How Many Bitcoins Are There in the World in 2023?

The recent market crash which shed trillions of dollars out of the crypto market has turned attention back to Bitcoin again.

This happened at a rather bad time as the crypto gold is already nearing hitting its maximum circulating supply.

But before worrying more about the future of BTC, let us dig a little deeper into its past performance.

In this article, you will find out how many Bitcoins are there in 2023.

How Many Bitcoins Are There in the World in 2023?

According to the data, the current circulating supply of BTC is already at 19.1 million.

This is less than two million away from reaching its maximum supply of 21 million. 

Despite that the crypto gold is nearing its rarity, meaning that reaching a coin’s maximum supply will bring price inflation the more it becomes rare, its price tumbled.

BTC has shed more than 70% from its all-time high close to $70,000 and now trades at the $19,000 level.

It currently holds a market capitalization of $365 billion, down from its all-time high of $3 trillion hits in late 2021.

History of Bitcoin’s Circulating Supply

Bitcoin started with just above a million supply 13 years ago. Today, the token already has 19 million tokens minted and growing.

Take a look at the history of BTC’s circulating supply from 2009 to 2022.

• 2009 – 1.30 million BTC in circulation during its launch year
• 2010 – 1.87 million BTC in circulation
• 2011 – 5.26 million BTC in circulation
• 2012 – 8.24 million BTC in circulation
• 2013 – 10.71 million BTC in circulation
• 2014 – 12.34 million BTC in circulation
• 2015 – 13.78 million BTC in circulation
• 2016 – 15.15 million BTC in circulation
• 2017 – 16.40 million BTC in circulation
• 2018 – 16.83 million BTC in circulation
• 2019 – 17.51 million BTC in circulation
• 2020 – 18.19 million BTC in circulation
• 2021 – 18.61 million BTC in circulation
• 2022 – 19.08 million BTC in circulation

Bitcoin Halving

As can be seen from the data above, the addition of Bitcoin’s circulating supply lessens year after year.

From 2010 to 2011, almost four billion newly-minted BTC entered circulation. 

However, only a couple of pieces entered from 2020 to 2021.

This is all because of Bitcoin halving, or the process when BTC mining rewards are lessened to half.

It happens every four years, or when 210,000 new blocks have already been mined.

BTC started with a 50 BTC reward back in 2009. As of the latest halving it 2020, the reward has now come all the way down to 6.25 BTC per block mined. 

Bitcoin’s Maximum Supply Will Be Reached in 2040

Bitcoin halving increases the rarity of the crypto gold and inflates the price by the reduction of the amount of new BTC in circulation, despite that the demand for it increases.

It is all because of this process that its 21 million supplies will not be minted until the next 16 years, or in 2040. 

Circulating Supplies of Bitcoin and Altcoins

Other than Bitcoins, there are also crypto tokens that do the same job.

These are called “altcoins” or “alternative coins,” which is a term used to describe all the tokens other than BTC.

Below is a list of the top 10 cryptocurrencies’ total circulating supplies as per coinmarketcap’s official website, with the inclusion of Bitcoin’s data.

1. Bitcoin – 19.08 million tokens in circulation 
2. Ethereum – 121.37 million tokens in circulation
3. Tether – 66 billion tokens in circulation 
4. USD Coin – 55 billion tokens in circulation
5. BNB – 163 million tokens in circulation
6. Binance USD – 17 billion tokens in circulation
7. Cardano – 33 million tokens in circulation
8. XRP – 48 billion tokens in circulation
9. Solana – 343 million tokens in circulation
10. Dogecoin – 132 billion tokens in circulation

Dogecoin is the only meme coin that entered the list of the ten biggest cryptocurrencies in the world.

The token has no maximum supply and has minted 132 billion tokens so far.

Biggest Bitcoin Mining Farms Globally 

Credits: unsplash.com

Here are the biggest Bitcoin mining farms around the world and their respective hash rates.

A hash rate simply measures how many times the BTC network, using the proof-of-work method, attempts to or completes calculations every second.

• Mining farm in Dalian, China – mines an average of 700 BTC per month, with a hash rate of 360,000
• Genesis Mining Farm in Reykjavik, Iceland – a hash rate of 1,000 GH
• Mining farm in Moscow, Russia – a hash rate of 38 PH
• GigaWatt, Washington, United States – a hash rate of 1.3 PH

• Bitcoin’s Price History

Despite that Bitcoin’s price retraced by thousands of bucks over the past months, it is still far off from reaching where it was when it started. 

In 2009, BTC started at $0, which means it did not have any value during that time. This changed the following year when it started trading at $0.0008 during the middle of that year.

Here is Bitcoin’s price history from 2009 to the present:

• 2009 – $0 per token
• 2010 – $0.0008 per token
• 2011 – $1 per token
• 2012 – $30 per token
• 2013 – $1,100 per token. Starting from $13 apiece in 2013, the crypto gold recorded a massive annual gain of 6000% which sent its price above $1,000 for the first time
• 2014 – $700 per token
• 2015 – $313 per token
• 2016 – $434 per token
• 2017 – $20,000 per token
• 2018 – $13,000 per token
• 2019 – $3,000 per token
• 2020 – $11,000 per token
• 2021 – $50,000 per token
• 2022 (current price) – $19,000 per token

Global Companies and their BTC Holdings

The world’s biggest companies the likes of MicroStrategy and Tesla have piled up on their BTC holdings over the past years.

Here are some of the companies holding a significant number of Bitcoins in their portfolios.

• MicroStrategy – holds 129,000 BTC tokens
• Tesla – holds 48,000 BTC tokens
• Galaxy Digital Holdings – holds 16,400 BTC tokens
• Square Inc – holds 8,000 BTC tokens 
• Marathon Patent Group – holds 4,800 BTC tokens
• Hut 8 Mining Corporation – holds 4,700 BTC tokens
• Coinbase – holds 4,400 BTC tokens

Conclusion

Bitcoin has had its own ups and downs since changing the global monetary landscape upon its entrance in 2009.

Despite falling from grace this year, the token is still considered among the most successful inventions in the 21st century, having introduced an unregulated, decentralized platform where third-party players are non-existent.

Despite the recent setbacks and curbs imposed by some governments on the activity, Bitcoin mining continues and accelerates day after day.

However, concerns about its environmental impact remain huge, given that BTC mining’s electric consumption exceeds that of an entire country, like the Philippines.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article about how many Bitcoins are there in the world in 2023.

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