Now the limited supply of bitcoins has again become even more limited. On April 26, according to Blockchain.info, 17 millionth bitcoin was produced. This was another milestone for the world's first crypto currency, the stock of which, according to the protocol, is limited to 21 million coins. Recall that the 16-millionth bitcoin was namayinen in mid-2016.

The bitcoin code ensures that only a certain number of new coins are entered into the economy at certain intervals of time. Miners who manage the equipment necessary to track bitcoin transactions are rewarded with these scarce coins every time they add a new record of transactions to the system (blockchain![fac6b95277b5cc5d5d646802396d2cb1.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWxcMUH41YZYV3TeGsBS32h7j6UcKBWx5mpZ7g5m37onk/fac6b95277b5cc5d5d646802396d2cb1.png)).

Nevertheless, this process has many capabilities for change.

While it is difficult to predict when an 18-millionth bitcoin will be produced, it is impossible even to imagine who it will get to, because of the many short-term deviations and features of the code that support the synchronization of the software. However, there is still a relative predictability. Each bitcoin-block generates 12.5 bitcoins, and given the fact that the blocks are formed approximately every ten minutes, about 1800 new coins appear on the light daily.

80% of all bitcoins that can ever be created are already mined. In other words, only 1/5 of the total stock of coins was left to the miners.

Bitcoin is not produced by the central bank, but is created by the network as a result of the work on the preservation and protection of the detachment. When the miner finds a valid hash of recent transactions as a result of solving bitcoin protocol tasks, the system rewards it with a coin.

In our time, the rewards for mining are not so generous, and not enough coins are deducted from the remaining stock compared to what was before.

Remuneration methods have changed over time. For example, when Satoshi Nakamoto launched the first unit on January 3, 2009, he created the first 50 coins. This amount of reward for the miners was kept up to 209,999 units, when the first reduction of rewards took place.

This was not a surprise. According to the bitcoin protocol, with the advent of every 210,000 units, the network reduces the reward for mining by 50%. After the most recent "halving" in July 2016, the reward for the block is 12.5 bitcoins.

This means that, although only 4 million bitcoins are left for mining, the last bitcoin will be produced very soon. As "split in half," the growth of the coin stock, like inflation, slows down.

Assuming that the bitcoin protocol will not change and new blocks will still appear every ten minutes, and the halving schedule and the final limit of bitcoins (21 million) will also remain at the same level, one can expect that the last bitcoin will not be mined before May 2140.

When all the coins (21 million) will see the light, the miners will be rewarded solely by the commissions they are collecting at the present time.