The number of bitcoins is not unlimited. Satoshi Nakamoto created it as so-called digital gold. The supply of the token is limited – there are only 21 million bitcoins. According to date, about 90% of the total amount has been mined.
But is it possible to mine all the bitcoins?
According to experts’ calculations, the number of issued bitcoins will never reach 21 million. All because the Bitcoin network uses so-called bitwise shift operators. They round some decimals to the nearest whole number. So, even if you don’t take into account the bitcoins locked in lost wallets, the limit will be limited to 20,999,999 bitcoins.
In addition, according to research by analytical company Chainalysis as of June 2020, up to 20% of issued bitcoins may be irretrievably lost.