The world’s leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has officially passed a major supply milestone, with more than 20 million BTC now mined as of early March 2026.

The landmark moment occurred around March 9, 2026, at approximately block height 939,999 to 940,000, according to blockchain tracking data. Mining pools such as Foundry USA were among those involved in producing blocks during the historic threshold.

This means over 95 percent of Bitcoin’s total supply has already entered circulation, leaving fewer than one million coins still to be mined out of the cryptocurrency’s hard cap of 21 million BTC.

A 17-Year Journey Since the Genesis Block

Bitcoin’s supply milestone comes just over 17 years after the network began, when its mysterious creator Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first block, known as the genesis block, in January 2009.

From that moment through early 2026, it took roughly 6,267 days for the network to reach the 20 million coin mark. During this period, Bitcoin evolved from a niche experiment among cryptography enthusiasts into a globally recognized digital asset traded across financial markets.

Today, the cryptocurrency is widely referred to as digital gold, a comparison rooted in its limited supply and predictable issuance schedule.

Why the Final Million Will Take Over a Century

Although 95 percent of the supply has already been mined, the remaining coins will take far longer to enter circulation.

This is because Bitcoin uses a built-in supply control mechanism known as the Bitcoin halving. The system reduces the reward miners receive for creating new blocks every 210,000 blocks, or roughly every four years.

Following the most recent halving in 2024, the current mining reward stands at 3.125 BTC per block, producing roughly 450 new bitcoins each day.

Future reductions will continue to slow the rate of new supply:

• Around 2028, the reward will fall to 1.5625 BTC per block
• Subsequent halvings will continue reducing issuance roughly every four years
• The reward gradually approaches zero over about 33 halving cycles

Because of this geometric decline, the final bitcoins will be mined extremely slowly. Current projections indicate the last satoshis will be mined around the year 2140.

A System Designed for Scarcity

Bitcoin’s supply schedule was intentionally designed to create digital scarcity, making it fundamentally different from traditional currencies that can be printed or expanded by central banks.

As block rewards continue shrinking, miners will increasingly depend on transaction fees rather than newly minted coins to sustain operations and secure the network.

Crossing the 20 million mined BTC milestone highlights how far the cryptocurrency has progressed along its long-term issuance curve. With only about 4.76 percent of the supply remaining, the final portion will unfold gradually over more than a century.

For supporters of Bitcoin, the moment serves as a reminder of the asset’s core promise: a transparent, predictable monetary system governed by code rather than policy decisions.