How Many Bitcoins Are There? Supply, Mined and Left to Mine

Summary: There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins. More than 20 million have already been mined, after the network passed that milestone in March 2026, which leaves fewer than one million still to come. The last fraction is expected around 2140. Millions of the coins already mined are also thought to be lost for good, so the number actually in use is smaller still.

• The 21 million limit is written into Bitcoin's code and enforced by every node.
• The 20 millionth bitcoin was mined in March 2026, about 17 years after launch.
• Roughly 450 new bitcoins are created per day at the current reward of 3.125 BTC per block.
• Estimates suggest 2.3 to 3.7 million BTC are lost, including Satoshi's untouched coins.

How Many Bitcoins Are There?

Bitcoin's total supply is capped at 21 million coins. That number is not a company policy or a target. It comes from the way new coins are issued, and every node on the network rejects blocks that try to create more than the rules allow.

As of 2026, more than 20 million bitcoins exist. The network crossed that line in March 2026, which means over 95% of all the bitcoin that will ever exist has already been created.

How Many Bitcoins Are Left to Mine?

Fewer than one million bitcoins remain. They will not arrive quickly. It took about 17 years to mine the first 20 million, and it will take more than a century to mine the last million.

The reason is the block reward. Miners receive new bitcoin for each block they add, and that reward is cut in half roughly every four years. It started at 50 BTC in 2009, fell to 25, then 12.5, then 6.25, and has been 3.125 BTC since the April 2024 halving. The next cut is expected in 2028. The guide to how bitcoin halving works covers the full schedule.

How Many Bitcoins Have Been Mined Each Year?

Because each halving slows issuance, the pace has dropped sharply over time:

• The first 10 million BTC were mined in under four years, from 2009 to late 2012.
• Today about 450 BTC are created per day, or around 164,000 a year.
• After the 2028 halving, yearly issuance should fall to roughly 82,000 BTC.
• The final satoshis are expected to be mined around the year 2140.

A satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin, one hundred-millionth of a coin. That is why the cap is less restrictive than it sounds: one bitcoin splits into 100 million pieces.

How Many Bitcoins Are Lost?

The mined total is not the same as the number anyone can actually spend. Coins are lost when private keys or recovery phrases disappear, for example on a thrown-away hard drive or a forgotten early wallet. Research estimates put lost coins somewhere between about 2.3 and 3.7 million BTC, and some put it higher.

The largest dormant stash is usually attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin's creator, who is estimated to have mined around 1.1 million BTC in the early days. Those coins have never moved.

Not every missing coin is gone forever. People who believe an old wallet file sits on a failed drive sometimes try data recovery tools such as EaseUS before writing it off. The better protection is not needing recovery at all: keep a written backup of your recovery phrase and consider a hardware wallet such as Tangem for anything you plan to hold.

Why the 21 Million Cap Matters

A fixed, predictable supply is one of Bitcoin's defining features. Anyone can check the schedule, and it has run as designed since the first block in January 2009. People can argue about what bitcoin is worth, but not about how many there will be.

Changing the cap would require nearly the entire network to agree to run different software. Given how central the limit is to why people use bitcoin, that is widely seen as extremely unlikely.

The Number That Never Changes

There are just over 20 million bitcoins today, fewer than one million still to be mined, and a hard limit of 21 million that has never moved. Lost coins make the real supply even tighter, which is why looking after your keys matters as much as holding the coins themselves. For a safer home for yours, browse Ledger gift cards.