How Long Will BitCoin Mining Be Around For?

Stephen Gornick

legendary

Activity: 2506

Merit: 1010

Quote from: Macil2018 on June 03, 2011, 11:46:22 AM

I appreciate the input, but I'm still wondering, is there a way to know how many coins have been found so far?

All bitcoins issued have been (and ever will be) issued come as the result of mining.

Currently that reward is 50 BTC per block. So the total can be calculated as 50 times the current block number shown by your bitcoin client, or from Block Explorer, for instance:
http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockcount

e.g. the current value is 128,405.
128,405 times 50 = 6,420,250 bitcoins.

[Edit: The block "count" starts at 0 so to get the correct number would need add another 50 for that block as well].

BitMinerN8

hero member

Activity: 626

Merit: 500

Mining since May 2011.

Quote from: Macil2018 on June 03, 2011, 11:57:06 AM

Where it says "Total BTC 6.420 mil." at the top of Bitcoin Market is that what I'm looking at?

Yes.

Macil2018

newbie

Activity: 15

Merit: 0

Where it says "Total BTC 6.420 mil." at the top of Bitcoin Market is that what I'm looking at?

AngelusWebDesign

sr. member

Activity: 392

Merit: 250

http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/

Macil2018

newbie

Activity: 15

Merit: 0

I appreciate the input, but I'm still wondering, is there a way to know how many coins have been found so far?

bcpokey

hero member

Activity: 602

Merit: 500

Mining will be around as long as bitcoin is around (no one knows how long that will be).

Coins are slated to all be found in 2030-something I believe, but for practical purposes all coins will have been found by 2020 (85%). After bitcoin generation slows transaction fees will take over to keep the system running.

Coma

full member

Activity: 140

Merit: 100

Quote from: Macil2018 on June 03, 2011, 09:33:22 AM

My question is how long will Bitcoin mining be around for? How long hypothetically until all the Bitcoins are found? Is there a way to know or check how many have been found already and how many are left? And is it true that once they're all found its not possible to make more? Just some newb questions. I appreciate the help.

AFAIK mining is vital for the whole system, so it should go on pretty much as long as Bitcoin exists. Transactions are confirmed by mining and finding block.
When 21 millions Bitcoins are created, block won't give subsidies anymore, but will still be created.
Miners should support themselves out of fees by then. But who can tell what will happen so many decades ahead?

Genrobo

newbie

Activity: 28

Merit: 0

There will be 21 million bitcoins.
Estimates have the ending of mining being some time after I die, so I think we're good.

Macil2018

newbie

Activity: 15

Merit: 0

My question is how long will Bitcoin mining be around for? How long hypothetically until all the Bitcoins are found? Is there a way to know or check how many have been found already and how many are left? And is it true that once they're all found its not possible to make more? Just some newb questions. I appreciate the help.

Topic: How Long Will BitCoin Mining Be Around For? (Read 9973 times)