On Monday, March 9, 2026, Bitcoin officially reached the historic milestone of 20 million BTC mined.
This event marks a critical point in the monetary policy of the protocol:
Issued Supply: With this achievement, 95.23% of the total supply of 21 million coins has already been issued.
Milestone Block: The mark was crossed after the mining of block 940,000 approximately at 09:40 AM (Venezuela time).
Note: Some technical reports suggest that, due to "destroyed" or unspendable coins in the early blocks (like the 50 BTC from the genesis block), the actual circulation threshold may have shifted slightly towards March 10.
The Last Million: While it took just over 17 years to mine the first 20 million, the remaining million will take about 114 years to complete due to halving cycles. It is estimated that the last satoshi will be issued in the year 2140.
Programmed Scarcity: Currently, the block reward is 3.125 BTC (effective since the 2024 halving). This figure will be reduced to 1.5625 BTC in the next halving scheduled for 2028.
The next halving of 2028 (estimated for March 26) represents a structural challenge for miner profitability, as the block reward will be reduced from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC. As we enter the "last million" phase, the economic dynamics of the network will undergo the following changes:
Margin Compression and Survival: The instant 50% reduction in new BTC issuance forces miners to rely on greater operational efficiency. Only those with access to ultra-low electricity costs (ideally less than $0.06 per kWh) and state-of-the-art ASIC hardware will be able to maintain positive margins.
Transition to a Commission Economy: With each halving, the "block subsidy" loses weight against transaction fees. By 2028, profitability will increasingly depend on network congestion and demand for block space (driven by innovations such as Ordinals or Layer 2 protocols).
Difficulty Adjustment and Hashrate: Historically, if the price of Bitcoin does not compensate for the drop in reward, less efficient miners shut down their machines, causing a temporary drop in hashrate. This triggers a downward difficulty adjustment (every 2,016 blocks), which eventually stabilizes profitability for the miners who remain connected.
Industry Consolidation: Greater professionalization and consolidation are expected, where large publicly traded mining companies will absorb small operators due to their greater capital capacity to renew mining fleets.
Price Expectation: Many miners operate under the historical premise that halving acts as a bullish catalyst due to increased scarcity, which could elevate the value of their BTC inventories and offset the lower nominal issuance.
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