Bitcoin crossed a historic supply milestone on March 9, 2026: at block height 939,999, mining pool Foundry USA produced the block that pushed circulating supply past 20 million BTC. It took 17 years, two months and one week from the genesis block to get here.
By the numbers
- More than 95.24% of the fixed 21 million supply is now in circulation
- Fewer than 1 million BTC remain to be mined
- Those coins will take more than 114 years to issue — the last bitcoin is expected around the year 2140
- Since the April 2024 halving, miners earn 3.125 BTC per block, or about 450 BTC per day
Why the last 5% is different
Bitcoin's issuance halves roughly every four years, so the remaining supply trickles out ever more slowly. The next million coins will take longer to mine than the first 20 million combined. For miners, that means an increasing reliance on transaction fees rather than the block subsidy over time.
The milestone arrived during a fragile market — BTC was still recovering from February's crash — but it revived the scarcity narrative that underpins much of bitcoin's long-term investment case.
