21 Million

There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin.

Not approximately 21 million. Not up to 21 million depending on economic conditions. Exactly 21 million — set in the code on day one, enforced by the network ever since.

To understand why this matters, go back to Phase 1. Every problem with modern money traced back to the same root: someone has the power to create more. Governments inflate currencies to pay debts. Banks multiply deposits into loans. Central banks print money to stimulate economies. The supply of money is always, ultimately, a political decision.

Bitcoin removes that decision entirely.

No government can decide to print more Bitcoin to fund a war. No central bank can expand the supply to stimulate growth. No company can dilute your holdings by issuing more coins. The 21 million cap is enforced not by a promise — but by mathematics and the agreement of thousands of independent computers that would reject any attempt to change it.

Right now, approximately 19.7 million Bitcoin exist. The remaining coins are released slowly, through a process called mining, at a rate that decreases over time. The last Bitcoin will be mined around the year 2140.

This is the opposite of every currency you’ve ever used. The dollar supply has grown every single year since 1971. Bitcoin’s supply growth slows over time and eventually stops completely.

Scarcity, guaranteed not by a government promise but by code that nobody controls.

That is a genuinely new thing in the history of money.

Tomorrow: what is a sat — and why you don’t need to buy a whole Bitcoin.

— The Daily Bit