Bitcoin’s circulating supply has crossed 20 million BTC, reaching 95.24% of the protocol’s fixed 21 million cap. As of March 9, data platforms including CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko showed the supply at roughly 20,000,003 BTC. Methodologies differ slightly across trackers, but all had moved beyond the same threshold.
The first 20 million took about 17 years, the remainder will take far longer
Since the genesis block in January 2009, Bitcoin has taken about 17 years to mine its first 20 million coins. The remaining supply is about 999,997 BTC. That last portion will arrive much more slowly because the block subsidy is cut in half every four years. CoinDesk estimated that the final whole bitcoin could be mined in the 2090s, while the final satoshi, equal to 0.00000001 BTC, is expected around 2140. After that point, miners would rely entirely on transaction fees.
The issuance curve has never been linear. Bitcoin reached 50% of total supply by November 2012, only about three and a half years after launch. The next 25% took another four years. The final sub-5% stretch is expected to span more than six halving cycles and extend well into the next century.
Daily issuance has fallen to roughly 400 to 450 BTC
Following the fourth halving in April 2024, the reward per block dropped from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. New issuance across the network now stands at roughly 400 to 450 BTC per day. Data cited from AMBCrypto put Bitcoin’s annualized inflation rate at below 1%. CoinDesk also projected that 99% of total Bitcoin supply will be mined by January 2035, leaving the final 1% to be released over a very long tail.
The source also compared Bitcoin with gold. Gold’s annual production is estimated at about 1.5% of existing stock, which means Bitcoin’s current issuance rate has already fallen below that level.
Effective tradable supply may be much lower than 20 million
Crossing 20 million mined coins does not mean 20 million are actually available to the market. BeInCrypto, citing research from Chainalysis and River Financial, said around 2.3 million to 3.7 million BTC may already be permanently inaccessible because of lost private keys, damaged hard drives, or estates that were never transferred. On that basis, effective supply may be only 16 million to 17.7 million BTC.
CryptoTimes also cited on-chain data showing that about 61% of Bitcoin has not moved for more than a year, while exchange balances have fallen to 2.4 million BTC. That points to tighter market liquidity than the headline supply figure suggests.
Institutional flows and miner economics are both in focus
The milestone arrived as institutional demand was also picking up. A market report said U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $1.45 billion in net inflows over five trading days in early March. The number of “shark” addresses holding 100 to 1,000 BTC climbed to nearly 17,970 over the same period. Grayscale, in its 2026 institutional outlook report, highlighted the milestone and pointed to Bitcoin’s transparent, predictable, and finite supply model.
For miners, the shrinking issuance schedule is also changing the revenue mix. The current block reward stands at 3.125 BTC. Based on the halving timetable cited in the source, daily new issuance is projected to fall below 30 BTC in the 2040s and below 2 BTC in the 2060s. BeInCrypto said miners will depend increasingly on transaction fees rather than block subsidies over the long run.