5625 BTC per block, or roughly 225 bitcoin per day. Each later halving cuts that figure again.
Is daily issuance the same as the inflation rate?
No. Issuance is an absolute number of new coins, while the inflation rate divides that number by total circulating supply. As the total grows and issuance shrinks, the inflation rate falls faster than the daily figure does.
To track the creation rate yourself, you need two inputs: the current block reward and the day's actual block count. The first is fixed by the halving schedule, the second is visible on any block explorer. Multiply them and you have the true daily supply.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not investment, financial, or legal advice. Crypto assets are highly volatile and you could lose your entire investment. Do your own research and decide carefully.