The last full Bitcoin could be mined sometime in the 2090s. Only fractions 
will follow until roughly 2140, when the final satoshi is expected to be 
produced. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Break 5-Month Streak With 2nd 
Consecutive Week Of Inflows That endpoint moved one step closer Sunday when 
miners pulled the 20 millionth coin from the network — exactly 17 years, two 
months, and one week after the first block was mined in January 2009. A Pool 
Called Foundry USA Did The Work The Foundry USA mining pool mined that coin at 
block height 939,999, collecting a reward of 3.125 BTC. That figure reflects 
the current payout level set by the April 2024 halving, which cut daily 
network production from 900 BTC to roughly 450 BTC. The 20 million mark means 
95.24% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist is now out in the world. For every 
20 coins already mined, just one remains to be created. The remaining 1 
million will take about 114 years to fully issue. Not All 20 Million Coins Are 
Accessible According to blockchain analytics firms River Financial and 
Chainalysis, between 2.3 million and 3.7 million BTC are gone permanently — 
lost to forgotten passwords, misplaced private keys, and early holders who 
never passed on wallet access. Recent data has estimated about 1.8 million 
coins were lost during Bitcoin&#8217;s earliest years, when the asset had little 
value and storage infrastructure was unreliable. Another 230 BTC is locked 
forever due to the original genesis block and early outputs written with 
scripts that cannot be spent. The practical supply available to buy, sell, or 
hold sits well below 20 million. Miners Face A Long-Term Revenue Problem The 
same halving schedule that caps Bitcoin&#8217;s supply also shrinks miner income 
over time. Daily issuance will fall below 30 BTC by the 2040s and below 2 BTC 
per day by the 2060s. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Valuation Model Hints At 
$500K Cycle Average, Analyst Says Once subsidies approach zero, transaction 
fees become the only compensation miners receive for securing the network. 
Whether those fees can sustain robust protection remains unanswered. The 
milestone arrived while Bitcoin traded around $69,282, down nearly 21% year- 
to-date. Despite pressure from macroeconomic uncertainty and Middle East 
conflict, it gained about 3.44% over the past week. The next halving is 
scheduled for April 11, 2028, cutting the block reward from 3.125 BTC to 
1.5625 BTC. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin Crosses 20 Million Coins Mined — And Only 1 In 20 Remains

A couple in western Paris was held hostage and forced to transfer roughly 
€900,000 ($980,000) in Bitcoin after three criminals posing as police officers 
broke into their home in what appears to be the latest crypto “wrench attack.” 
The attack…

Crypto wrench attacks rise as French couple robbed of $1M in Bitcoin at knifepoint

Geopolitical tensions and oil supply uncertainties heighten market volatility, 
impacting risk assets and driving crypto investors towards stablecoins.
The post Oil shock rattles risk appetite as Iran-China crude pipeline stays 
open appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Oil shock rattles risk appetite as Iran-China crude pipeline stays open

Ripple has announced plans to secure an Australian financial services license 
by acquiring a local payments firm in the country. Ripple said it will obtain 
the AFSL license through the acquisition of BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd, a 
payments company…

Ripple targets Australian financial services license with latest acquisition

Ripple&#8217;s acquisition of BC Payments could enhance cross-border payment 
efficiency and regulatory compliance, boosting its APAC market presence.
The post Ripple to acquire BC Payments to accelerate growth in APAC region 
appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Cryptocurrency price in NZD